Cultural Identity In Ethnic Hash By Patricia J. Williams

Few people actually consider what their “real” ethnicity is. Often people think of race, and religion, when considering their ethnicity. To avoid stereotyping, one should learn the real definition of cultural identity. According to “What is Cultural Identity?” cultural identity is “ … a shared language, history, geography, and (frequently) physical characteristics” (Trumbull Pacheco pg. 9). In “Ethnic Hash,” Patricia J. Williams writes about her personal discovery of her cultural identity. She teaches the audience that cultural identity is the history of you and your family.

At the beginning of her story, Patricia J. Williams viewed cultural identity as purely her race. Her initial response to the dish was to list her cultural background, which includes “Welsh…Cherokee…Scottish…French-Canadian…and West African” (Williams pg. 13). She also discusses her experiences in light of her race; she had not experienced racism based on the color of her skin. Additionally, Williams explains her parents’ backgrounds‒her father is from Georgia and her mother is from New England (Williams pgs 13-14). Although Williams had a vague understanding of cultural identity in the beginning, her understanding grows as she considers her

Her dish was a metaphor for her cultural identity. Williams decides she will cook “Chicken with Spanish Rice and Not-Just-Black Beans” (Williams 14). She uses chicken because her family ate chicken often growing up. She includes Spanish rice because ancestors were Spanish. Finally, she adds not-just-black beans to represent how diverse her culture truly is. This references her thoughts on the interracial box on the census form: “the concept seems so historically vague, so cheerfully open-ended, as to be virtually meaningless” (Williams 13). From this, the reader can infer that Williams has changed her way of thinking; she now embraces her ethnicity within her