St. Vincent Narrative

communities. In the United Sates, they were seen as black, members of a definite minority. The amount of education, the amount of income, and culture, didn’t erase ones blackness, as it would back home. Nor are whites sensitive to shade differences, as people are in Jamaica. Whatever their shade or achievements, Jamaicans were victims of racial discrimination in employment, education, and housing. For many Jamaicans, this was the first time that they became painfully aware that black skin was a significant status marker. New York Jamaicans are submerged in the wider black community of America. However, at the same time, Jamaicans distinguish themselves as different than the “indigenous” blacks. Therefore, the results are that their interactions with American whites are less painful. Jamaicans who came to New York City were not shocked by the racial situation, but were disillusioned when they found the city to be less glamorous and offering less economic opportunities than imagined.

Growing up, I was considered “too white” to be Latina, and I constantly tried to prove my identity to others, but in the end, I realized that I never had to prove myself. Like Rae, I was accused of being “too white” to be considered a person of color. In her essay, she discussed how people needed to look past stereotypes when thinking about marginalized communities. Their actions alone do not make them black.

Despite having pride with either being labeled a Guinean, Guinean-American, African American, black American, or simply American, each label does not satisfactorily summize my identify, supported by the rejection I face from people who can adequately identify as one of these ethnicities. To exemplify, we shall examine examine my identity as “Guinean.” While my parents were born and raised in Guinea, continue to uphold their Guinean culture in America, while rejecting black American culture, and have raised my brothers and I in accordance to the Guinean culture, I have never visited Guinea, nor have I any tangible ties to the nation. Similar to the Haitian American college students interviewed in Chapter 7 of Georges Woke Up Laughing by

In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.

Everyone is raised within a culture with a set of customs and morals handed down by those generations before them. Most individual’s view and experience identity in different ways. During history, different ethnic groups have struggled with finding their place within society. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, African Americans faced a great deal of political and social discrimination based on the tone of their skin. After the Civil Rights Movement, many African Americans no longer wanted to be identified by their African American lifestyle, so they began to practice African culture by taking on African hairdos, African-influenced clothing, and adopting African names. By turning away from their roots, many African Americans embraced a culture that was not inherited, thus putting behind the unique and significant characteristics

Many locals were reluctant to go near the mountains, fearing for their safety. Knowing whatever was up there, although unexplainable, was dangerous and

From even elementary school, I remember arguments with Haitian classmates about which island was better. There were Jamaican verses Haitian quarrels in the cafeteria. Those cafeteria clashes were filled with creative insults. However, there were other instances where the Caribbean students stuck together against the ‘others’ which included: Africans and African Americans especially. However, at the end of the day, we were all black and I believe deep down we understood that. Race and ethnicity can be so delicate and sometimes one of the two takes a greater weight, but never remains that way. Even now at Cornell, I have times where I’m just so proud to be Jamaican, other times I’m proud to just be Caribbean, and many times at this predominately white institution, being black makes me

At a young age, through social media, I felt ashamed of being Haitian. I did not have the fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes coveted by this nation for its appeal to the ideals of what an American is. Instead, I had brown skin, black hair and

The 21st Century mindset of individualism is causing the American Melting Pot to give way to terms like “tomato soup” and “tossed salad” to describe Americanization of immigrants coming to the United States (BBC News). In this time of change a commonly used identifier, African-American, is becoming a controversial phrase that is moving out from under the protection of political correctness.

I have been a part of my school’s annual clothing drive since the start of the 2015 school year. The clothing drive runs in November every year and its purpose is to collect unwanted clothes by students and their families, which are donated to people in need in Toronto via the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In both the years that I have been a volunteer in this organization, about 3000+ articles of clothing have been donated by my school, Brebeuf College. My position in the organization was Lead Representative and volunteer. My role was to promote the organization to the student body within the school through announcements, attend daily meetings, collect and organize donated clothes, move all the sorted articles of clothing to the St. Vincent

I have grown up my entire life on the metaphorical “fence.” Being a first generation American Indian, what I hear so often from the Indian community is, “but you’re not really Indian!” I’m tagged “whitewashed”, but at the same time I’m still “the brown girl”, never having deciphered to this day whether either is a stamp of approval or a term of derision. I never fully identified with the American culture, but was never able to fully embrace my Indian roots either.

According to my grandmother, the move to California was directly related to the Brown versus the Board of Education Act. Louisiana schools were going through the desegregation process, which was about to begin in the small town my grandparents and family lived in. She expressed that she did not want her children to experience the type of racist trauma she had witnessed other young African American children experience. Therefore, the family decided to move to Southern California for a better life and better educational experience for the children. My grandmother also stated that her mother and two brothers had already moved to California and assisted with my grandparents’ moving process; and, the hope for us, as her first grandchildren, included fulfilling the promise of this

In conclusion, the data in the literature review was put forward to show the intersectionality with “race” when identifying Caribbean people. The main goal of this research study is to advance ways to integrate the Caribbean community and hopefully this research will lead to possible changes. If I can lessen the emotional consequences in regards to the lack of integration of Caribbean people through this research then I would have made a difference as a ethnic Caribbean person living here in society and as a student of

Dynamic, diverse, enriching, inspiring, innovative, faithful, determined, resilient, those are the words that President Obama used to describe Caribbean Americans in his recent proclamation. Since its inception in 2006, Caribbean Heritage Month, sponsored by the Institute for Caribbean Studies, continues to celebrate the history, culture, and accomplishments of Caribbean Americans. The Caribbean Heritage Month is a reminder to appreciate and understand the diverse backgrounds of Americans and a reminder that “The bonds between the United States and the Caribbean remain strong. Both rooted in similar legacies – of trial and triumph, oppression and liberation – our narratives have advanced on a similar path of progress, driven forward by our

Everyday I am on a constant race to discover who I am as an individual. I am fighting this battle whether I choose to acknowledge it or not. Donald Hernandez has written in his book Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance; he talks about major key points, but the most important one state “Third, because life chances differ greatly according to race and ethnicity in the United States, and because of the race and ethnic composition of immigrants to this country has shifted markedly during recent decades,” (3). That is true trying to be one thing is very hard in USA society has an effect of how you may become as the individual. If I were in another country they would just see as an American and nothing else, but the place that I was born and raised they see me as what my parents are Nigerians. I am not American because my parents are from Nigeria; this has been a very constant thing, because of several definitions of what it