Personal Essay: My Cultural Identity

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.

All my life people have always questioned my ethnicity. My mom says it makes me mysterious and intriguing. She says, "You look like you could be born in any part of the world". Any time I 'm in a crowd the question always comes up, "what 's your ethnicity?", "are you mixed with anything?”. I look at them and smile thinking in my head of course you just asked that. I give a big sigh and say "I 'm white and Pakistani". Some look at me with great confusion and ask, "What is that?" I hit them with a huge eye roll and I have to explain where Pakistan is located in Asia. I really think some people did not take World Geography because they 're still so lost. They usually just blurt with "oh, so you 're middle eastern?" It boggles my mind that

As American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez expressed, “Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” Respecting everyone’s culture is a necessity, no matter their ethnic background, or if they stand out in society. Language, customs, food, and religion are all parts of a culture everyone possesses. All individuals have a viewpoint, a perspective of what cultures the world around them is compromised of. The culture in every human influences how they view the world around them by hiding one’s own culture, giving people biased views of others’ ethnicities, and weighing down the minority groups.

When I am preparing or serving food, I always have my head covered. I do not cover my head just at the Gurdwara, but as well as when I am cooking at home because it is a sign of respect. When I am volunteering for community service for my high school clubs, no one covers their head when we are preparing or serving food. Religion is very different compared to high school clubs because we were born with Sikhism and it sticks to us, unlike joining clubs is only during our high school career. We were grown up with our culture and I am dedicated to Sikhism. I feel like all Sikhs are dedicated to our culture rather than the high clubs that we joined. Most Sikhs including me, would die for our religion and not give up our identity for anything else. I am being honest here, I would not die for a high school club that I am in. Culture is more important to me than a high school club because there will be clubs to join here and there, but culture does not work like that. I would not be hurt if the high school clubs that I am currently in were no longer existing rather than my religion being taken away from

What is my cultural identity? Personally, I don’t think I am completely assured on what my cultural identity is, but I can do my best on explaining it. However, I won’t get started on that yet, first I’ll explain the occasion of me learning about my identity. At almost the beginning of the year, it was announced in our English class that we would be doing an essay on our cultural identities. When my teacher announced this I thought to myself, “What in the world is a cultural identity, or even my cultural identity?” In these months, we have gotten to learn the definition of culture, and what it means to us, individually., I believe that culture means a group of people that share the same customs, way of life, and beliefs. Also, over these last couple of months we have been reading texts all about people knowing and understanding their cultural identities, meanwhile I still didn’t understand my own. All I know is that I was born on February 11, 2002, I like movies and music, and my mom is from Chile and my Dad is from Virginia. Now that didn’t feel like enough for me to write on, but then I started thinking about all of the cultural differences that my parents have had raising me as a person, and how those have all combined to make me. In my short 15 years of life, the culture clashes have sometimes affected me on my thoughts and opinions, which I’ll talk about later on. As well as how movies and music have affected my perspectives and opinions.

In growing up in the position of the ‘other’ in society, Smith provides an empowered stance of identity exclusively through the demonstration of cultural hybridity, as evidenced by Millat and his gangster crew, the Raggastani’s. As Millat becomes increasingly connected to a swaggering identity highlighted by Western popular culture, his sense of belonging becomes established with the multicultural mix of South Asian and Caribbean teens he hangs out with: “It was a new breed, just recently joining the ranks of the other street crews. Becks, B-boys, Nation Brothers, Raggas, and Pakis; manifesting itself as a kind of cultural mongrel of the last three categories. Their ethos, their manifesto, if it could be called that, was equally a hybrid thing” (193). Here, Smith uses the Raggastani’s as a symbol representing the emerging identity of a multicultural London transformed by the migration of formerly colonized populations from South Asia and the Caribbean. Their mission, to put the “invincible back in Indian, the Bad-aaaass back in Bengali, the P-Funk back in Pakistani” (193), is about taking their identities which have been devalued in Western society and linking them together through a collective sense of approval. As a productive example of cultural hybridity taking place, they are a direct contrast with the forms of difference and racial purity that the Chalfen`s represent, and the resistance of letting go of traditions that their parents uphold. The group tries on a series

