Racial And Ethnic Identity Development

Establishing an identity has been called one of the most important milestones of adolescent development (Ruffin, 2009). Additionally, a central part of identity development includes ethnic identity (ACT for Youth, 2002). While some teens search

In my present job, I had to question whether I belong because being a female, my co-worker saw me as inferior. At that point, I felt more proud than ever because I challenge them to outdo me in performance and intellect. There were times when I started to doubt my potential, but I had to do self-talk, put on an armorer of bravery, hold my head high, and pretend to be just as capable until it happened.

“I didn’t know what being black meant, but I was getting the idea that it was a big deal.”

This paper examines how and when I realized my identity of how I saw myself and how others saw me when I was a child. I examined my identity by my gender identity, racial identity, and my ethnicity identity. I describe my earliest memory of realizing my gender identity by remembering when I realized I was a woman. I discuss how I became to learn about my racial identity and ethnicity identity by going to school with various people. I then describe how the aspects of my gender identity and racial identity did and did not influence my leisure and life pursuits. My racial identity and gender identity did not influence much of my leisure and life pursuits in my life, I was mostly influenced by my upbringing.

Defined as the study of the mind and behaviour, psychology has gained considerable momentum throughout recent years (Gross, 2010). Although referred to as a modern science, psychology has dated back to ancient Greece whereby emphasis was placed within philosophy. Two Greek words “psyche” (the soul) and “logos” (the study of a subject) were used to coin the term psychology (Weiten, 2007). With the soul as the primary focus of ancient philosophy, Plato proposed the soul as a spiritual substance that is pre-existent and immortal, and that immoral behaviour was evidence of disharmony among components of a person’s soul (Bennett, 2007). Aristotle, Plato’s student, contended that three souls exist (nutritive, sensitive and rational)

One challenge many people who are biracial face, especially when they’re young, is fitting in with people. We live in a world that sees you for your color, and if you aren’t “white enough” or “black enough” people are likely to not be as accepting. Having a This may result in someone acting like something they’re not or having to have different friend groups. Becoming introverted could also be a result of this. Another struggle biracial people face is being racially ambiguous, which means people are unable to identify what race you are, because of this people are constantly asking what you are or assuming they know exactly what your racial background is. People even question you about who you are related to. Some may think that these types of occurrences aren’t that big of a deal, but one can’t truly understand until they experience it themselves. It’s difficult to maintain your racial identity when it is always being questioned. Angie Yingst has first hand experience with questioning:

Over time certain groups of people have been taken advantage of and treated unfairly. In recent history especially, the groups that are being taken advantage of are those of color. The world is learning faster than ever how important it is to treat people equally and not discriminate against individuals or groups based on the color of their skin. However, the world is not perfect and this is still a slow process. Like in Citizen, this research paper is being written to highlight the problems with society 's judgments and discriminations that have become social norms. Furthermore, the development of the idea “racial identity” has done more negative than positive for people of color.

In many perspectives, racial identities mean the differences in appearances of individuals especially with regards to the color of skin. Racial identities are mostly determined genetically or biologically. This includes traits like hair, bone structure color of the eyes etc. In recent times the biological determination of race has been disputed by social scientists who also propounds that races have more fluid social contexts.

485). Immigrants who are legitimized as “white” within the racial definition can be seen to have greater access and considered a lesser threat than those who are considered non-white immigrants (p. 507). The ideology can be construed, the more a group’s ethnic appearance conforms to the perceived whiteness of society in the United States; the less likely they are to suffer from obvious institutionalized bias. The work of Hagan, Shedd and Payne: Race, Ethnicity, and Youth Perceptions of Criminal Injustice (2005), makes an argument of the correlation between the amount of encounters with law enforcement officials and adolescent minority groups, and the psychological effects of those encounters. Events, based on the frequency and outcome of those encounters, which leads to a continuation or hypersensitivity to the feelings of bias and discrimination. The recall of these events, which may in actuality be an exaggeration of the contact, brought on by the experiences in early childhood, serve as a reminder of the individual’s lack of “whiteness”. The basis of the internal conflict would be continuous, even if the non-white individual were able to change their socio-economic status, the effects of their social ethnic stratification in early life formed their world view (p 385). Changing minority social location, being located within a multi-diverse or white communities with whom non-whites

The United States consist of social groups, based on race and ethnicity, those within them have developed an identity alongside their national identity. Because America is viewed as a melting pot, these two forms identity would ideally exist harmoniously. However, tensions exist between the two due to various factors, including racial stigmatization, that can cause social groups to feel, or be depicted as, excluded from the national identity. This tension could be remedied through law or policy regulating mass media and education, which influence the stigmatization of social groups. By remedying these tensions, the social group identity can exist within national identity.

In the modern era, the “hipster” trend’s popularity has skyrocketed among young people of diverse backgrounds. As these groups often unconsciously conform to several dominant fashions, they have also begun to challenge traditional boundaries. In particular, the hipster trend eliminates many gender specific styles, has opened a new front of acceptance and tolerance for new notions of gender identity, which were formerly highly confrontational. However, as with all popular trends has become difficult for many young people not to conform to the hipster trend, especially when the fashion industries and other influences integrate the trend into society, until it becomes a norm. This cultural dominance ultimately contradicts the key components

The integration of multicultural issues with the current educational structure needs to be met with caution and the upmost care is one of the messages I got from our class and it’s true. These decisions can cause irreparable damages to the students’ lives and could further distance the divide between achieving cultural understanding and continual ignorance. However, if certain components are taken into consideration, there is hope for a bright and culturally-rich future. First, there are various multicultural issues including stereotype threat and the lack of conversation about race and culture at a young age that should be addressed. Secondly, understanding the power of open-discussions with multicultural issues for I experienced it first-hand

Second of all, to understand if ethnic play a major influence on the status of an individual we need to know what ethnic really means. According to the textbook, positive ethnic identity is an important aspect to have a sense of personal identification with an ethnic group so that means that the values and cultural traditions are shared among that ethnic group (Sigelman & Rider). Every human being has a distinct personality which is the primary building block for the formation of identity. The personality characterizes how a person behaves and view things. The personality is developed way before identity, during the early infancy. The personality defines the unique characteristic of the thoughts, behaviors and feelings of a person which helps to develop the self identity. The self identity being of an ethnic group begins during the infancy when the babies notice the difference among the people. In the article, “Stages of Ethnic Identity Development in Minority Group Adolescents,” it was mentioned that the process of identification development among the ethnic group can be similar but the issues that they face can be very different (Phinney, 1). Ethnic group plays a major role on how people talk, dress or view their status in the society. Stereotypes are also a common problem that influences the identity formation. Stereotypes are based on personal point of view and attitude toward a subject matter. Stereotyping is commonly visible among the societies which often alter the

To explain the ethnic identity formation differs for white and non-white groups you have to first understand both ethics. For years from the beginning of elementary until my eight grade year in middle school, I was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America and that whites were the first on this earth. Well, we know that’s not true at all the Indians were the first here and made America what it is today. Immigrants come over daily from their country for chances in life. I believe that is not at all a white man country this country is for anyone who wants to be someone. Non-white groups have more drive than whites. They are always looking for ways to better themselves and also better their families. Whites on the other hand 50% of the

People are identified as certain way, because of the color of their skin. If they have white skin, they usually have a positive label, if the person has black skin, the label is negative. As Appiah says, the consistency of racism results in both positive and negative racial ascriptions, depending on the person’s skin. Going on to say, that racial identity will always be apart of cultural identity. For hundreds of years, it has been debated whether racial labels should be ever-present, or should be removed from society, and what the effects of labeling are to everyone.