Racial And Cultural Identity

According to the Hay’s addressing model, my cultural identities as a Latina woman of low socioeconomic status makes me part of non-dominant groups. My identities set me apart from the majority population which means that; I am perceived inferior than those of dominant groups. My lineage constitutes of indigenous ancestors that like me, share a darker skin tone that till this day is seen imperfect.

Throughout the ages, humans from all over the world have created and accepted honorable cultures which they feel a strong connection to and are dependent upon. One’s way of living demonstrates nationality, religion, ethnicity, and art. People who have more than one culture, have been torn between two worlds that have eventually affected their lives. The cultural identities portrayed in both Self Portrait: On the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States by Frida Kahlo and “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora are shown through the symbolism, theme/message, and persona created in the works.

As a teacher, it is important to know and understand the racial and cultural identities of both yourself, and your students. Knowing about your students’ backgrounds is a great way to make the classroom a safe and welcoming environment. Not all educational settings emit a feeling of safety to its students, and that needs to be changed. In this paper, I will discuss how my racial and cultural identity may be the same and may differ from my students, as well as some ways in which the institution of education can be changed to be more racially and culturally inclusive.

Describe how identities (i.e., religious, gender, ethnic, racial, class, sexual orientation, disability, and/or age) are shaped by cultural and societal influences in contexts of equality and inequality

There is a Mexican man that enters with the rest of his family. They eat beans, rice, flour tortillas and etc. The family does there every day routine, the dad wakes up at six- thirty to go to work in his truck. The children go to school and the mother stays at home. The things a person does in their all has a reason which goes all back to culture. Culture is what makes up everyone different from one another. Texts such as “What is Cultural Identity?”, “Where Worlds Collide” and “Two ways to Belong” supports that depending on one’s culture it effects one perspective on the world and others.

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.

Does someone's cultural identity affect how they look at the world an other people? Cultural identity affects how someone looks at the world and how they look at others. The culture that someone creates for themselves determines how they look at the world and someone. Your childhood, lessons you learn throughout your life, and your cultural heritage all effect your culture and how you look at people and the world. There is also some people that are not affected by their culture only affected by their childhood and lessons that they grew up with in other words there not affected by their parent's culture heritage their affected by their culture they made for themselves. Culture affects everyone and the extent of the effect determines how

Cultural messages regarding ethnic and racial identity was more implicit then explicit. Racial and ethnic messages were more implicit because Americans, especially the white majority, are uncomfortable with race discussions (Irving, 2014; Picca, & Thompson-Miller, 2016). In Pembroke the majority of the residents are white so I had little interaction with people that were racially or ethnically different then myself. I also never had any interaction with an English Language Learner. Due to the majority of Pembroke residents being white, I did not talk a lot about race. More importantly, my white privilege allowed me to never have to talk about race (Irving, 2014; Picca, & Thompson-Miller, 2016). Instead it was through the actions of my

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

In my present job, I had to question whether I belong because being a female, my co-worker saw me as inferior. At that point, I felt more proud than ever because I challenge them to outdo me in performance and intellect. There were times when I started to doubt my potential, but I had to do self-talk, put on an armorer of bravery, hold my head high, and pretend to be just as capable until it happened.

In many perspectives, racial identities mean the differences in appearances of individuals especially with regards to the color of skin. Racial identities are mostly determined genetically or biologically. This includes traits like hair, bone structure color of the eyes etc. In recent times the biological determination of race has been disputed by social scientists who also propounds that races have more fluid social contexts.

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.

In the same way, I used the RESPECTFUL model to identify aspects of my culture and personality it can be used additionally to determine areas of growth in my character (Ivey et al., 2008, p. 26). Growing up I never had much interaction with those from different ethnic or racial backgrounds as the community I lived in was composed of mostly European Americans. This leads to struggles within myself pertaining to communication with those from different ethnic or racial background than myself. Although, I was not intentional in acquiring this part of my person it was absorbed through the absence of ethnic and racial diversity in the community that I was a part of throughout my childhood and early young adult life. Now, this fact is something which has left me with uncomfortable feelings when surrounded by differing people.

Race, a term for which the general public has no formal definition for but is rather more presumably a social, rather than a biological construct. A confusing boxed phenomenon sought about by social conformity of agreeing to believing a certain idea exists. Throughout time, humans have constantly thirsted for self-definition and identity. The concept of races ultimately has developed over time and is inextricably linked to power. Although some may presume race is a biological construct, these romantic critics are often too dogmatic in their provincial ideologies. Unlike race and racial identity, the economic, political and social, meanings of race or belonging in a group have not been as fluid. Race in my eyes is a vague term used to define a vast group of people by historically contingent, ancestral, or socially significant fundamental elements.

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.