African American Identity Analysis

As a teacher, it is important to know and understand the racial and cultural identities of both yourself, and your students. Knowing about your students’ backgrounds is a great way to make the classroom a safe and welcoming environment. Not all educational settings emit a feeling of safety to its students, and that needs to be changed. In this paper, I will discuss how my racial and cultural identity may be the same and may differ from my students, as well as some ways in which the institution of education can be changed to be more racially and culturally inclusive.

There are numerous ways to identify would I am. I am a african american female that is country and loves the outdoors mainly like mud riding . My cultural identity is important it’s part of me . it’s who I am . inside and out . My religion is very important to my family, when I become an adult my religion will pass on to my children. Growing up it made me realize that my cultural is like a oreo hard on the outside and and the inside is thing sweet person filled with joy and happiness .

The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.

Even though I believe to have a strong cultural diverse upbringing that differs from many of the lifestyles of my white friend, I never experienced any self-depreciation and oppression regarding my culture. I do believe I have undergone cultural development in terms of acculturation, but considering I have never experienced the need to abandon my cultural values, I feel it is appropriate to refer to the white racial identity development model rather than the racial/cultural identity developmental model. As a white female, I have certainly benefitted from white privilege, and it is my responsibility to acknowledge that aspect of my racial identity.

While reading Recitatif, by Toni Morrison, there was racial identity between the main characters Roberta and Twyla. They are both different races. Throughout the story, both characters are increasingly changing. This does not help the readers figure out the race of each girl. They could be either white or black but they have many different traits. In the beginning of the story, it seems like Roberta was a black girl and Twyla was a white girl. There was tension between the two girls. Roberta and Twyla had to share a room together. Twyla felt sick that she must share a room with a girl that’s a different race. In the story, there was some tension towards black people. Twyla’s mom had told her that Roberta’s race never washed their hair and they

Along with that, racial identity is another big contributor to the degradation of African American’s youth mental health, as a weak racial identity results in poorly mishandled ways of coping with racism and stress. African American students as early as middle school engage in introspection of their racial identity, where they begin to discover who they are and the negative stereotypes surrounding their identity (Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, 2007, p.256). The results of a study of 297 African American adolescents by McCreary, Slavin, and Berry found that a strong pride in racial identity was important in handling stress in a positive manner and decreasing poor mental health (Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, 2007, p.256). Students were less likely to internalize negative racial stereotypes that devalue their worth and build resistance towards it. If not, students were more susceptible to succumbing to stereotype threat, racial bias, and a negative self-fulfilling prophecy that could alter their well-being and threaten their mental health. Chronic exposure to this can severely damage African Americans adolescents’ mental health, which is evident by their mental withdrawal in school and loss of interest or motivation to achieve academic success.

“The soul was the body that fed the tobacco, and the spirit was the blood that watered the cotton, and these created the first fruits of the American garden” (Coates 104). In Between the World and Me,” and within this quote alone, Ta-Nehisi Coates argued not only the importance of black identity, but also how and why black identity was so deceivingly shaped in response to the dark history behind it. Through Coates’ recollections and fair warnings to his son, the relationship between black identity and “The Dream” becomes clearer. In spite of the “white supremacist” trademark that comes stamped upon “The Dream,” Coates provides impermeable evidence as to why black identity is not only more invested in history than white identity, but more importantly why it is the investment to be made in “The American Dream.”

During the era of segregation, blacks couldn’t even look at a white woman without it being deemed sexual and they were ultimately beaten or killed for it. That mindset is still present today in the form of misidentification in sexual assault cases. A black prisoner serving time for sexual assault is three and a half more likely to be innocent than a white convict (Gross, Possley, & Stephen,2017, March 7). The reason for this mishap is mistaken identification by a white victim in violent crimes involving African Americans. In present day, assault on a Caucasian woman by an African American male is very small throughout the United States ranking in at only 11%. Misidentifications are products of racial bias, which is the belief that one race

The mission of the students around the country who fought for an education that would shed light on African Americans. The progress the students created is seen today in American Universities ,and also HBCUs, where (AAS)African American Studies is implemented into the curriculum. Before, the dissection the formation of AAS, it should be noted that without the sacrifice from others I undoubtedly would not be writing about AAS ,or reflecting on the significance it has created for generations so far.

At this stage in the capstone process I have finalized my ideas regarding my topic and I am currently brainstorming pictures ideas that I could use for my project. Originally, I was focusing on black identity and primarily answering the question, "What does it mean to be Black?". Now my topic has shifted a bit and while I am still focusing on black identity I am not specifically and outrightly answering that question. I have also chosen my medium. Originally, I was leaning towards photography or videography, but I have decided upon printing.

The African American community has sat at the end of a discriminatory lens from the moment they set foot in the United States. For that reason, black communities have undergone the process of community building to ensure that all members feel a sense of belonging.

What are you? Do you classify yourself as simply black, African-American, or do you not know? When I ask what are you, I am asking you about your roots, the roots that make you, you. My roots is what I use to differentiate myself because I am more than just an American and I am more than just black. Nowadays black identity is used not only as a race but as ethnicity, including for people who do not know their heritage. On the other hand, freedom for people in the black race is much more than it was in the 20th century. Although, the black race have civil rights, racial issues still continue to exist today.

Throughout history, many different minority groups have been treated unfairly. Although African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans are all minorities, they are similar in the ways of getting treated negatively, but they differ significantly. While some experience different situations in their early histories, stereotypes, discrimination, and other important issues. Some of these minority groups have these issues similar or worse than others.

The African American experience is one that is quite different from other racial/ ethnic groups. The majority of the first African American came over, unwillingly, on ships from various African countries. They were brought to America by white, European settlers to be used as slaves in an order to plant and harvest their crops and make money for the white man. This racial group was treated as if they were property and not people. However, with the ending of the American Civil War, African Americans gained freedom, freedom that not all white American were quite ready to handle. After gaining their freedom came the need for education, jobs and suffrage rights. Now in America this racial group has come a long way, having elected its first African American present for two terms, yet still there are many issues that are very prevalent. This racial group has been fighting their way to equality since the birth of this nation. African Americans have experienced an array of conflict, violence, stereotypes, prejudice acts, and discrimination against them throughout their history in America.

Appropriately for a public museum at the heart of Washington’s cultural landscape, the museum’s creators did not want to build a space for a black audience alone, but for all Americans. In the spirit of Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too,” their message is a powerful declaration: The African-American story is an American story, as central to the country’s narrative