How living in a white neighborhood formed me
I grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois. It is a village of 75,000 people located forty-five minutes north west of Chicago. Race was never an issue in my life. I never felt racially profiled, and never been judged for being white. Race is not something I am confident in talking about, and is not something I am comfortable discussing. I attended Rolling Meadows High School where twenty-five percent of the students are Hispanic, and that was my first real experience with different cultures, and different races. Growing up in a white community, a lot is different in my day-to-day life that I do not understand, and frankly, do not know about what it feels to grow up beautiful. …show more content…
He traveled the United States trying to find a place to settle and start a family. He chose a community called Andersonville in Chicago, Illinois. This small community of Swedish immigrants is the birthplace my Grandfather. Bruce Erickson lived in Andersonville until he left for a small Christian school located in St. Paul, Minnesota called Bethel College. After marrying Carol Peterson, my grandparents moved back to Chicago, but this time out to the suburbs. Fast forward thirty years, and I am born. To a white family, in a white neighborhood, in a white suburb of …show more content…
My parents raised me to love my neighbor as myself, and to treat others the way that I want to be treated. I just assumed that this goes for everyone, including those of other races. My opinion of race is based on love. And not the love that I can give, but the agape love that Jesus provides. The love that Jesus died to show. I do not peg African Americans as criminals, and I don’t think of them in a different way than I do my white brother and sisters. This is derived from my upbringing and lack of racial tension at home. Growing up Christian really formed my opinion on race and culture. I am proud to call myself white, and even prouder to call myself a Christian. My cultural identity was not formed through the media, or what society has been pouring into the culture of today. My identity was formed at home, with an open Bible. I was shaped by my parents respect for others, and their respect for God. The foundation of who I am today is not because of my school, neighbors, or church, but life parental figures, siblings, and faith that have formed my opinions on other races, cultures, and the world around