Reflection On My Racial Identity

Through writing about my racial identity and ethnicity, I will discuss how my life has been impacted by my ethnic identity and the society that I live in. I will also discuss the sociological aspect of my ethnic identity. I will discuss what my racial identity is, how I define it, how it has changed, and how I interact with others in the same group as me. It is important to discuss my own experiences to better understand the experiences of others. My racial identity is white. I am white but I have ancestry from England, Germany, Scotland, and Ireland. Out of all of these I would say that I am predominantly English and German because both of my parents say that they are predominantly English and German. However, I am not certain that this completely …show more content…
It was different for my grandparents and parents than how it is today. It is different because your race and ethnicity meant everything when my grandparents were my age. They all had what they thought to be the upper hand when they were my age because of their skin color. They were all white so they had more advantages. They had advantages against the African American people. They were able to sit at the front of the public busses, use certain water fountains, and they were able to eat in certain sections of restaurants. Besides this, they were also at an academic advantage. According to my grandmother, some people were not allowed to attend certain schools because they were for people of a certain race. There were not actual rules that said they could not go to the schools, but it was the social norm at the time. The schools that most of the white people went to were better because teachers were more comfortable to teach in that setting. The African Americans and Latinos did not get the same treatment. Therefore, this lead my grandparents to believe that they were superior to other races, which was not good. As years passed, during my parents’ generation, there was not the same treatment like during the my grandparents’ generation. There was not much of superiority. There was a good amount of equality, but it was not perfect. My mother told me that there was no separation in classrooms and in public locations like when my …show more content…
It affects my life chances positively and negatively. It affects my life chances positively because I have a roof over my head and I am able to earn money by working. Compared to other races, I am lucky because I have these abilities. Not everyone is lucky enough to have all of these. My parents were approved to get a mortgage and be able to own our house. It is unfortunate, but some banks and other sources of financing do not approve people for mortgages because of their race. They are stereotypical and do not believe that everyone can pay back the money that they borrow. The banks do not say that is their reasoning for it, but I have heard of this happening. I am lucky that I am able to have a job and be able to earn money. Many employers discriminate against people for a bunch of different reasons. More times than not, it is because of race. They are not allowed to do that, but who can tell when they say that they are not right for the job. If they say that they are sorry and they are not choosing you for the job, they do not say it is because of their race but it is. One of my former employers did this. She chose not to employ a woman because she was Latino and was afraid she would not understand English. This actually made me upset because it made me think that I was hired because I could speak and write English. I know that it is not the only reason why I was hired, but it made me realize that this happens all