Hyphenated Selves Analysis

Not being able to know one’s identity during adolescence can lead to do drugs, commit theft, fail school, and be blind on what to do with their life. This is what James McBride had to go through during his adolescence. Growing up in a black community with a white mother can be very confusing and stressful. He employs rhetorical devices throughout his text in order to develop his epiphany regarding his mother’s life and by, extension, his own. Through the use of appeals and tone James McBride reveals the importance of education and religion, but above all else McBride mostly focuses on finding his identity, trying to understand race as he was growing up, and shows how his mother played an important role in his life

This week, the readings point the spotlight at the some of the depressing hardships that the African-American population frequently experience. In “Naughty by Nature”, Ann Ferguson covers the different perceptions that society has of colored boys. David Knight’s work “Don’t tell young black males that they are endangered” seeks to explain the differents outcomes of African-American youth that arise when society constantly oppresses them. The last article by Carla O’Connor, “The Culture of Black Femininity and School Success”, focuses on the image of African-American woman that is created as a result of them attempting to preserve in a system that opposes them.

When you look at me what do you see? To society, I’m a black female who fits the stereotypical “wanna-be” black female wanting to have white hair textures. They watch carefully as I walk past them; afraid of my “black girl capabilities” solely based off of stereotypes that have been carelessly passed down from generation to generation. They think, “She’s probably unhappy with her dark complexion”. They wonder, “Why does she look so angry, it’s probably just another angry black woman.” With my big lips, high cheek bones, angled facial structures, they deem me pretty for a dark-skinned female. They view me as uneducated “like the rest”, unhappy because of family problems, as having third-grade vocabulary; simply, incompetent. Fortunately, their

The article by Dorothy Roberts focuses around how race was invented. She talks about how and why people of different cultures were treated differently. It reflected on the different laws that “assigned” people to certain races and how it was different from state to state. In the second chapter Roberts talks about how people aren’t that different from each other genetically but we still focus on that 0.1%.

Throughout my childhood, I never recieved many direct messages regarding my racial identity. I was never truly exposed to the idea of racial identity until the age of around 11. The sheltered community I grew up in, Hinsdale, was 94% Caucasian when I was born. In turn, many of the male adults in Hinsdale were, and still are, in the center margin. This created a general silencing regarding race, teaching me that I am not supposed to discuss race, which is evidently false. Not only did the members of my distant community not directly or indirectly discuss race, but my parents never had a distinct conversation with me about it.

Even though I have never been on an airplane, I consider myself an international traveler. I live in the U.S. but I also have Lebanese immigrant parents. When I was younger, I used travel back and forth across international borders to fulfill my daily routine in one city. But; I was never Arab enough to fit in with “Arab” natives, and being Arab means that I would never be considered “American” enough. Because of this, I suffered from “identity jet lag”; and I always questioned where I belonged. My first stigma to my identity wasn’t from the outside world, but from the people who looked like me; Muslim/Arab women are often discouraged from following their passions, and told to follow a more traditional role. But as I grew older, I recognized

American Muslim Hijabis fight for social consciousness and social justice, advocating for cultural diffusion rather than the removal of a symbol of cultural identity. She concludes, “This more than a fabric its choosing to be different and a nonconformist and wearing it with pride”(Gomma). This is an act of empowerment, and liberation from societal popular expectations in regards to “beauty,identity,race, and culture”(Gomaa). Women like Mariam Gomma exemplify the points that the hijab is a choice, and doesn’t limit their potential or ability whatsoever.These sources paint a different narrative from the ostracized and victimized American Muslim woman that is oppressed by the hijab, but of strong, empowered women moving forward to fight for their rights and their identity in our culture liberated by the hijab.

