My Experience At Holloman Air Force Base

Growing up in Park Ridge, Illinois was significantly different from where I was born in Morristown, New Jersey. One of the most startling differences was apparent in the make-up of the student body. In Morristown, I attended an elementary school with a diverse student body; many of my schoolmates were African American and I remember even at a young age, students regardless of race interacting all-together without any sense of stigma attached to it. In that sense, while attending elementary school, since it was the norm to have friends of different races, I did not think very much of my race.

In his essay, “As Black as We Wish to be,” author Thomas Chatterton Williams tries to paint a picture of a world where the sight of interracial families was still considered an oddity and shows how, over the decades, society has slowly became more acceptable towards the idea. He begins the essay briefly discussing the ignorance of people during the late 1980’s while also elaborating what hardships African Americans have dealt with over the past century. He explains that even with the progression of interracial families and equality of African Americans, a new problem has now risen for interracial children of the future. While either being multiracial, African American, or White, what do they decide to identify themselves as? This is the major question that arises throughout Williams’s argument. While Williams’s supports his argument with unreliable environmental evidence, as well with other statistical evidence. His argument is weakened by an abundance of facts, disorganization, and an excessive use of diluted information.

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

My pre-adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately white upper-class community I began to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.

The growth of identity is a practice molded by a person’s family history, environmental experiences, and societal attachments. Identity endures ordeals to make the person secure and attentive so that it’s easier for the person to know what to expect out of their life. Although changes in our surroundings can be accepted, adjustments to one’s identity can often be challenging. Particularly in African American identity, there is difficulty in accepting who one is and knowing one’s place in society. There is an even greater difficulty if one is a biracial African American.

When I was 14 years old I toured my first Military Institute at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. I witness first hand American Troops returning from Desert Storm with numerous life threatening injuries sustained during combat. Troops who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country 's freedom. I recall asking myself “What is a hero? And what it symbolizes in our modern world?” and “What does a hero look like?”, my vision of a hero as a kid included a cartoon character with superpowers wearing a cape, Instead as I stared at a young Army Sergeant, burned beyond recognition sitting on wheelchair, unable to walk as he lost both limbs while in combat, That is when I recall asking myself again, “What is a hero?” The term hero comes from the Ancient Greeks, for them a man of great strength and courage favored by the gods and in part descended from them, often regarded as a demigod and worshiped after his death. Despite decades of envisioning a hero as a cartoon figure such as Batman, Superman and Spiderman, my heroes wear desert camouflage BDU’s. Although in the vision of some, a hero may be inspiring weather it to be oneself or to others, A hero is a person who saves lives. My vision of a hero intel 's of both qualities in addition to bravery and courage which may have been someone who saves lives or puts their own life on the line to save another, the definition of a hero may be different in someone else 's visions. Personal athlete or famous

Joanna Gaines, the creative and super talented co-star behind one of America's favorite home remodeling shows, Fixer Upper, shares in her book, The Magnolia Story, her childhood struggle with identity while growing up as a bi-racial child. She states, "I finally believed it was actually a beautiful thing to be unique and to be different" (Gaines, 2016). The battle for identity is a real facet of life for every human being. We must all come to terms with the fact that even if we exhibit similar ethnicity, personality, or intelligence, there is still a real set-apartness we all possess. As the textbook mentions, there are countless things, such as "individual differences in characteristics, influences, developmental outcomes" that impact

Race is one of the most common ways people identify themselves. There are different advantages and disadvantages associated with different races. People are often judged on how they look and act. Some people benefit more than others just based on race. Others can be put at a disadvantage because of their sexual orientation. The family you are born into can have a major impact on how you are seen and what type of privileges and struggles you will face in life. Looking at my life specifically, I will reflect on how the culture, including race and gender, from the past and present can influence people’s lives in general and in education.

One interesting thing about life is that two individuals can relate to one another and find a sense of mutual understanding of each other regardless of what they have experienced in life and how different those experiences may be. This seemed to be the case when interviewing Amanda McGhie, a twenty-one year old biracial heterosexual woman currently living in Hemet, California. As a nineteen-year-old gay male who grew up in New Jersey, I would consider McGhie as someone I would consider to be very different from myself. She is a math major who has recently started her fifth semester at Mount San Jacinto College and plans on pursuing a career as a math teacher. This differs quite greatly from my own aspirations, as I am nearing

The setting took place at a bowling alley aboard the Military installation of Twentynine Palms, CA. They were celebrating a 5th birthday party of Child C. The following description is about two 4 yr. old boys. Child A had light skin, with curly black hair. He was wearing blue jeans, a white and clue stripped collar shirt and blue Nike shoes. Child B was taller than the first boy, had light skin, straight long black hair, and big brown eyes. He was wearing blue jeans, and a blue shirt with red sleeves, there was a picture of spider man on the front of the shirt. One the right side of the shirt, he had a black ribbon that said, “Birthday boy.” He had red Nike shoes, and was standing right next to Child A. There were four children bowling

As a teenage minority, it was a slight struggle in the beginning in trying to identify myself. Miller (2010) argues that this struggle started early as a child due to the fact that minority children are often told how they should identify themselves in a politically correct manner which alters the child’s “racial identity development” (39). For the longest time, I wasn’t quite sure how to identify myself in a racial manner; should I refer to myself as being Black, or should I say African American? Society created difficulties for me to be able to identify myself, especially since both labels can have different connotations. To be Black in a Black community meant that you had pride and confidence, whereas in society, it meant that you were

Sarah’s race, class, culture and gender made it possible for Sarah to lead a happy and successful life. Sarah is a Caucasian female that was born into a middle-class family. Sarah was also the first child of Austin and Sally. Due to the fact that Sarah’s parents were economically stable from the time they conceived her, Sarah’s needs starting from the time she was born were always taken care of. Sarah’s parents were knowledgeable and took advantage of all of the resources that were available to Sarah, resources that she needed in order to advance in life. By the time she finished high school, her parents were financially capable to provide for an amazing group home. Sarah’s race, class, culture, and gender facilitated a better life for Sarah, one which might not have been available if Sarah’s parents were from a different class or culture.

Throughout my life, certain identities have remained consist. And these identities have come to shape my perspectives and my needs and wants within American culture. Typically, my social

Growing up as a child during the 1970s in Lynwood, a predominantly African American neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, I never realized the differences between my playmates and myself. Although my mother and I eventually moved to the suburbs, my father remained there. However, it was not until late childhood, while visiting my father on weekends, that I began to differentiate between my friends and myself. Maybe the piercing stares and turned heads at the neighborhood market led to this discovery. Or perhaps the racial epithets exchanged in anger between childhood friends made the differences obvious. But, more than anything else, I attribute my discovery to the disparaging nickname given to me. They referred to me as

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.