My ethnic identity is considered French, but I myself do not consider myself to really belong to this ethnic group. As stated in "On Being Different" page 12 Chapter 2, "Each of us grows up in the presence of a set of rules and expectations that have been both transmitted and transformed across the generations." I never grew up learning my heritage or culture, but instead learned the culture of my friend Terrence Smith. I lived with Terrence and his mother for years and I learned a lot about African-American culture from his mother. She taught us a great deal about the Harlem Renaissance; mainly her favorite poet Langston Hughes. I consider myself part of this ethnic group and some things I would say about this group in particular …show more content…
It can vary what that means between different groups or even within the same ethnic group. Terrence, his mother, and I used to go to church everyday, we are christian, and every day we went it meant something to us. It wasn't just us being forced to go somewhere, but something we wanted to do because it meant something to us and our family. "At the level of individuals, values affect our motivations and thus influence the reasons we do what we do." (Humanity pg. 31 Chapter 2) This holds meaning to what I speak of when I say that it meant something to us, in our culture we spend a lot of time eating and laughing together, every Sunday after church we would go next door and the whole church would eat together; like a big buffet. These moments held a lot of weight to us because it shaped who we became and the people we got to meet. I learned a lot from so many great people during those Sunday brunches that I probably would have never got to experience if I wasn't a part of that culture. I believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn from another culture and actually have a chance to experience what I got to experience. With my biological family we never really had a strong bond, dinner wasn't something that we really valued; it was just a time where we ate, but when I moved in with Terrence dinner became a bonding experience. Instead of everyone just eating and leaving, we actually …show more content…
Honestly I believe that there is not a single mainstream culture, but a diverse channel of cutlures that intertwine to make this big web that is our mainstream culture. "Culture is transmitted and transformed across the generations-- not only within communities, societies, and nations, but also across national boundaries." (On Being Different pg. 14 Chapter 2) We have always been exchanging and evolving all of our cultures. They have all changed throughout the years including my culture, but they never lose their core values; that is something we pass on and teach to the next generation. My culture fits in with every other culture in the U.S. and it's important because it teaches values that might not be upheld in other cultures, as well as teaching of people that might not be seen as someone who is extremely popular such as Langston Hughes. My culture values certain points in time such as the Harlem Renaissance more than other cultures will because it holds significant meaning to us. Art, music, expression are all things that my culture brings with it, we all have these things, but we don't always show them in the same way. Culture is important and we should never deny a culture it's time in the spotlight, no matter how small or how insignficant we may think it is, it could mean the world to someone
I agree that non-whites possess little to no ethnic options. If you are half white and half Mexican, you are most likely going to be categorized as Mexican, regardless of which ethnic option you would prefer to identify as, you are always going to be categorized as whatever ethnicity you physically match the most.
As I listen to the recording I had made back in week two of this course, I am able to realize how far my identity development has come. A few things stuck out to me as I listened to my thoughts and ideas from nine weeks ago. I found myself making statements about being “color blind” and that I “don’t go out of my way to think about how people are different”. I now realize that this kind of thinking is that kind that can inadvertently perpetuate racism in society. In order to challenge racism, there needs to be a dialogue about racism and denying the fact that there is any issue is only making matters worse.
Popular culture refers to information or an event that briefly hold the interest of the public. These events and information are mostly heard or broadcasted on mass media such as radio, television, newspapers and the internet. It is one of the cultures that is easily accessible and considered much more entertaining by the greater part of the population in the world. It has helped in the enhancement of human relationships and socialization in our modern world. As a Haitian, below I try to outline some of the popular cultures I can think of.
I classify my race, ethnicity, and culture as a white, Irish-Italian- American, woman. My mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and my paternal grandparents are from Sicily, Italy. I imagine being first generation Irish and second generation Italian helps me relate with my ethnicity.
I definitely identify most with modern American culture. Although I am half Hispanic and half white, I was raised more “white” than Hispanic (e.g. food, language, holidays, music, etc.). On the surface you can see a white American, English speaking, femininely dressed young lady, but I am much more than what is on the outside. Like I stated earlier I was raised more “white”, but I still identify a little with my Hispanic culture. In this paper I will be addressing 10 surface and 10 deep aspects of my cultural identity.
