Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Changes in the american family
Changes in the american family
Changes in the american family
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Changes in the american family
America has always been considered the melting pot of the world, but in recent years with the climb in the number of interracial marriages, (Root 1996) American school systems must learn how to cater to the needs of multiracial students. In this paper, multiracial “refers to people who are of two or more racial heritages. It is the most inclusive term to refer to people across all racial mixes. Thus it also includes biracial people” (Root 1996). Multiracial students face problems with developing their racial identity and feeling approval from peers who are not mixed, making their experiences in school more difficult especially in a social context (Gibbs 1990 as sited in moss and davis). For current and future educators, this means that there will be a growing need to support students from mixed backgrounds and create curriculums that cater to their needs as well as give those students positive perspectives on their racial make up. This paper will explore the complications that multiracial students face with their identity development and how schools and teachers can positively impact this development.
Multiracial students face many problems coming to terms with their racial identity due to the inability to fall under a mono-racial category. In recent years, the amount of biracial births are out numbering the amount of mono-racial births, and these children will soon be entering the school system (Root 1996) with new unique problems when concerning their own racial identity. According to Poston, “Racial identity is defined as "pride in one's racial and cultural identity" (1990, p. 152 as cited in counseling biracial students). Compared to mono-racial peers, multiracial students are faced with constant conflicts over how to embrac...
... middle of paper ...
... all aspects that make up their racial identity (Root 1996). Multiracial inclusion can be laced into everyday activities and projects.
Works Cited
Harris, H. L. (2006). African american school counselors: Their perceptions of biracial individuals. Journal Of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research, 34(1/2), 1-19.
Chiong, J. A. (1998). Racial categorization of multiracial children in schools. Greenwood Press
Moss, R. C., & Davis, D. (2008). Counseling biracial students: A review of issues and interventions. Journal Of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 36(4), 219-230.
Wallace, K. R. (2004). Working with multiracial students : Critical perspectives on research and practice. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Publishing.
Root, M., P., (1996) The multiracial experience: Racial borders as the new frontier. Copyright 1996 by Sage Publications, Inc.
This scholarly article discusses a study done on biracial identity development in children. The article discusses “the similarities and differences between Black and White racial identity development in the United States and address special challenges for the biracial child.” I hope to use it as a source when discussing the struggle to form an specific identity
In Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About - and to - Students Every Day, Mica Pollock provides readers with fact-based information to “flip the script” of the misrepresentation of students in the education setting. Pollock demonstrates how race, gender, and ethnic labels can be detrimental to student achievement. She, then, dives in to 600 years of myths regarding social race labels and how they continue to affect humans today. By correcting race, gender, and ethnicity label myths in our minds, we can effectively advocate for these students. To conclude the book, Pollock focuses on how to devise a plan to correct our own misconceptions and foster a supportive environment for diverse students. Throughout
One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents hesitate to talk to their children about racism because of embarrassment and the awkwardness of the subject. I agree with her when she says that parents don't want to talk about racism when they don't see a problem. They don't want to create fear or racism where none may exist. It is touchy subject because if not gone about right, you can perhaps steer someone the wrong way. Another theory she has on racial identity is that other people are the mirror in which we see ourselves. (tatum pp18) 'The parts of our identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflects back to us.'; (Tatum pp21) What she means by this is that what other people tell us we are like is what we believe. If you are told you are stupid enough you might start to question your intelligence. When people are searching for their identity normally the questions 'who am I now?'; 'Who was I before?'; and 'who will I become'; are the first that come to mind. When a person starts to answer these questions their answers will influence their beliefs, type of work, where they may live, partners, as well as morals. She also mentions an experiment where she asked her students to describe themselves in sixty seconds. Most used descriptive words like friendly, shy, intelligent, but students of color usually state there racial or ethnic group, while white students rarely, if ever mention that they are white. Women usually mention that they are female while males usually don't think to say that they are males. The same situation appeared to take place when the topic of religious beliefs came up. The Jewish students mentioned being Je...
