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How A Single Mother Shaped Me

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Growing up in the south, being an African American male, and raised by a single mother shaped me in an unique way; a way that would be completely different from a white male the same age, same social class, and also by a single mother. Being raised by a single mother can be very difficult for both the parent as well as a child, but for generations these mother-child bonds have been generally successful. I’m the only child to a single mother as I mentioned earlier, the mother-child bond was strong. This of course had positives, but it had negatives as well. How my mother raised me was different in each life stage with their own positives and negatives. My earliest memories of my being raised are extremely vague now I do know that I spend …show more content…

The early adolescence was a troubling time for me the bullying continued, I wasn’t very social because it was very hard to fit in, because the African American students were the one that were bullying me, and I received racial undertones from the white students, and on top of this I changed schools so I knew no one coming into middle school which made the bullying more difficult to handle because I thought that something was wrong with me. My saving grace was the astonishment from my history teachers because of my love and knowledge of what was being taught. My home life and the relationship with my mother was the same as it was through the early childhood years, but the time with my maternal grandparents increased and that was worth it too, because they had a big yard which allowed for plenty of playing time, but I was still by myself most of the time, so my imagination skills were on point in those years. The late adolescent years of high school was a lot better. The bullying virtually stopped during the transition from middle to high school. In high school, I was making plenty of friends and the relationship with my mother was improving as well. I joined Air Force Junior ROTC which is a military course that simulates military service. Making this decision was one of the best decisions I could have ever made it basically became my saving grace. As I mentioned earlier, my relationship with my mother was improving and I can thank ROTC for that I succeeded in that program better than anything in my life before or since, but we did fight about my lack of enthusiasm for school work other than ROTC, so this brought the most valuable lessons she’s ever taught me and I keep this lesson in the front of my mind to this day. She told me since I’m a black man I can’t carry myself in any way, I must look presentable, be respectful of all people no matter race, ethnicity, or

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