[Dana-B]

I am writing from my own perspective and the culmination of my experiences thus far. I do not claim to speak for any particular group or class of people. Identifying oneself as ‘Asian-American’ or ‘African-American’ etc. can be a matter of pride in a country where your traditions and culture are not necessarily shared with those of mainstream American culture. Additionally, I think there are more traditional and divisive reason for the identifications. It would be nice to simply identify all U.S. citizens as Americans. I sincerely hope that in our lifetime this becomes the norm. However, the reality is that race, ethnicity and cultural background affects the even most of the mundane details of life in this country. For example, school performance, employment and economic performance, crime statistics, religious beliefs etc. are tracked by race. Since discrimination has played a major role in America even before the nation’s inception, we still feel the repercussions today. Because there are still inequalities, racial descriptions exist. Unfortunately, racism is a daily reality. One?s race can potentially have an effect on whether an individual is denied or given employment, receives preferential or substandard treatment, is denied civil rights, and is adversely affected stereotypical assumptions. Discrimination can make one feel less than human, let alone a less than full fledged citizen. Yes, I have witnessed discrimination against Caucasian-Americans as well. This may sound cliché, but until we are willing as a nation to have an honest and rational discussion about racial and cultural issues, (I doubt this will ever happen), discourage stereotyping (which can be foolish and in many cases harmful) and attempt to educate all children to embrace people based on the character content and not their race, many people will not identify themselves as American first and foremost.

User Detail :  

Name : Dana-B, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 26, City : Copperas Cove, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Author]

Posts