Cultural Identity Essay

My cultural ancestry comes from a Cuban and Mexican decent. I have chosen to write about my Cuban side because I can relate to them more than I could with my Mexican side. I was raised around my Cuban family and would occasionally see my Mexican side due to them living so far away. I have spent a lot more time associating with Cubans and have adapted to more of their habits.

Solórzano and Yosso (2001) asserted that the aforementioned concepts act as a “camouflage for the self-interest, power and privilege of dominate groups in U.S. society” (p. 473). This means that even though over sixty years have passed since the Civil Rights Movement and over one hundred years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there are still forms of racism and oppression that are evident in higher education that require further research through the lens of critical race theory.

Racial diversity is something that is often discussed on college campuses. As a student who self-identifies as a minority in more ways than one I often feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the subject of racism and race. However, often times when these issue are discussed I learn something new; this was the case when reading the articles this week. This week’s articles examined the issue of race from different perspectives. This allowed me to re-examine the issue in a fuller manner; it also allowed me to question some of my own notions that I hadn’t really challenged before.

Do you ever believe that you have been a victim to a microaggression and there was nothing ever done about it? A victim of institutional racism that made you feel doleful and surly? Institutional racism happens a lot, but not as much as microaggressions, but a lot of people wonder why they get this type of vibe from white supremacist. These are the same people in the same country, with the same daily schedule but somehow they judge people based on their skin color. Some reason you aren’t allowed to lead this country if you are any other skin than white. There's a lot of racism in America, and a lot of people really wonder will the microaggressions, microinsults, the institutional racism will ever stop. People look at our president Donald J. Trump with his campaign of “Make America Great Again” does he mean the bad times for the African Americans? The bad times, for the Asian Americans? Do white people in general categorize all cultures/ ethnicities other than white as minorities? There are two articles that come together, to grow on this idea, to answer the questions above and to explain in full detail. Both of these articles, compare on what and how plenty of “minorities” feel in America. The speech essay “Analyzing Some Thoughts On Mercy” and the argumentative essay “6 Reasons We Need to Dismantle the Model Minority Myth of Those ‘Hard-Working ‘ Asians” by Ross Gay and Rachel Kuo deal with the problem with racism shown by white supremacy. Through these texts the

Oppression thrives in America because a majority of its citizens believes forms of oppression such as racism and sexism are relics of the past. What they do not know is that instead of disappearing, racism and sexism have just become so normalized in the United States to the point where people see them as just parts of everyday life. Institution are the rules and establishments put in place to help regulate peoples’ life on a social and global scale. White, straight men have been creating these institutions since America was first being settled. These customs and administrations were forged in ways meant to keep out those who White man deemed inferior all the while making their racist and sexist views the norms. When a society’s norms are made by people who see racism and sexism as natural, then women and people of color have no chance to prosper. While over time some of the overtly racist and sexist ideals of the past are now seen in a negative light, the institutions made by the dominate group still exist and continue to work in ways that keep White men on top (Sensoy, 2012, p.80 ). A society was made in which its people are socialized into believing ideas like women do not need any more right and that anything negative people of color experience is their own fault. By examining how sexism and racism continues to oppress minorities in society, it becomes easier to see, how despite no longer being acknowledged, White male supremacy is not a thing of the past.

When white Americans choose to self-educate about systemic racism they can become allies in the fight to dismantle racist structures in our society. Systemic racism is a theory that “takes a look at how individual, structural, and institutional forms of racism intersect, overlap, and create a deep-rooted form of prejudice and discrimination that advantages a cultural group at the expense of others in all institutions of a society - economics, political representation, the criminal justice system, employment, and many others.” (Luther College 2015). This includes discrimination affecting credit, schooling, justice, residential location, etc. It can be eradicated in the next century, but not without white people acknowledging that it is a real issue that cost lives. It is not the duty of the oppressed to make a liberty sales pitch to their oppressors. However, it is the responsibility of those benefiting from the oppression of others to become educated, listen, and use their privilege to combat injustice. Asian, Latino, Black, and First Nations people respectively do not experience white supremacy in the same ways. Throughout this essay I will focus on the systemic racism targeted at Black people, using the term “People of Color”, coined by Black Feminists in the 1970s, abbreviated to PoC, to refer to them.

