Personal Narrative: Improving Race Relations

Truth to be told: I don’t particularly pay attention to national events or issues. My family is also incapable of comprehending national issues, especially my parents who do not have any level of proficiency in English. My family lives in a world where we go with the flow, but there are issues that I contemplate whether or not I should be involved in, particularly race inequality. Considering the amount of tension between policemen and African-American around the nation, the race to equal treatment is still ongoing.

Too black for the White kids, yet somehow too white for the Black kids, oh the perils of a cappuccino mixed race kid. But it’s true. My life since I was young, at least younger than my eighteen year old self, has been about which group do I most fit in with. Between the four school changes over the course of twelve years, all in white suburban towns I’ve molded myself into an array of characters.

I was born and raised in the small but growing city of Perris, CA. This isn’t the best city out there but it tends to grow on you, and you begin to truly love it for what it is. The people, however, not so much. The community can vary from which part of the city you’re in. That’s because there’s diversity here in Perris. I’m a product of this diversity, being half Mexican and half African American. My parents fell in love after high school and later on began a family. I am the youngest of five. I have two older brothers, an older sister, and an older cousin who lives with us. The order is boy, girl, boy, boy, girl with my cousin being included in there too. We all live in the same house with my parents and are quite close with each other. They all seem to have raised me growing up due to the fact that my parents were busy trying to provide for us. This was a challenge by itself, resulting in lots of house moving and my father being unemployed for six years after losing his job. I never complained about moving because I knew that my parents were doing their absolute best and were working with all that they had and then some. This unquestionably made me adaptable to new environments and gave me a

I am a spoiled rich kid. I live in an upper middle class town located in one of the prosperous countries in the world. I attend to a competitive school with qualified teachers who care about their students. I have seemingly endless opportunity to participate in my community or gain experience in a job. I have fair skin, living in a world where is being Caucasian is advantageous.

I am a 17 year old Hispanic female who was born in Denver, Co. I now live in the northern part of Denver. I attend an Apostolic church and participate in many of their activities.

There was a time when I would shy away from an in-depth conversation about race and race relations in social situations. I would participate in class, when studying race and health disparities, however when stepped out of the classroom and converse amongst my peers, I became more reserved. There’s something about asking those hard questions and discussing disparities as a result of oppressions and transgressions which made me uncomfortable to talk about race outside of the structured, politically-correct world of academia. Often emotions overshadowed a constructive and empathetic discourse and as a result I would be reserved or sometimes avoided those conversations. However, it is a conversation that I need to be a part of.

First, I’d like to start off this question by saying when I attend Huntington University in the fall of 2016, I plan on starting and participating in a pep band for the home basketball games. As a Horizon Leader, I can offer a different perspective of any stereotypes anyone may have already made. Since I am biracial with White and African American, I am apart of extremely different cultures in my everyday life. As a Horizon Leader I can inform and influence current students on the cultures I am exposed to, that they may not be. As a minority, I feel like it is my job and responsibility to be the representation of the Black community. But not only the black community, but the multiracial community as well, because being multiracial is a culture

Race has shaped our world greatly, as we have slowly learned that just because someone’s skin is darker does not mean they are any less of a person. For example, Rosa Parks was one of the first black people to stand up for themselves. Black people were told to sit at the back of the bus but Rosa did not follow these rules. She was asked to move but she did not give up her seat, that was closer to the front. She taught us that just because she is black does not mean she deserves less respect. Another example is, Hate Crimes.in 1989 a law was passed that added the black community to hate crimes, which means that if someone hurt them because of the colour of their skin there will be severe consequences. This was passed to show that the government

The concept of race keeps me up all night, bothers me all day. The fact that something can be so important but at the same time so unimportant boggles me. Something that makes people unique binds them together. After nights being awake pondering this idea, and days researching its consequences, I have realized that race is something that does not fit into neat little boxes. It is not something we as a society can file under a certain category. With this realization, the events on the news that tell of racial tensions all over the world, and the resulting prejudice and terror that surround them stay active in my mind. Now, when I close my eyes and try to go to asleep, when I once again visualize the horrific reports of hate attacks and loss that covered the media is clusters, I visualize myself too- getting an education and using it to be part of a change. Then I wake up in the morning and put my plans to action to help resolve these issues that plague the world each and every

I do not particularly like when people use this phrase so lightly and to refer to something that is presumably in style. I have not used it myself, even when growing up when it used to be “acceptable”. I personally have a cousin that it’s a few years older than me and due to the era and country we grew up, the resources, for the children and the parents as well, were not available. Her disability was extremely severe strike and my aunt had to put her in an institution, even when she didn’t want to. I did hear other people using the term and it did stroke a chord every time someone would say it – even to this day.

Racial Inequality Situation : A black man in jail thinking about the unfair society I had a pencil the year I came to jail It wore out in a week from writing Penning down my thoughts for all I can Crying in the jail cell counting the bars I sat down on the cold floor with many scars I was all alone No family, no friends, separated from home

I’d like to say I’m a very unique person. Not because of my hair, the way I dress, or how I look, but because of the unique things I bring with the person I am. All my life I’ve been the minority. From my preschool, to my church, my elementary and high school. Being black is something I embrace. I love my melanin skin tone, my nappy hair and I love teaching others about being a young black educated women. It hasn’t always been like that though. For majority of my life I use to try and fit in with the crowd. I use to always wear my hair straight so I could look like the girl standing next to me. My natural hair was beautiful too my mom and everyone else around me, but I felt like I had to step up and wear my hair straight everyday just to feel

I think if we had more knowledge on one another race we can develop more of a understanding about our background and heritage. And also as I had to grow up I had to learn who I am and from my experiences life taught me who I am and that is black and still to this day I believe as a African American we don’t have justice for all we have a percentage of justice that we are given. And some powered Americans think that we are buffoons with lack of knowledge but as I grow I want to make a difference and change that. As I get older and wiser io want to change that and help our young black kids be the best that they can be. And go into refugee neighborhoods and help out with the with kids and give things that the parents cant afford and give back to the communities. I always go online and watch slam poetry and it helps me see into a situation that I had no experience

During lunch at the campus cafeteria, Mildred noticed the dirty tables, the overworked cashiers and the exorbitant price for a watery soda.

I am a rebel in my own right. Although I only somewhat listen to punk music, and don’t wear heavy chains and jackets, I challenge all authority constantly. Not arbitrary questioning, rather defined targeting of the capitalistic patriarchal system. I proudly wear upon my chest that I am a Feminist, and I will never be shamed for being who and what I am.