Popular Culture has changed drastically over the decades with the biggest question being whether or not popular culture is a positive or negative expression of our ideas and reflections. American Pop Culture has an extremely important role that influences the United States and around the world. There are countless topics that make up pop culture and it is nearly impossible to name all of them. Some of the topics are Television, Music, Religion, Politics, Arts, Economy, Education, Family roles and structures. Three of the cultures that I believe has changed the most and seems to cause the most controversy are television, music and religion.
Racially, ethnically, and culturally, I classify myself as a white, Irish-Italian- American, woman. My mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and my paternal grandparents are from Sicily, Italy. I imagine being first generation Irish and second generation Italian makes me relate more with my ethnicity.
I agree that non-whites possess no ethnic options. If you are half white and half Mexican, you are most likely going to be categorized as Mexican, regardless of which ethnic option you would prefer to identify as, you are always going to be categorized as whatever ethnicity you physically match the most.
“You are only allowed to make racist jokes if it’s about your own race.” This saying, which radiated through the halls of my middle school that prided itself for its diversity, managed to make me feel more comfortable in my own skin. Why did the ability to make fun of two different races, while many of my peers could only make fun of one, validate my own racial identity? I should not have wanted to tease my race and my ancestors but it helped me feel comfortable, even though I knew my knowledge of the cultures I was born into was lacking.
For instance, I am African-American, but I don’t like to identify myself as an African-American. I was not born in Africa, therefore I do not consider myself African American. I say this because it creates cultural confusion. A man born and raised in Africa would not put himself in the same light as a black man born in America. Africans have their own identities, and most prefer to keep it that way. Former Yale professor and expert on African culture Tracie Reddick says "Africans and black Americans often fail to forge relationships in the classrooms and the workplace. They blame nationality, ethnicity, culture, economics, and education" (Reddick). There are plenty of cultural gaps within race alone, and that is why personal culture is so unique and important. I have the same skin color as an African, but that is pretty much it. What may be important to someone from Nigeria could mean...
Who am I; my beliefs, values, morals, and views on society have assisted in molding me into the person that I am considered to be today. I was raced with specifics values, traditions, and norms. Being raised in a small town made being socially aware very easy. I was raised under the southern Baptist Christian religion. Church was always the same and it had a majority of women in attendance although the men and elderly people ran the church overall. It was always the same, repetitive habits and events that occurred in my town but after a while I became accustomed to always being near or known by others.
My culture identity, as I know it as is African American. My culture can be seen in food, literature, religion, language, the community, family structure, the individual, music, dance, art, and could be summed up as the symbolic level. Symbolic, because faith plays a major role in our daily lives through song, prayer, praise and worship. When I’m happy I rely on my faith, same as when I’m sad, for I know things will get better as they have before.
Times are changing and I feel like I am forced to conform to the everyday social norms of America, which makes me feel impuissance. Racial identity, which refers to identifying with a social group with similar phenotypes and racial category, is the only experience that I have with life (Organista, 2010). Racial ethnicity was used to build my self-esteem and to keep me in the dark when it came to how society treats individuals of darker complexion. However, once I left the confines of my family and neighborhood, I was forced to befriend and interact with individuals that had different cultural values and beliefs than me. This experience caused me to learn how to appreciate other racial and ethnic groups and their cultural values and belief. This is an accurate definition, of acculturation because I was able to understand and fit in with individuals different from me, while maintaining my own culture and ethnic identity. Therefore, knowing the importance of my ancestry, while acculturating and developing my own identity was all used
Popular culture can be defined as the general accepted culture in society. Anyone can learn about what is the generally accepted culture in America because it’s usually advertised in music, books, fashion, literature, schools and the mass media to name a few. In the book images of color, images of crime, chapter 1 shows how Indians have been negatively affected by popular culture throughout the years. However, I would say that many races have been affected by popular culture to the point in which the identity and the heritage of different culture is rapidly disappearing.
Our increased mobility has given us greater access to the world and the diverse people that inhabit it. With that mobility comes the shared responsibility to negotiate with people who may initially seem unfamiliar and learn to express the experience. The word “ethnicity” is used to describe a specific population’s characteristics of fundamental aspects that all humans share. When applied loosely, ethnicity becomes a blanket term to define large populations, undermining the worth and the diversity within that group and emphasizing the differences between cultures. Yet those differences come down to matters of preference and socialization within each culture. The dominant themes that rule human nature persist in every society – wondering where we came from and why we exist, social mores to guide how we relate to people or situations, and primal motivations such as hunger, fear, and a need to be loved and accepted.