Picture this, a nineteen year old white girl blaming an older black man for her father’s actions in a jury of dominantly white people that wish to throw the Negro in a jail cell for eternity. This is one of the strongest contributions that race shapes one’s identity in the book To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. Adding to race, what about a male African American walking down the street that gets stopped by a police man who suspected him of committing a crime. Now not only is he black, he is a male also. These are only two of the three aspects of how social forces can shape one’s identity. There are several that can shape an identity, three examples being race, culture, and gender.
One social force that contributes to one’s identity is race. One example to prove this is shown is in the article written by Leanita McClain, “The Middle-Class Black’s Burden.” In this article Leanita talks about how her sister was prejudged overall by the color of her skin and was driven to the back of her own apartment because the cab driver assumed she was a nanny, cook, or maid. “What a hollow victory we have won when my sister, dressed her designer everything, is driven to the rear door of the luxury high rise in which she lives because the cab driver, noting only her skin color, assumes she is the maid, or the nanny, or the cook, but certainly not the lady of any house at this address” (260).
The Essay on Race: Black People and Larger Racial Minorities
Answer the following questions in 100 to 250 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. * Throughout most of U. S. history, in most locations, what race has been in the majority? What is the common ancestral background of most members of this group? White people have been the majority of the population. The common ancestral background of most of the members in this group are ...
Unfortunately her sister got judged by the color of her skin even though she was in high-end designer clothing, this proves how race contributes to one’s identity. In the same light, another example from Leanita’s article tells about how hard her sister struggled to prove that blacks and whites are equal. “I am burdened daily with showing whites that blacks are people” (260).
This quote builds to the main idea that race contributes to one’s identity because it shows that white’s feel more superior towards blacks. Furthermore in the same essence a quote in the book To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee she uses one of the main characters, Boo Radley, to show racism towards blacks. The quote “An next time he won’t aim high be it dog, nigger, or Jem Finch” (54).
This quote talks about how Boo assumed that the person in his cabbage field was black and next time he will shoot them, while the crowd around him agreed with the assumption it was a black person. This shows how much racism there was. To sum it all up, these various quotes and evidence leads to prove that race contributes to one’s identity. Another important social force that contributes to one’s identity is culture. One notable example of this is proven in “Don’t misread my signals”, an article written by Judith Ortiz Cofer. In this article Judith talks about how clothing is an important factor of her identity because of her culture. “As teenagers, my friends and I were lectured constantly on how to behave as proper senoritas. But it was a conflicting message we received, since our Puerto Rican mothers also encouraged us to look and act like women by dressing us in clothes our Anglo schoolmates and their mothers found too mature and flashy.” This quote Judith states can be inferred that her own culture shaped her identity. In addition to that, in the same article Judith describes how people stereotyped her by her culture. When Judith dressed up attractively for her first formal dance she grooved around with a mainstream culture man that painfully planted a sloppy, overeager kiss on her mouth.
She didn’t respond back to the behavior and this man said, “I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early.” This quote delivers the message that this mainstream culture man pre judged Judith by her Latin identity. On top of that, culture shapes one’s identity in the book To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. In chapter twelve Calpurina, the Finch’s Negro maid, takes Scout and Jem to her church where the two children witness a black church environment. Their culture is a bit diverse from whites, they sing hymns without hymn-books. “Miraculously on pitch, a hundred voices sang out Zeebo’s words” (121.) Scout and Jem were amazed by this diversity in culture, both cultures praise the same God but in a bit different ways. So, it is clear to see that culture does shape one’s identity. Along with the first two social forces that shape identity, gender is also a contributor. One way this is shown is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Aunt Alexandra, one of the main characters, comes to visit her Finch family for a while. “We’ve decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys” (127).
The Research paper on Hip Hop Culture Black Music Media
Assignment for Media with Cultural Studies Level Two Youth Cultures, Subcultures and Industry Hip-Hop Culture This essay aims to examine the importance of the Hip-Hop culture in 21 st century society. It will begin with consideration of the history of Hip-Hop, discussing its stylistic adaptations, cultural preferences and concerns, referring to the studies of black culture by Ellis Cash more and ...
Aunt Alexandra is talking to Scout about her gender and how she has to start molding her identity into more of a young woman which infuriates Scout. On the same note, in the article “Our Barbies, Ourselves” written by Emily Prager she explains that the male gender created the Barbie doll and how overly non proportioned the bodies are. “Did the fact that it was treated as such indicate that somehow his equipment, his essential maleness, was considered more powerful than hers, more worthy of the dignity of concealment?” Emily refers to how the Ken doll male parts are not as visible as the female doll parts and why it’s not equal for the female gender. Adding to that, the article “Don’t misread my signals” by Judith Ortiz Cofer also talks about how one’s gender can shape their identity. “The extended family and church structure provided them with a circle of safety on the island; if a man wronged a girl, everyone would close in to save her family honor.” As one could see, society everywhere often label woman as being more passive and males more aggressive which does shape identity. In summation, principals of the ideas of race, culture, and gender can contribute to one’s identity in various ways. If one’s black or white, Latino or Mainstream, or Female or Male, they are all the social force victims of shaping ones identity for better or for worse. Now imagine how these principals shape one’s identity in everyday life. Revisiting the previous story about the African American being stopped by the police man, what would the outcome have been if his identity was different?
The Essay on Why Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Different
Have you ever wondered how male and their gender counterpart, females are different entrepreneurs? What about their styles and how they run their enterprise? They may be similar by race but their gender says differently. What makes male and female entrepreneurs different business leaders? Do they work towards the same goals or is there a hidden milestone? In this essay you will come to understand ...
