Module 2 Reflection

I am a proud African American woman. Born and raised in Chicago, I was lucky to have key figures around me to influence my personality. I built my culture from my grandmother, family, neighbors, teachers, and friends. The parties played an instrumental role in shaping my culture. I was raised as a Christian owing to the influence of my environment. Going to a public school also shaped my cultural identity. I was often disturbed about my origin owing to the fact that I was light-skinned, and had long hair, and green eyes. These were not characteristics associated with African Americans. As a result, many people would be lived that I had a mixed racial identity from African American and white. I had difficulty understanding my cultural identity due to my complexion which was different from those of my family members (Usborne & de la Sablonnière, 2014). When I was young, my grandmother informed me that our forefathers came to America as slaves. I came to learn more about slavery and race in high school, which enabled me to have a better understanding of my cultural identity.

The awareness of my own cultural identity is an important ordeal. It is good to know your origin so that you understand your personality better. Naturally, human beings need a sense of belonging because they are social beings. Understanding my origin and cultural identity enables me to know who I am so that I do not get mistreated (Usborne & de la Sablonnière, 2014). Having understood my cultural identity, I find it easy to appreciate the culture of every child. I would accommodate all children because I would understand why they behave in some way. For instance, I was light-skinned, unlike other kids. My teachers were unfair to me because of my complexion. There was confusion on whether I was really black. I would not subject children to such traumatizing encounters of questioning their origin.

Reference

Usborne, E., & de la Sablonnière, R. (2014). Understanding my culture means understanding myself: The function of cultural identity clarity for personal identity clarity and personal psychological well‐being. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 44(4), 436-458.