Cater, the author of the book Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black And White, became interested as of why minority students were faced with white society challenges in school systems? In her book, Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black And White, she offers an insightful look at the educational attainment in low-income urban communities. Carter suggest that these students are embraced the dominant opportunity ideology, they acknowledge the dominant cultural to obtain status and goods. However, they use their own cultural to gain status in their own communities. She conducted a research to study the importance of cultural authenticity for minority, such as African American and Latino, students. She examines how cultural authenticity influences minority students’ relationship with the values they believe are privileged in schools. Cultural authenticity reflects on the beliefs and values of everyday society. Carter questioned, why do so many African American and Latino students perform worse than their Asians and White peers in class and on exams? And why might African Americans and Latino students are less engaged in
Mills (2017) outlines the difficulty that some multiracial people have with others categorizing their identity for them and the resulting feeling of being forced to identify with one group over another, while not making room for the experience of multiracial identity in of itself. Moreover, this can be a marker of oppression and discrimination, which can then impact a person’s identity as their turmoil is internalized. Mock’s (2014) experience as a biracial Black and Native Hawaiian parallels this. During her time in California and Texas, Mock grew up in a community of black people of colour and was perceived as a black person, so her identity as a Native Hawaiian was erased and not externally visible. In contrast, when living in Hawaii, Mock was treated as an outsider and nonlocal because she presented as a black woman of colour. This goes to show that intersectional identity is more than what is presented on the outside and that all racial identities need to be recognized and affirmed. Moreover, social workers can utilize the art of meeting clients where they are by letting the client tell their story, learning about their experiences, and empowering, recognizing, and validating their multiracial identities (Harkey, Sortedahl, Crook, & Sminkey, 2017). Every client will construct and experience their racial identity in a
Richards, H., V., Brown, A., F., Forde, T., B. (2006). Addressing diversity in schools: culturally responsive pedagogy. Retreived March 30th 2014from http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf
Race and ethnicity is a main factor in the way we identify others and ourselves. The real question here is does race/ethnicity still matter in the U.S.? For some groups race is not a factor that affects them greatly and for others it is a constant occurrence in their mind. But how do people of mix race reacts to this concept, do they feel greatly affected by their race? This is the question we will answer throughout the paper. I will first examine the battle of interracial relationship throughout history and explain how the history greatly explains the importance of being multiracial today. This includes the backlash and cruelty towards interracial couple and their multiracial children. Being part of a multiracial group still contains its impact in today’s society; therefore race still remaining to matter to this group in the U.S. People who place themselves in this category are constantly conflicted with more than one cultural backgrounds and often have difficulty to be accepted.
Identity is one of the main questions throughout all of our readings, because it is hard for people to accept who they are in society. Accepting their identity as a minority with little if any freedoms sparks many of the social problems which I will show happening in all communities and cultures. The main issue we will discuss is how social environments effect the search for identity. The Mexicans in the U.S. module gives us examples how Mexicans try to keep their customs while living in a discriminated environment by the Whites. This module also gives us examples how people are searching for personal identity while struggling with cultural traditions. Finally, the African-American module gives us more examples to compare with the Mexicans in the U.S. module, because these readings deal with Blacks finding personal identity also through discrimination from the Whites. To properly understand the theme of identity, we must first look the factors influencing it.
Those efforts improve students' learning and experiences by cultivating key behaviors and knowledge and by providing a unique educational context. Published in the American Educational Research Journal, this paper gives insight into how racial diversity stretches beyond educational engagement and social composition. The significant difference made by diversity-related efforts, such as hybridized racial interactions and policies, is fully explored. The findings of the study presented can be generalized to the argument of institutional racism, as this piece presents rationale against it. The limitations of this paper are the insufficient detail regarding educational context needed to illustrate the steps institutions can take to apply diversity.
Children from the inner city characteristically have lower GPAs, attend very few AP classes and have a dropout rate that is much higher than their suburban counterparts. This has been an area for much exploration and study throughout the years, but yet the trend of a knowledge gap among children seems to continue. Perhaps one area that needs to be further explored is the differences in cultural identity between these two groups of students and its impact on the education these students wish to achieve. In this paper I will present the numerous theories built around the process of establishing one’s identity and provide examples of how this identity shapes a students involvement and actions while in school. I will also reflect on the importance of systems that foster identity formation that is equal for both inner-city and suburban children.
It has been said that the physical variations in the human species have no meaning except the social one that humans put on them. Society has placed stigmas on race dating all the way back to the 1600s. Still in the 21st century the American society is still trying to work through racial boundaries. With such stigmas being placed on them, biracial individuals often self-identify or be identified by others differently, depending on the social context. A biracial individual’s racial identity development is contingent upon many factors, both internal and external. With the dramatic increase in the number of individuals with a bi or multiracial background it is important for us to recognize the complexity of the racial identity development of this culture. It is critical to understand the hardships as well as the advantages of being biracial, to help them avoid any negative behaviors which could yield lifelong consequences. The healthy development of one’s racial identity is imperative for a biracial child to be able to achieve and maintain a positive psychological and social adjustment throughout the lifespan.
Upon entering the class I was anxious, curious, and also oblivious to the ideas I would be encountering. Like other students who had not previously spent time discussing topics of race and ethnicity, I myself had nervous tendencies in assuming that such a class may not strengthen my understanding of ethnic and race relations. I realized I knew little about race or ethnicity, and even the possible similarities or differences. However, I welcomed the opportunity to further discover the possibilities of the class. My understanding of race was concentrated in a definition that could be understood as different skin colors. My limited conception of ethnicity applied to people’s origin or where they lived. It seemed as though my lack of knowledge was contributed by my lack of concern for such to...
There was a point in time when miscegenation or the union of two different cultures- was prohibited. Now with the laws having been changed many years ago and more and more cultures coming together, many biracial children are being born. During the beginning of this change, biracial children were virtually invisible in the eye of society (Joplin, 2013). Now with the children becoming noticed, biracial children are being pushed to choose a racial identity to associate with. Biracial children are a unique group of people that share two different races. However because many mono-racial people do not understand their mixed-race heritage, they are often labeled with negative stereotypes. Not being able to fit in and having to deal with society altering a person’s identity can cause a lot of stress and confusion about one’s racial identity.
Irving, M.A. & Hudley, C. (2008). Oppositional identity and academic achievement among african american males. In J. Ogbu (Ed.), Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, and Schooling, pp. 374-394. New York: Routledge.
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.