The Power Of Assumptions Activity

Each and every person on this Earth today has an identity. Over the years, each individual creates their identity through past experiences, family, race, and many other factors. Race, which continues to cause problems in today’s world, places individuals into certain categories. Based on their race, people are designated to be part of a larger, or group identity instead of being viewed as a person with a unique identity. Throughout Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard is on a search for his true identity. Throughout Black Boy, one can see that Richard’s racial background assigns him with a certain identity or a certain way in which some

Society has a way of making assumptions based on one’s physical characteristics. Often at times we categorize individuals to a particular social group. In regard to society’ perception of an individual this however, contributes to the development of social construction of racism. Most people want to be identified as individuals rather than a member of specific social group. As a result, our social identity contains different categories or components that were influenced or imposed. For example, I identify as a, Jamaican, Puerto Rican and a person of color. I identify racially as a person of color and ethically as Jamaican and Puerto Rican. According to Miller and Garren it’s a natural human response for people to make assumptions solely

When I was young I didn’t really realize the impact of being African-American until high school. I went to a predominately white school for elementary and middle school. I was just like any other youth. I had my group of friends who were white; I was active in school activities and clubs. I was a student athlete and I got along well with my teachers. Everyone saw me as an upbeat person with a bubbly personality. Surprisingly, race was never brought up it wasn’t an issue for me during that period of my life. However, as I got older I realize there was a difference. As an adult I could really see the prejudice in others. I recall working a on a special project for the

In his essay, “Racial Identities”, Kwame Anthony Appiah addresses the topic of racial identification. He describes how and why it’s hard not to identify someone based on their race. Today in the United States, racial identification is quite relevant. People judge and stereotype others based on race. Classifying people based on their looks isn’t bad, it’s the negative attitudes and labels that come with it. Racial identification is hard for most people to avoid, is detrimental due to the bad attitudes people have, negatively affects people’s lifestyles, and divide people.

Throughout this course, I have read many articles that have left distinct imprints on how I view things. I used to think of gender, race and class as something natural and meaningful. However, after this course I am inclined to feel differently. It is truly upsetting that each social construct results in some type of disadvantage for some and empowerment for others.

All four pieces were enlightening, but there was one particular piece that really opened my eyes about race and the different reasons that individuals may or may not use the concept to help define who they are. The article by Johnston, Pizzolato and Kanny examined the ways by which individuals may or may not utilize the concept of race to form their sense of identity. It may be self-centered, but I had never really thought that other people might have a different way of thinking of race as part of their identity. I had just assumed that everyone understood race as I understood it; and so that everyone else’s race also was ingrained and played a part of their identity in the way that I believed race played a role in my sense of self. However, as I read the piece and the authors explained the ways by which the participants identified race s playing a role in their identity I was surprised. I

My block was a melting pot of people but my high school was not. After entering high school is when I realized that I was white or Caucasian. During this time, I was also given the

The Helms White Racial Identity Development Model identifies six racial identity statuses (Sue & Sue, 2016). These statuses include contact, disintegration, reintegration, pseudo-independence, immersion/emersion, and autonomy. Each of these statuses identifies characteristics that individuals in these statuses have. I traveled through theses statuses and believe I am currently in the immersion/emersion status. During different points in the model, I learned about race and myself that allowed me to move through each status, and currently working towards entering autonomy.

     Identity is one of the main questions throughout all of our readings, because it is hard for people to accept who they are in society. Accepting their identity as a minority with little if any freedoms

Identity, stereotypes, and assumptions are all powerful words. All three words connect together but they have their own separate meanings. Identity has to do with the fact of being who a person is. Stereotypes are assumptions that people make about a group of individuals. Assumptions are what people think about others and accept it as true without any evidence. Stereotypes and assumptions go hand in hand and they can keep a person away from their own identity. In the essay, “Just Walk on by,” by Brent Staples, he discusses many incidents of individuals stereotyping, and making assumptions about him throughout his life. He does not have an individual identity because he was always assumed by others to be something he was not. Brent Staples’

I totally agree with the assertion of A. Blemenfeld that those identification aspects that capture my attention are the targets of others people’s attention that is reflected back to me (Blumenfeld, 2010). Even though, I was always open-minded and had a friendly relationship with almost anybody, I felt that my racial identity was a part of a problem. As I was the only student of color, I felt alienated sometimes.

Identifying the type of racial identity that one person is can be difficult for some people. I became aware of my racial identity when I was still in elementary school. When I was younger my hometown in a racial aspect was generally people of white descendants, but we had neighboring towns that had

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

My assumptions regarding this subpopulation are that they are low-income and often undereducated. Beede’s (1980) evaluation of a collection of studies found the public was at a fault and a few acknowledge that the medical community shares some of this blame due to gaps in patient education from health care workers (HCW). Depending on who you ask, some sources allege laziness, lack of motivation, poor education, and other more radical claims. I think very few of these claims have any basis in fact, as there is no research to back them up.

Another unstated assumption comes from Organ’s point about not wanting to put her son in a protective bubble. The unstated assumption, in this case, is her belief that other parents who do this to their children are hurting their development and are not making their children’s lives as enjoyable as they could have otherwise been. Evidence for this assumption comes from when Organ says, I worried that by putting football in the off-limits category, I would be engaging in the kind of overprotective parenting that so often backfires…”(Organ). This is providing evidence for the warrant by proving how she has this certain negative belief of parents who do that to their