An obstacle that my mother has faced is being Black Muslim women in America. It 's more of a problem than what reaches the surface and mainstream media. It 's rarely talked about in America. In america there are people who want to smear our entire faith and say that Islam is an inherently violent religion. These are exciting times to be an American Muslim. My mom said it was harder for her getting a job from being a black woman and her religious beliefs. Two negatives that have been around before she was boring the civil rights movement and women 's suffrage. I’m not here to talk about her being black, but being a Muslim women in america. The easy target for prejudice and violence and harsh words from uneducated people in the world and in

Within the world of academia, aptitude and intelligence are usually measured by standardized testing and the level of information one can attain within a certain amount of time. When a particular group consistently scores lower than another in terms of performance, the group with the lower score is considered to be inferior, or subordinate. Throughout the years there has been a noticeable disparity between African American students and European American students as it relates to education. However, are the differences and experiences that accompany the African-American culture being factored in when

Growing up, I dreaded going to school. People shouting at me, people pointing at me, snickering at me. Never being ordinary. I would get home and go to the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror, tasting salt water on the tip of my lips. Wondering why I couldn’t fit in with everyone else. Wondering why nobody wanted to be my friend, coming to the realization that I had to endure all of this because of one simple thing: my skin color. A dark side of the nation reared its ghastly head in the 1950s and 60’s. Segregation and discrimination teemed in the streets. Martin Luther King Jr. captured that monstrosity in 1963 in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, utilizing devices such as diction, pathos, and metaphors to convey

Most women suffer with self-identity because of men. Hagar Dead suffer from self-identity because of Milkman. Since Hagar is an African American she has many self – identity crisis. Self-identity started in the slavery era. An African American–centered, Black feminist perspective clarifies why the African American experience may run counter to the theoretical principles of self-esteem. The principle of reflected judgments assumes that Blacks’ relevant others are Whites. Under this principle, Blacks would not only have to be aware of the negative attitudes that whites have for them, but they would have to accept them, consider them significant, and believe them to be personally relevant. Whites do not contribute significantly to the formation of Black self-esteem. Self-esteem is developed in immediate interpersonal environments. Most Blacks live and socially interact in segregated environments, their important others are usually other Blacks. Even in interracial environments such as schools, that interracial contact with whites did not negatively affect Blacks’ self-esteem. The above findings are especially pertinent to the study of African American women and self-esteem. Black women were once predicted to have low self-esteem because scholars thought they internalized demeaning messages of themselves and measured themselves against a white

“Intermarriage is one of the most provocative words in the english language” (Larsson). The idea of two people that come from different racial backgrounds being in any sort of relationship with each other is very hard for many people to accept. Society has a negative attitude toward interracial relationships, and this is apparent in To Kill a Mockingbird through Dolphus Raymond’s marriage and in Othello through Othello and Desdemona's marriage.

It was recently heard from one of Barry University’s biology professors that all human beings are about 99 percent alike on the genetic level. However, there is so much division between the same humans in the world today. How could this occur between individuals who are essentially the same in regards to DNA? The answer can be found in one’s consideration of personal identity. The uncertainty of racial identity has been a pressing problem for African Americans since the days of slavery. As a result of a twisted form of local and national conditioning, many young men and women of African descent have grown to be ashamed of their skin. In a successful attempt to bring

Attending an AA meeting was a new experience for me, although I had family and friends that had attended meetings they never told me what the meetings were like. Arriving to the meeting was different than what I expected. When looking at movies they would show dark rooms and sitting in a circle, completely different than what a real meeting is. But once I was there the lady in charge greeted me and introduced herself. I was surprised to see everybody being so friendly to each other. They looked beyond each other’s race and social class, they were there because they knew they had a problem and that by being there they were going to get the help they need. They were willing to help each other out in any way they could. I felt happy to know that

“Colorism is defined as a prejudice or discrimination based on the relative lightness or darkness of the skin, generally a phenomenon occurring within one’s won ethnic group”, this is how color bias is defined in the 2011 documentary Dark Girls. Dark Girls documentary also raises the issues related to the discrimination based on the skin color particularly the black skin and especially African American black women who has to face the discrimination of being black skinned not only outside but within their own community. The documentary unravels the color bias not only in the united states but around the world. Dark Girls has seven divisions namely history, impact, family, men on women,