Identity And Ethnic Identity

Unless you take time to reflect on the identities that make you up, it is hard to be cognizant or careful of those of the people around you. With this assignment, I felt confident with the outcome and overall I felt more aware of my identities. Initially, I was apprehensive and was not sure how my different identities even connected or affected my life. When choosing which identities to include, I picked the categories based on the significance they have in my life as opposed to just picking the easiest ones to represent. I chose to represent my race, religion, age, ethnicity, sexual-orientation, socioeconomic status, and emotional ability because they were the

Cultural Identity is “The definition of groups or individuals (by themselves or others) in terms of cultural or subcultural categories (including ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, and gender)” (Oxford Reference). Everyone has cultural identity even though some are unaware of theirs because their habits and traditions might be seen as normal to the person and they might not make the connection that it is a cultural tradition or connected to their cultural identity. Some people are very aware of their cultural identity and have conflict within their identity because the cultures may not coincide. Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait: On the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States and Pat Mora’s “Legal Alien” both show cultural conflict through symbolism, conflict, and purpose.

The beauty of society is not two persons are identical, we are all diverse and we need to celebrate differences. Race and ethnicity shape the way we see ourselves and are integral to creating outlooks on society. Ethnicity has a considerable effect on our identity and makes us who we are, and we need to learn to embrace it. The topic of embracing ethnic identity is very well defined by Jaswinder Bolina in, “Writing Like a White Guy” and by Gloria Anzaldua in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Even though many immigrate to America one should not forget where they come from, being true to oneself and acknowledging that ethnicity plays an important role for many people in defining their cultural background and race.

Daily, people in America are categorized by their physical characteristics, lumped together as one group, and labelled with a “race.” Most assume that race and ethnicity have virtually the same definition and use the two terms interchangeably; however, ethnicity and race are two extremely diverse concepts that are frequently misconstrued by the general public. Race is the idea that people who look similar share similar backgrounds; however, genetically, this is not always the case. More accurately, ethnicity acknowledges both where a person comes from and their beliefs, practices, and cultural aspects (INSERT book CITATION).

This paper examines how and when I realized my identity of how I saw myself and how others saw me when I was a child. I examined my identity by my gender identity, racial identity, and my ethnicity identity. I describe my earliest memory of realizing my gender identity by remembering when I realized I was a woman. I discuss how I became to learn about my racial identity and ethnicity identity by going to school with various people. I then describe how the aspects of my gender identity and racial identity did and did not influence my leisure and life pursuits. My racial identity and gender identity did not influence much of my leisure and life pursuits in my life, I was mostly influenced by my upbringing.

My racial identity and ethnic identity are tied to my everyday experiences as an African American. I identify as African American or black because it’s my culture. I born by two black parents and grew up in a black household. Although I was often told by my parents that I’m black, I would say that the term “Black” was given to me before I even entered the world. The term “Black” was given to Africans by Europeans when they took us as slaves to the Americas. Ever since then, the one drop rule applied to anyone with African heritage in the United States. In “What White Supremacist taught a Jewish Scholar About Identity” by Abby L. Ferber, she proves that race is a social construct. While researching the readings of white

Race is about how you use your nationality to represent yourself to the world. Social class is an aspect that gets many people confused when they associate this with other aspects and one that can change the way you live. Each aspect has a relation to one another that can be seen as positive or negative, also the relationships between the identities form the human. These elements of race, class and their affiliations with other aspects can help identify a person’s

the other children in my survey who were African-descent like me. This gave me a sense of social community and stratification with them. Also, since I was the oldest out of my childhood friends this boosted the social identity aspect I adopted from my sibling. My neighbourhood compared to others was at a lower class, there was small crimes such as vandalism, use of illegal drugs, and conflicts. This made me socially desensitised to common crimes which shaped my social identity by being calmer when experienced with crimes outside of my neighbourhood. As I progressed to elementary school, I grew up mentally more mature then my peers which changed me into being more judgemental of others. I expected a lot from others which they found annoying. My time in elementary school was plagued by my lower wealth class which became more and more of an obstacle since school becomes more expensive as your grow older. This made me adopt a tendency to take care of my belongings and eventualy become very responsible. High school was the focal point of my young life. During grade 9 I acquired my first job which helped me with my money problems and help support my family extensively. Politically, people in my neighbourhood, including my family, would not pay attention conflicts and elections unless it was a problem in our home country. This caused me to become politically ignorant to situation happening in Canada and the world. In conclusion, my life mad me develop a social identity of

Within the Racial and Cultural Identity Development (R/CID) model, I currently identify with stage 5, Integrative Awareness. During my time of cultural identity reflection, I appreciated who I am and those of the same minority group. As for the dominant group, there are selective features that I admired and appreciate such as strength, competitiveness,

Ethnic identity remains one of the most extensively studied topics in the social sciences. The book “Studying Ethnic Identity” provides insight into the dynamic process that goes into the formation of ethnic-racial identity by psychological researchers. Ethnic and racial identity is a subject that is important to study because it has been associated with positive well-being, psychological distress, and academic attitudes (Rivas-Drake, Syed, et al, 2014; Smith & Silva, 2011). Past research has tried to define ethnic identity as a link to one’s own ethnic group (e.g. Latino, African American) (Umana-Taylor et al., 2014). This definition has proven to have its limitations, since it it does not take into account within-group variability that might exist among individuals that feel marginalized from their own ethnic group. Early definitions have failed to acknowledge ethnic identity has a multifaceted and complex construct, which this book discusses. Although several studies on ethnic identify have broaden our understanding of outcomes variables after the formation process, there is still limited areas of ethnic identity to investigate.

I wish to convey to the reader that although the opinions of others can impact the shaping of our identities, there are other factors that also make a contribution. I chose these 3 topics to talk about because of their relevance to the topic of

To explain the ethnic identity formation differs for white and non-white groups you have to first understand both ethics. For years from the beginning of elementary until my eight grade year in middle school, I was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America and that whites were the first on this earth. Well, we know that’s not true at all the Indians were the first here and made America what it is today. Immigrants come over daily from their country for chances in life. I believe that is not at all a white man country this country is for anyone who wants to be someone. Non-white groups have more drive than whites. They are always looking for ways to better themselves and also better their families. Whites on the other hand 50% of the

An acquaintance was telling me about the joys of rediscovering her ethnic and religious heritage. "I know exactly what my ancestors were doing 2,000 years ago," she said, eyes gleaming with enthusiasm, "and I can do the same things now." Then she leaned forward and inquired politely, "And what is your ethnic background, if I may ask?"

“If we don’t fully understand our individual and collective roles in maintaining a system of white superiority, our relationships with people of color remains superficial, our ability to work in diverse workplaces is greatly diminished, and we fail to create a just world in which everyone has an equitable opportunity to contribute and thrive” (Kendall, 2013, p. 1). This paper discusses who I am as a cultural person and how I have come to be this way. The first section of this paper discusses my cultural background and my cultural identity. I address the factors that make up my cultural identity and the challenges that I have faced because of my cultural identity. The next section discusses my White racial identity development and the events in my life that have led me to become the person I am today in relation to my racial identity. The final section of this paper outlines the implications my own racial and cultural identity will have on my career as a clinical mental health counselor.

Cultural identity is the basis in which identification is used to express different aspects pertaining to identity and heritage. A person's cultural identity may be created by social organization, as well as traditions and customs within their lives. The two aspects that construct my cultural identity are the frequent chores I must complete every day in order to fulfill my behavioral expectations, and the youth group I attend weekly. These aspects are important to my family and me. Therefore, my identity has an immeasurable effect on my upbringing into this multi-cultural world I live in.