Personal Narrative: My Typical Black Experience

I grew up in two seemingly separate worlds: black and white. My everyday life is lived primarily in the "white world". I went to a Catholic grade school where less than 1% of the population was black, I spend holidays with my mom 's Irish family in Ohio, and I live in the white suburbs of Kansas. I have never been able to relate to the "typical black experience". My dad is a first generation immigrant from Ghana. My sisters and I grew up with some of my dad 's Ghanaian family traditions like African music every Sunday morning and African meals every Sunday night. We often went to Ghanaian celebrations around our hometown and absorbed the unique culture. My sisters and I were younger then, so as we danced carelessly, we did not recognize the single thing that made us so different from the rest of the Ghanaian community.

A few years ago, I got the opportunity to visit my dad 's family in Ghana. My experience was great; I met many of my relatives and learned more about my familial and cultural history. Although my trip to Africa was enjoyable, I was the outsider the entire time we were there. The feeling of being on the outside has followed me for my entire life, because of the color of …show more content…
As mentioned above, being mixed means that I live in both the white and black worlds. This gives me an understanding of both sides of arguments about race. I have lived outside of the typical black American culture my entire life, and I think that gives me a different perspective from many other people. I have heard the white side of my family questioning whether racism even exists today, and belittling the struggles African-Americans face. On the other hand, I have seen firsthand the intolerance, stereotyping, and discrimination throughout my entire life. Being one of two black students in my class in grade school, I have been on the receiving end of many racist comments and