How Does Race Affect My Identity?

When filling out a questionnaire, it is only a matter of time before I come across the predictable: what is your race/ethnicity? I do not have to think long nor hard about my answer. In fact, I do not hesitate to pencil in African American. Why is that? It could very well be that at a glance my skin tone and accent is enough for people to quickly label me as such thus reaffirming my identity.

In reading Meet the poster child for “white privilege” – then have your mind blown, and, To the Princeton Privileged Kid, I can say that I somewhat see and agree with both points of view. I think that both have in some way miss interpreted what the other is saying. It amazes me how people don’t want to take matters into their own hands, and always find the need to have someone to blame for their issues, and shortcomings. Instead they just keep spewing out hate. Hate breeds hate, and we can 't keep fighting it all with more hate.

No matter what goes on the scale of power always tips back to the white citizens of the country just because of their skin color. When confronted with the idea of white privilege, white people often believe that they are being victimized by otherwise uncontrollable circumstances. “White fragility is a state where even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves including outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation” (Corrigan). When white people experience these feelings, they often label themselves as the victim in the situations, blaming others for confronting them based on uncomfortable or racially charged feelings. Even in situations where African Americans are being discriminated against in a non-deliberate way, white fragility shows that racial prejudice still exists even on a subconscious

In my opinion the poverty that some minority groups face has more to do with the personal situation of the individual and the discrimination they face, rather than anything either biologically or culturally inherited. I believe that the concept of race is socially constructed. Often times the words social construct is thrown around in discussion and work without being defined or understood. I believe that understanding what is meant by race in terms of it being a social construct is vital to realizing the capacity race has to affect other parts of society and life in

Especially when I take a look at the dynamics of the people I have met. Growing up from birth to middle school majority of my friends were white. I had some black friends too but I primarily chose my friends on things we had in common. My mother found this very concerning that I would only bring my white friend over to the house.

And even now our society feels the repercussions of the old fashioned concept, having slavery for a shameful amount of time and still feeling the ripples of segregation from the mid-to-late 1960s. Race is not only useless and based in fake facts, but also has been nothing but a crutch on the people who it affects, which is most

I believed that Whites and Blacks were equal however there were no African Americans in my grade school classes from K through ninth grade. There is truth to the assertion that parents’, relatives’ and friends’ negative reactions to people of minority races do send mixed messages to children (Sue & Sue, 2014). I recall that occasionally my father would make negative comments regarding an individual’s ethnicity which demonstrated to me that people could be judged by others based on their ethnic

I am an international student from Vietnam who came to the United States to pursue higher education. I was brought up in a very unique culture and family traditions, and this has had a strong influence on my beliefs and mindsets. Together with all the experiences that I have been through so far in my life, I have formed some social and personal identities that I might or might be aware of. Such identifies are an important tool that can stay with me and remind me every day of who I am and my origin.

People see whiteness because they experience its effects. A useful comparison can be drawn between the unrecognised privileges of males, and those of white people (McIntosh, 1988). It is not unusual for men to acknowledge that women are disadvantaged. With that said, McIntosh (1988) argues that white privilege is in the same manner without recognition and thus preserved. McIntosh (1988) views white privilege as an invisible collection of unearned assets that is of benefit to white people on a daily basis.

Racial identity plays a role in the physical and psychological features of humans. Physically, humans in different parts of the globe endure different conditions and environments. Humans adapt to their environments and obtain different physical traits, henceforth, these physical traits have become adjacent to race. Psychologically, ancestral prejudices and influences throughout history have lingered through the generations and have impacted modern racial identities and tensions. Ethnic conflicts of the past such as the Social Darwinist theory of a "superior race" are morally refuted in current times, but that assumption had a brunt impact in which the world is still repairing today.

(Benjamin,2015) This quote made me realize how important and consistent racism is. Neither one of us felt that we were judged by our race when attending school or a label put on us individually, but as an entire race there were things that stood apart from each other. Another similarity was that we both felt comfortable at school and received the

Whether or not a white individual choose to identify as

Introduction The concept of identity has been a notion of significant interest not just to sociologists and psychologists, but also to individuals found in a social context of perpetually trying to define themselves. Often times, identities are given to individuals based on their social status within a certain community, after the assessment of predominant characteristics that said individual has. However, within the context of an ethnicity, the concept identity is most probably applied to all members of the ethnical group, and not just one individual. When there is one identity designated for the entire group, often times the factor of “individuality” loses its significance, especially when referring to the relationship between the ethnic

Each individual has their own different social identity. One’s social identity is constructed based on the different influences around them. The development of social identity is influenced by various factors such as the historical, cultural and religious beliefs of the society, community or family where one is brought up. It is influenced by the behaviours and attitudes of authority figures such as parents, teachers and community leaders around them, it is also influenced by external factors such as the media, one’s peers and the overall exposure one has (Carrim, 2006, p56).

Self-identity is defined as the recognition of one's potential and qualities as an individual, especially in relation to social context. In other words, self-understanding. Finding self-identity is more more difficult for some people than others. In the autobiography Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, the author reflects on her identity as a mixed raced individual which is illustrated through Walker’s reflections. People define themselves in many different ways.