"Typical American"? An exploration on my race/ethnicity
By Melissa Pfeffer
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February 4, 2009
In order for one to truly classify their racial identity they must first learn the true meaning of race. Race is commonly defined as "a group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution." On the other hand there is ethnicity, which "represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference."
Upon reading the title question an amusing series of events began to flash back in my mind of an experience that happened to me in the not too distant past. I was traveling abroad in England and for what seemed like the entire time I was there, people would come up to me and say to me "You look exactly like what I would picture an American girl to look like." I would think to myself, what is that supposed to mean?
This is when it became clear to me that when you are traveling abroad internationally, and even sometimes within your own country, you get stereotyped for being from somewhere else. Throughout time people have based race and ethnicity on visual appearance. For instance, someone dark skinned must be African American or from the Caribbean. This is of course not always true. There are almost just as many dark skinned Latinos as there are light skinned ones.
One issue that has always perplexed me is: how exactly am I supposed to define myself when filling out forms which call for having to check a box with your racial make up? I am more or less a nameless face who goes under the category Caucasian female. If you are the type of person who believes there are multiple races (I personally do not) then yes, I am considered to be a member of the white race. I just have to ask the question: how can there be multiple races when in the grand scheme of reality we are all part of the human race?
Defining my ethnicity is difficult because I grew up in a household with a father who was not born in this country, yet has spent about 98% of his life in the United States. Raised for the first 3 years of his life in Germany, his parents have a distinctly European background and have always considered themselves Jewish in culture and not "American." This brings me to ask another question: Is Judaism a culture or a religion? This question has long been contested, even in my own household, as my grandparents looked it as a culture and a religion while my mother told me it is just a religion.
I would have to define myself as one of billions living among the human race, someone who can't check off a single box to define who I am. I was raised American in my household with a European background, including being half German. In my opinion being Jewish is not culture but a religion. I suppose based solely upon appearance I really do look like the typical "all American girl" with a notable lack of "exotic features."
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February 4, 2009
In order for one to truly classify their racial identity they must first learn the true meaning of race. Race is commonly defined as "a group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution." On the other hand there is ethnicity, which "represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference."
Upon reading the title question an amusing series of events began to flash back in my mind of an experience that happened to me in the not too distant past. I was traveling abroad in England and for what seemed like the entire time I was there, people would come up to me and say to me "You look exactly like what I would picture an American girl to look like." I would think to myself, what is that supposed to mean?
This is when it became clear to me that when you are traveling abroad internationally, and even sometimes within your own country, you get stereotyped for being from somewhere else. Throughout time people have based race and ethnicity on visual appearance. For instance, someone dark skinned must be African American or from the Caribbean. This is of course not always true. There are almost just as many dark skinned Latinos as there are light skinned ones.
One issue that has always perplexed me is: how exactly am I supposed to define myself when filling out forms which call for having to check a box with your racial make up? I am more or less a nameless face who goes under the category Caucasian female. If you are the type of person who believes there are multiple races (I personally do not) then yes, I am considered to be a member of the white race. I just have to ask the question: how can there be multiple races when in the grand scheme of reality we are all part of the human race?
Defining my ethnicity is difficult because I grew up in a household with a father who was not born in this country, yet has spent about 98% of his life in the United States. Raised for the first 3 years of his life in Germany, his parents have a distinctly European background and have always considered themselves Jewish in culture and not "American." This brings me to ask another question: Is Judaism a culture or a religion? This question has long been contested, even in my own household, as my grandparents looked it as a culture and a religion while my mother told me it is just a religion.
I would have to define myself as one of billions living among the human race, someone who can't check off a single box to define who I am. I was raised American in my household with a European background, including being half German. In my opinion being Jewish is not culture but a religion. I suppose based solely upon appearance I really do look like the typical "all American girl" with a notable lack of "exotic features."
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