When I take an inventory of myself dealing with my culture and values I am reminded that values are intangible things that are important factors to us that guide us and become a process of our decision-making. As I pondered on the Ivey’s Respectful Model the top aspects of my identity that stood out most was religion/spirituality, trauma and family background. My religion, Christianity is my top aspect of my identity because it is the one thing that I consider as most valuable. Christianity has truly shaped and molded me into the young woman that I have become today. My mother reared me in the church from six months of age. We went to church faithfully every Wednesday for bible studies and every Sunday morning and evening. Although many children
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When I was in elementary school it was greatly diversified. I went to school and had friends of all races. In addition to this, during my childhood years I was introduced to many multiple cultures and had integrated relationships with them. I believe that stereotypes come from all different sources. Such as: family, school, and media. Stereotypes about black men are generally displayed on all media. It is easy to see on media black men going to prison, selling drugs, walking away from their children and fighting. However, it is hard to find images of black men as doctors, accountable fathers or businessmen. Although I had diverse friends I still had stereotypes. My uncles and cousins influenced my stereotypes. My cousin Jameel Ginn was killed July of 2000 in Long Beach. I would always hear side conversations of my uncles and cousins talking about how they were going to retaliate on Mexicans after my cousin death. In addition to this, my African American female cousin Cheryl Green was killed December of 2006 in her tiny Harbor Gateway neighborhood. My cousin was outside in broad daylight with several other African Americans, which were her friends when two Latino men approached them and without word one began to open fire. Hitting my little cousin in the stomach and wounding several of her friends. After these incidents that’s when my stereotypes towards Mexicans became negative. On the other hand, I began to change my thinking and attitudes towards Mexicans. As I watched the Ted Talk with Veronica Myers, I focused on the context of how she said stated things. There were two important words that stuck out to me which was breaking and building. Yes, biases exist within me but in order for me to break biases I must build relationships. In closing, you cannot change what you do not
When I was in elementary school it was greatly diversified. I went to school and had friends of all races. In addition to this, during my childhood years I was introduced to many multiple cultures and had integrated relationships with them. I believe that stereotypes come from all different sources. Such as: family, school, and media. Stereotypes about black men are generally displayed on all media. It is easy to see on media black men going to prison, selling drugs, walking away from their children and fighting. However, it is hard to find images of black men as doctors, accountable fathers or businessmen. Although I had diverse friends I still had stereotypes. My uncles and cousins influenced my stereotypes. My cousin Jameel Ginn was killed July of 2000 in Long Beach. I would always hear side conversations of my uncles and cousins talking about how they were going to retaliate on Mexicans after my cousin death. In addition to this, my African American female cousin Cheryl Green was killed December of 2006 in her tiny Harbor Gateway neighborhood. My cousin was outside in broad daylight with several other African Americans, which were her friends when two Latino men approached them and without word one began to open fire. Hitting my little cousin in the stomach and wounding several of her friends. After these incidents that’s when my stereotypes towards Mexicans became negative. On the other hand, I began to change my thinking and attitudes towards Mexicans. As I watched the Ted Talk with Veronica Myers, I focused on the context of how she said stated things. There were two important words that stuck out to me which was breaking and building. Yes, biases exist within me but in order for me to break biases I must build relationships. In closing, you cannot change what you do not