Throughout the history of the United States, multitudes of social issues arise, fall, and repeat. In the modern day United States, many social issues are currently at hand including abortion, gender pay differences, the minimum wage, gun violence, police brutality, and seemingly excessive college tuition raises, to name a few. One issue that has been brought back to light within the last few years is racism. Many different headlines, buzzwords, and slogans shoot through media outlets including “Systematic Racism” (Bandler, 2016), “Black Lives Matter” (Black Lives Matter, n.d.), “Institutional Racism” (Michaelson, 2015), the list goes on. Many millennials and middle-aged workers are crying out in support and against these claims, calling this a social problem in an effort to show abnormality in the status quo (Davis-Sowers, 2016), as this condition has negative attributes related to individuals or the world that they live in (Leon-Guerrero).

The author of the article discusses the hatred that revolves around the concept of equality in America. The author of the news article uses his knowledge of past events, such as slavery, and current issues. The audience of the article is those who don’t understand why the protests and riots in Charlottesville is an issue to many White Nationalist. The articles compare in the sense that they both discuss hatred that has been revolving on the issue, but they differ on what they speak of, as this article speaking of the president and his issues and the other speaks of the people. In conclusion, after many years of fighting against the hatred in society, there is still a lot to be done.

In these dorms, the initial interactions that socially code us throughout college are initiated. These social interactions create and solidify bonds between students that can continue for the rest of their lives. A change to the demographics of the freshman dorms doesn’t just create an immediate effect, but also affects every current and future resident of UC Davis. A freshmen social group that is initially less diverse will lead to a less diverse group of friends throughout the remaining years of their undergraduate studies. This reduces their social group to a less diverse group of individuals, which reduces the chance for them to interact with other cultures and overcome any form of culture shock that they are affected by, whether it be here in UC Davis or later in their careers. Freshmen dorms are the only place that nurtures cultural interaction to create a UC Davis community that is ultimately more unified, accepting, and respectful of all people and their different cultures.

The Myth of ‘Post-racial’ America: Color-blind Racism in the Push to Repeal Affirmative Action in Higher Education

Case (2007) "found that participating in a diversity course increased White students’ awareness of white privilege but did not improve their attitudes toward other racial or ethnic groups. In fact, prejudice toward Latina /os s increased over the semester, which may be because White college students confronted with information about white privilege can experience a strong negative emotional response. (p.145)

In recent weeks a growing debate across campuses has arisen over the remaining racial divide that has left some students feeling disenfranchised by the universities that seek to teach them (Hui 2015). This growing dissent can be seen from Missouri to Princeton as students protest and object to what they claim to be a culture on university campuses not contusive to learning or to minority groups (Newman 2015). At Princeton University much like at the University of Missouri students are becoming increasingly vocal about the difficulties facing those of color at institutions that do not adequately address their needs, or in the case of Princeton fail to sufficiently acknowledge a legacy of racism in their institutions (Hui 2015). This

On the morning of November 9th, the president of the University of Missouri stepped down. The football players and their faculty pledged boycotting social events until this occurred. The request for the removal of the university’s president occurred because of his “inability to address a series of racist incidents on campus” (Zirin, 2015). The football players boycotting social events on this college campus created a race-based social movement to expose the racial injustices on their college campus. Black students and athletes have the power create race-based social movements to expose racial injustices on college campuses. This paper will focus on the issues of stereotyping, prejudice, and

Then again, one doesn 't need to be a supremacist to build the bigotry around them. For instance, quiet does not as a matter of course mean it can forestall bigotry but rather it might really incite it. Considers demonstrate that individuals are hesitant to stand up towards their companions or family who like to express their supremacist sees. The report demonstrates that such quiet energizes the racists from voicing their feeling to direct brutality (Rupet 1996,16). Most causes simply are all in view of or made by some kind of generalization, which unmistakably creates separation. Numerous blacks may find that they have limits set around them when they are stereotyped as "great competitors and musicians"(Hayes 1995,27). This makes it extremely troublesome for blacks to be considered important in some other fields of objectives. It is entirely obvious that dissatisfaction is the base of all these normal reasons for bigotry and such disturbance is just created by a powerless personality of a person who is befuddled in light of the inconveniences they are encountering.