“Dale, dale, dale, No pierdas el tino; Porque si lo pierdes, Pierdes el camino”. The classic piñata song that is sung at parties. It translates to “Go, go, go, don't lose your aim; because if you lose it, you will lose your path.” The phrase ties in with my identity because of my cultural background and experiences at parties. Who am I? What is my cultural identity? The questions that have me trying my best not to have an existential crisis. I am a Mexican American, my parents were born in Jalisco and I was born in California. As for my cultural identity, I am a NSHS student that has been shaped by music, technology, and sports.

Who am I? Where do I belong? I was raised and born in Palm Springs, California. I'm German, Irish, Jewish, the rest I'm not sure. In California it was normal being white. I didn't feel like an outsider. I felt normal. But when I moved to Hawaii I didn't feel normal. I didn't know people would judge you for being white or as they say it, a "Haulie" . But I think I let that word get the best of me because it's only a word that describes a white person. That's what I am. But the only thing that gets to me is, why do they say it? Why do they have to remind me that I'm white? I been with myself for along time, I think I know I'm white.

Cultural identity is defined as a sense of feeling or belonging to one group, or even multiple groups. Different people define themselves differently from the person sitting next to them. I, on the other hand, think that my cultural identity is abstract. I think that this is because I enjoy a variety of different activities including swimming competitively, singing in a choir, sometimes going to school, and reading whenever I get the chance. Sometimes it is hard to find time to read because of my busy schedule, but I make it happen. A lot of people have one specific way to identify themselves and have other smaller ways to define themselves within their larger definition.

Most people define someone’s culture by what they see on the outside, however what’s on the outside doesn’t always define who you are. When you hear the word culture you might think of someone’s ethnicity as a main factor. While most ethnic groups might have similar traditions among their people, individually, the people are very different. My cultural identity is like an iceberg, you may see a little bit, but there is still a lot to be discovered.

My cultural identity never really had a place in life. I was once a part of a farming community that loved to prove that small town life was not like the movies. Gender norms were important in their conservative ways, and anyone different or complicated would have been denied. The fantasy of small-town life is something I became nostalgic of, but when reminded of the people, my heart sinks into my chest. I made some great friends, but I knew I didn’t meet their standards. As I grew, I moved into the city with people who I was not sure how to socialize with. Some of these people had never seen large fields of corn, and I couldn’t bring myself be to be social with the unknown. When I did become friends with others, I ended up getting hurt and

Initially when one says the word “identity” most would bring themselves to a brief summary of who they suppose they are as a being. Certainly the word “identity” is the fact of being someone or something they claim to be. By that (second definition) you can infer that when you claim to be someone or something, that doesn’t inevitably lead to a fact.. When you add the word “cultural” in front of the word “identity” it brings a more “belonging” sentiment. That being a belonging to a certain group based on your identity. In that, let the question commence. Who am I really?

This paper is written as a presentation of my own cultural background and identity. What I hope to reveal, is where I come from, how I became who I am today, and how my culture helped to develop me into that person. My background has never really seemed interesting or particularly pertinent to who I am, until I began this course (HSC570); now, I actually am acutely aware of how important it is to my present life. It is with excitement and expectancy that I write this paper; based upon my memory of tales told to me by those that I consider to have been our family historians. Sadly, they have all crossed over from life to eternity.

Cultural identity is derived from various aspects of one’s life, and it is what differentiates us from other people. No other person will ever be able to better exemplify our inherent and natural personal self-identity. Our culture is formed by not only our family history, but our life choices as well. Our lives are a reflection of the choices we have made, so we get to choose how we identify ourselves as well. Family, school, my country, and the year I was born in are all examples of what have built my cultural background. Family plays a big role in how I identify myself culturally, but my life experiences have equally constructed who I am.

My cultural identity is made up of lots of things but there are some main things that make me, me. There is things that make me who I am today that has changed me and will still change me in the future. There is physical things on me that has made me what I look like and also things that I feel or think and beliefs that make me who I am.