I am Cierra Howard. A 15 year old African American/ Indian Christian female. My skin is a light shade of caramel of which they call “lightskin”. This makes everyone question whether I’m mixed with African and Caucasian. I am 5’3 with brown hair and brown eyes.…
When I first began this assignment, I thought that the question, “Who am I?,” was a very difficult one to answer. However, as I began to answer the question, there came to light some interesting similarities. If I were to categorize each of my answers in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, race, or religion, then I believe I only addressed those with the first and fifth time answering the question. My first answer was, “I am a white male American who attends school and goes to work.” That answer provides information about how I see my physical self in context with the culture I live in.…
Crack open a dictionary and there would be a bountiful of adjectives to describe me. I am quirky but well composed, shy but very loud, and sometimes a bit dimwitted but also secretly a genius. Unfortunately people do not take time to learn things in depth, they simply judge from looks. As a result, to people I am a hispanic girl; a person who probably barely graduated high school, probably lives in the bad side of town, and may indulge in some illegal hobbies here and there. News flash, I am much more than than what hollywood depicts my culture to be.…
This was a challenge because I wanted for people to like me and be my friend in high school, but this was the time to establish I was a certain person. At first, I would reveal my ethnicity of Guatemalan and El Salvadorean and people would respond, “ Isn’t that in Mexico?” or “It is the same thing as Mexican.” This actually disturbed me because I had travelled to both Guatemala and El Salvador and as to Mexico, but Mexico lacked something that the other countries had and that was family. I kept my emotions within me, half nodded, dropped my eyes to the ground, and agreed with them.…
That one GIRL: ME Who am I? It’s the same question everyone has about themselves, but do you ever have an answer for that? Do you know who you actually are?…
Societies are constantly changing, so when I go for vacation the DR the way my cousins speak, the songs the talk about and even the jokes they make, are foreign to me. It means hearing people talk about The Fresh Prince of Belair in school and being the only person not participating in the conversation. All in all, being Hispanic means different things to different people, but for me, it means having a close relationship to my family, being able to navigate through two different worlds, yet not fitting in in neither…
I am Mexican and I have a large family. These are facts I have known my whole life; however, it never really hit me what they meant until I was thirteen. I did not know it was such a strong stereotype that my family conformed with. Once, there was a time when I was with my family holding my twin siblings hands and speaking with my mother in Spanish while we neared the checkout of a store.…
The ethnic heritage of Mexicans is mixed, with alternating combinations of African, Indigenous, and European ancestry. Therefore, Mexicans are heterogeneous in their genetic characteristics, differing from having light to brown or dark eye color and skin with several in the brown and mestizo middle. However, innumerable Americans tend to view Mexicans through the stereotypical lens of being non-white or brown, yet to a great extend indigenous-looking. On account of the previous statements, I, Mexican-American, usually provide enigmatical responses to questions based on race, perhaps reflecting my own uncertainty about my race and…
but I'm Mexican that talks English and I'm American because I live in America and I understand more of the American culture. To my family I'm their Mexican girl that eat a lot of Mexican food everyday I mostly embrace my Mexican culture but in the end I talk English . English was the first language so that part of my American side and I talk Spanish too . Many people assume I'm…
I been in Houston, Texas all my life and never felt a stranger in America. My story was common in the East End and I could identify with many children growing up who also retained their cultural Mexican American identities. Area schools I attended were predominantly Hispanic and it was easily to identify with girls my age in similar…
I am, in all aspects of the word, a Mexican. My skin is brown and my family is large. I've done more physical labor in my life than most people I know will ever will. I speak both English and Spanish fluently and although I was born in America, I am a minority. Much like every other immigrant, my parents came to America because they wanted me and my siblings to have the lives they could not.…
My Cultural Identity What comes to mind when you hear that I am Hispanic? That I am Mexican; that I eat spicy food; that I play soccer; that my parents came into this country illegally? Many times that is what I feel when people say that about me. Hispanic is a term that is used to identify many cultures that come from Latin countries. Do you know how many Latin countries are in North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean?…
The way Caucasians would look at my culture in my hometown is…
Labeling the outside appearance of yourself does not shape identity, culture is what outlines you as a person. In the essay “Blaxicans” and Other Reinvented Americans” Richard Rodriguez argues his point on different diversities accessing America’s boarders to get in the country as well as immigrants from other countries are expanding themselves all over America. He explains how Americans begin to question their status. Richard Rodriguez is Mexican- American. He views himself to be Chinese because he surrounded himself with people in that community and made their culture the American society.…
¬¬Cultural and ethnic identities are not things that you are born with. Sure your ethnic heritage may determine things like the color of your skin, but an ethnic identity stretches far deeper than just skin color. Cultural and ethnic identities are things that are learned over time. They are formed through a collection of teachings, experiences, and choices. This autobiography will explore how my ethnic and cultural identities developed throughout my life.…