Ethnicity Reflection Paper

“The History, Development and Future of Ethnic Studies” by Evelyn Hu-DeHart mentions several issues young scholars faced during the time of need for multicultural curriculum in higher education. Young scholars were demanding to uncover the missing facts and accredited sources that American history, culture, and society have left out for centuries. The solution the students concluded in solving this dilemma was to bring attention to the need of ethnic studies programs. With enough support from the student body and willingness of universities, institutions were able to recruit professors and thus create ethnic studies programs. According to Hu-DeHart, by providing ethnic studies programs and departments, the academic field would provide, “…a

Richard Rodriguez article, “The Chinese in All of Us (1944)”, argues that many different cultures have contributed to making up the American culture. Rodriguez backs up this claim by sharing

Race and ethnicity are the occasionally have been used interchangeably. Race is described as a person’s physical appearance such as skin color, eye color, hair and many other biological traits and characteristics. Race mainly refers to the differences in skin color in the contemporary world. When we say that person is fair skinned or is black we are referring to the race of that person. Ethnicity is the cultural aspect of a an individual or a group such as the nationality of the person, the language they use to communicate, their descendants , the particular region they inhabit for example American, African, African Americans, etc. In a nutshell race is an overview of how you look and ethnicity is the social and cultural aspect of grouping you are born into.

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

Anthropologists have always had their discrepancies with the word culture and its background significance. There have been numerous definitions that have filtered through the field, yet not one that everyone can accept or agree with. Franz Boas, an anthropologist in the early 20th Century, and his students, had a difficult time figuring out the objective of what culture is. Culture is about learning and shared ideas about behaviour. Although Boas and his students had a slightly different idea in mind. They ultimately reached a conclusion, a definition of culture in their view that is a contradiction in terms. Boas sates that, “ culture was expressed through the medium of language but was not reducible to it;

Race and ethnicity is something that we all have to live with because we all have a race and ethnicity that claims us. Race and ethnicity was something discussed daily at my household because I was the only Hispanic at my school until the third grade. This was difficult because as a child it’s hard to understand why my skin color, language, and ideals are different. I wouldn’t have survived school without my parents and support from my instructors that allowed me to transition into the mainstream without a traumatic effect. Throughout the year my parents would take me to activities like Cinco De Mayo, Religious activities, Independence of Mexico, and other cultural events that celebrated our history and culture. This helped feed my love for my culture and ancestors. Race is usually determined by how one looks but your

“Hey you’re good at math”, “Hey you’re dumb for an Asian”, “Well of course he’s good at that, he’s Asian”. These are the phrases that defined my childhood and still are relevant to my daily life. These are phrases are a part of what society calls today “The Model Minority Myth”. This all started during World War II, where Chinese and Japanese Americans adopted a plan to promote assimilation with the American people. With this plan, they succeeded in proving to America, that they worked harder, were more focused on education to gain their success. While the other minorities protest to get civil rights, the Asians gained their rights by just

When I came to America from China at age 16, everyone around me appeared to be different. However, I didn’t just talk to my Chinese friends. I pushed myself outside of my bubble; I tried my best to make friends with American students, while I still maintained good relationships with my Chinese friends. America is very different from what I expected, everyone speaks so fast and unclear; it almost made English a completely different language from what I had already learned. As I was trying to make friends, I realized that Chinese culture had made me different from Americans; things that I was curious about as a Chinese person were very private to American students. For example, in America, people won’t mention what their parents’ jobs are when they meet someone for the first time.

Born in a traditional Chinese family, Ming began to know about people of backgrounds different than him after he came to the U.S. in 2014. What he learned and experienced in CSUEB had transformed him from a boy having a racial stereotype and religious prejudice to a man who shows high respect for cultural diversity. By making a formal interview with Tiana and Ming, I learned that school education has significant influences on personal growth and development because it improves students’ abilities to demonstrate knowledge of the history, race, and gender in American context and prepares them to be a person who has abilities to respond to diverse perspectives linked to cultural identities, such as race, gender, and

Students asked me, “You’re Asian right? You’re yellow,” and “If you don’t believe that you’re an Asian, you’re simply a fool.” I was strikingly puzzled because they knew that I was an Asian just from the look of my face! During

Tell me what's not made in China.” and “Is China America’s friend or enemy...Can you guys take care of North Korea for us?” The most people who were asked were elder people who were not good at speaking English because they spent the most time living in their own Chinese community. Let look back at the second image that white people wished Asian and other immigrants leave their white community, but now, in the modern society, they went to the immigrants’ community to disturb and embrace them. Of course, this is not an everyday situation, however, it can still reveal the social issue that had already existed since the first immigration

Stated in Ethnicity & Family Therapy (2005) the most important training for a counselor is to understand their own ethnic identity. As a counselor, if I am self-aware it will be less likely that I will become triggered by characteristics (beliefs, thoughts) that are different than my own. A multiethnic perspective allows me to understand values that are different than my own. I do not need to have others see or think as I do, or give up my own values in the process. “We learn about a culture not by learning the facts, but by changing our attitudes about cultural differences” (McGoldrick, et al, 2005).

People are usually categorized in terms of race and/or ethnicity. Race is a term typically used to classify people according to similar and specific physical characteristics. Ethnicity is a term more broadly used that connects people according to an inherited status such as: a shared ancestry, language, history, religion, cuisine, art, clothing style, and/or physical appearance, etc.

It is easy to not feel one’s nationality when no one takes the time to teach it. June’s mother never really has the desire to teach June about Chinese culture, she just expects June to know it already. June goes as far as saying, “ I didn't have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn't her slave. This wasn't China.

One experience so far in China that left a strong impression on my mind was a visit to the Shaanxi museum of history. Our tour guide was a locally educated young woman in her twenties. As she took us through the different periods of Chinese history, at every exhibit showing some sort of tool or mechanistic contraption she would turn and say “as you can see, the Chinese people are very smart!” She also recounted a story in which she was very offended that an American made a comment that Chinese people are short, to which she replied “yes, we are, but we have five thousand years of history and culture!” Both the richness and vastness of Chinese history was a huge source of pride for her, as her slightly illogical response to the American’s comment shows. In retrospect, her age denotes that she grew up on the government’s campaign in the 1990s to educated students about China’s greatness, to foster pride.