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Date Posted: 15:41:39 03/18/07 Sun
Author: Miriam Dolin
Subject: Ethnic Identity
I thought the section in the text about ethnic identity was really interesting. Growing up I knew two girls whose mother is American and father is British. They lived in the States but spent their summers in England. They could flawlessly switch between an American and British accent depending on the situation (and amusement of their friends). I also had a good friend who was Korean. Her family moved to the States when she was about 10 years old. Growing up she quickly adapted to American culture and language, but her parents held onto their traditional Korean culture and often put her in the role of translator. She really struggled to balance her two worlds. I think adolescence must be so much harder for people in minority ethnic groups because not only are they defining their identity, but they also have to contextualize that identity in two different cultures. From my friend's experience, she really had a hard time in adolescence because she also had to pave the way for her parents in their new culture when they were hesitant to adjust.
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Re: Ethnic Identity -- Emily Clark, 19:16:04 03/21/07 Wed
I agree that there is probably more need for thought about ethnic idenity and it may be harder for minorities in terms of identity development because they must develop their ethnic idenity in a healthy way as well. To branch off from what you were saying, I think there are some differences between devleopment of your identity based on your race, and the development of your identity based on one's immigration status to the United States. For example, I'm not entirely sure, but I would imagine that people who just immigrated to the US would face many different difficulties from those who had lived here for several generations who were minorities. Just wanted to add a distinction and something else to think about.
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Re: Ethnic Identity -- Lila Kayali, 20:59:12 03/21/07 Wed
>I can relate to this because my parents are from two very different ethnicities and I've been moving back and forth from America to the Middle East since I was 12 years old. With two different languages and by encountering two different cultures and two different ways of life, I always felt like I didn't completely belong to any one culture. During adoloscence, I faced challenges with it, but as I got older, I looked at it as a positive thing because I could use what I liked and leave out what I didn't agree with from both cultures. So, I formed my own unique values that I feel happy about instead of trying to fit myself into one specific cultural group.
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Re: Ethnic Identity -- Kelly Folsom, 21:25:10 03/21/07 Wed
From a historical perpective I am reminded of the formation of Indian schools in US during 19th century, the goal of which was to "weed out the Indian, and leave the man." These attempts of assimilation failed dramatically since the adolescents that it produced were so confused about their identity (spiritual beliefs, occupational goals, ethnicity, etc.) that they had no place safe or comfortable to build an identity. White society did not accept them because they were easily identified as an "indian", while their tribes refused to accept them because they had no connection to the tribal customs and belief systems.
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