In the article “Don’t Misread My Signals” Judith Ortiz Cofer explains the religious and cultural differences between other countries. She shares incidents, in the early stages of her life, such as the stereotypes and discriminatory opinions from others she was faced with. She was judged by her society for her appearance because she was a woman from Puerto Rico and had experienced racist situations when she first arrived in the United States. Cofer’s article begins with a flashback to her college days where she was experiencing harassment from an unknown young male who came from pub. Cofer was truly was concerned about terrible remarks made about stereotypes related to her race. The racial challenges presented in “Don’t Misread My Signals”
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We both understand the sense of inferiority that comes with being minorities in a predominantly white country like the United States. We have similarities despite being different races. This is a quote from Cofer’s article that I can relate to,“ I often felt humiliated when I appeared at an American friend’s birthday party wearing a dress more suitable for semi-formal”. Like Cofer I felt ashamed going to fancy malls and parties due to my average appearances with others. In fact I felt like I like I was misplaced most of times for class. Being a Haitian-American students would often assume I was poor due to unknown brand I would wear. Culture is a little piece within us all to me it defines all race backgrounds in my opinion. Growing up with strict parents, I didn’t get the luxury to purchase well known brands like the other students. The high class students would often come in with the latest clothes or accessories impersonating their favorite celebrities while they made fun of a minority such as myself. To me dressing fancy meant you are popular wearing all latest well known brands such as Jordan’s, North Face and Adidas. You receive better attention when wearing expensive clothing and less are likely to made fun of. Clothing usually defines the type of person you are. It was frustrating watching spoiled kids receive all expensive brands and accessories while I couldn 't duplicate their style. …show more content…
That happened to her due her ethnicity which is unfortunate. The author considers herself lucky due to her education and recognizes that many women like her didn’t have that opportunity and have to “struggle against the misconceptions perpetuated by the myth of of the Latina as a whore, domestic worker, or criminal.” I was fortunate that I didn’t have to experience any of those harassments growing up. Being a young black male, the media will portray me as a negative person and poorly educated. While we were young, we both had to learn to ignore the verbal abuse, opinions and stereotypes one might have against us. The author’s experiences mainly discusses cultural differences between the United States while my experience involves racism against my race that have been going on for over 30
We both understand the sense of inferiority that comes with being minorities in a predominantly white country like the United States. We have similarities despite being different races. This is a quote from Cofer’s article that I can relate to,“ I often felt humiliated when I appeared at an American friend’s birthday party wearing a dress more suitable for semi-formal”. Like Cofer I felt ashamed going to fancy malls and parties due to my average appearances with others. In fact I felt like I like I was misplaced most of times for class. Being a Haitian-American students would often assume I was poor due to unknown brand I would wear. Culture is a little piece within us all to me it defines all race backgrounds in my opinion. Growing up with strict parents, I didn’t get the luxury to purchase well known brands like the other students. The high class students would often come in with the latest clothes or accessories impersonating their favorite celebrities while they made fun of a minority such as myself. To me dressing fancy meant you are popular wearing all latest well known brands such as Jordan’s, North Face and Adidas. You receive better attention when wearing expensive clothing and less are likely to made fun of. Clothing usually defines the type of person you are. It was frustrating watching spoiled kids receive all expensive brands and accessories while I couldn 't duplicate their style. …show more content…
That happened to her due her ethnicity which is unfortunate. The author considers herself lucky due to her education and recognizes that many women like her didn’t have that opportunity and have to “struggle against the misconceptions perpetuated by the myth of of the Latina as a whore, domestic worker, or criminal.” I was fortunate that I didn’t have to experience any of those harassments growing up. Being a young black male, the media will portray me as a negative person and poorly educated. While we were young, we both had to learn to ignore the verbal abuse, opinions and stereotypes one might have against us. The author’s experiences mainly discusses cultural differences between the United States while my experience involves racism against my race that have been going on for over 30