Cultural Biography

LaTricia Russell
SW 3000 Communication and Cultural Diversity
Dr. Karen Watkins
November 30, 2014

Cultural Biography
Introduction
This Cultural biography will share positionality and multiple identities. The cultural
biography will review the dilemmas of Americanization by African Americans. My Family
culture and intersectionality (internal and external) with other races and cultures discussed. The
conclusion will discuss insights about social work education and my professional journey and the
importance of developing cultural competency skills.

Positionality/Multiple Identities
Lum (2011), defines positionality as our location along the various axes of social group
identities, which are interrelated, interconnected, and intersecting (p. 139). I completed a
cultural awareness self-assessment. The cultural awareness assessment tool used was from the
Social Work Interview: A Guide for Human Services Professionals (1997) and it consisted of
fourteen questions. A summary of the results of this tool helped identify my positionality and
multiple identities. My family background is an African origin African American, and regional
culture is New England. The race of my neighborhood best friend and closest was from the same
race, and the race of my school best friend was European origin Portuguese. I do not know the
race of my future partner. I do not limit my opportunities to find a partner based on the race. The
levels of contact with individuals, families, and groups outside of my own cultural and ethnic
group in my community is minimal, frequent at school and work and moderate at social
activities. Drabble & Oppenheimer (2012) examined positionality and determined that it helps
shape how we interact with others, perceive social problems, conceptualize interventions, and
identifies potential bias.
Dilemmas of Americanization
Dilemmas of Americanization by African Americans viewed from the level of
acculturation. The assessment determined that I had a high level of acculturation. Acculturation
is defined by merriamwenster.com as the process by which one acquires the culture of a
particular society from infancy. The definition seems simple, but for African Americans it is
complex because unlike many other ethnic backgrounds, the African American cannot cling to a
foreign culture. According to Steinberg (2014), Jews and Chinese have experienced more rapid
mobility than African Americans (p. 37). African Americans in the United States are faced
with history: of chattel slavery and not being willing immigrants. A study of ethnic and racial
studies by Steinberg (2014), revealed that the American melting pot is inclusive of everybody,
but blacks and deep social and economic inequalities exist (p. 37). Another point the study
noted was that African Americans evolved distinctive forms of culture identity rooted in

American soil in order to fortify blacks against centuries of oppression. An example of this will
be noted in the family culture section.
Family Culture
The person that is the keeper of culture in the family is my father. He is the one to organize
events and make the requests to go to certain functions and have certain foods prepared. The four
family cultural practices followed are ethnic, religious worship. The family worships at an
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. All of the immediate family members cook and know
how to make ethnic foods like grits, chitterlings, collard greens with ham hocks, and Hoppin'
John (black-eyed peas type of stew). The use of ethnic conversational language is used like
cutting the ending "g's" out words (i.e. hanggin' out, cuttin' teeth, a beattin'). All of the
immediate and extended family members that got married in my family have observed the
jumping of the broom wedding tradition. Jumping the broom is an African American tradition,
started during the slavery era, that couples would jump a broomstick at the culmination of a
wedding ceremony. The jumping of the broom was done by slaves to signify starting a new life
and also during the slavery era a legal union was not possible.
Cultural Awareness of other Inventory
The cultural awareness of other assessment tool used was from the Social Work
Interview: A Guide for Human Services Professionals (1997) and it consisted of twenty-five
questions. A summary of the results of this tool helped me understand the others experiences and
the way their issues may be influenced by racial and ethnic attributes as well as how they
overlap with issues of racism or other forms of societal oppression. I was born in Hartford,
Connecticut and spent my childhood, adolescence, teenage, and young adult years there and it
has a population of a million plus people. My ethnic group is African American and my
neighborhood was predominantly African American. As a child I had rare contact with
European, Chinese, and Japanese Americans and frequent contact with African, Mexican, Puerto
Rican, Cuban, Korean, Vietnamese Americans, and First Nations Peoples. As a child I had
positive and negative impressions of other ethnic groups. I held favorable impressions of First
Nations People and Asian American people. I held unfavorable impressions of African, Latino,
and European Americans. I formulated my impression regarding people of color from my
parents attitudes, other trusted members of my family, my experiences with ethnic individuals,
and my peer group. I went to Bryant College in Smithfield, RI and my major was business
administration and then attended Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT and my major
was management. I earned a Masters of Science in Management. When I was a young adult my
serious romantic relationships were predominantly with African Americans. When I was a young
adult, my first time job after graduation from college was an organization whose employees were
predominantly Whites. As an adult I have lived in Massachusetts, Alabama, Tennessee, and
Georgia. I migrated from the Northeast to the Southeast due to family health concerns. The
move was voluntary but was difficult and unplanned.

Intersectionality client-based (Internal and External)

Intersectionality per Lum (2011) is those various intersections and crossroads in our lives
that are replete with multiple social group memberships that are interconnected and interrelated.
Experiences with people of other cultures and ethnicities have been positive, negative, and
mixed. In a study that examines the intersectional framework of cultural competence by Powell
(2012) results showed that caregivers are better equipped to help racial and ethnic minority
patients when they learn to be more culturally competent. . I will share three experiences
reflects my interrelated and interconnected experiences. My positive experience with a First
Nations person is when a girl transferred to my school. This experience showed both internal
intersections (education and residency) and external intersections (gender, age, and size). She
identified herself as a First Nations, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, member that grew up on a
reservation. She taught me about her heritage and customs. My first experience with the
European origin Irish group was negative. One summer during a family reunion, I was accosted
by two European origin Irishmen and asked to get out of the pool by hotel management. The
explanation given to myself and seven/eight cousins (that were guests of the hotel also) was we
made the other European origin Irish guest uncomfortable to use the pool while we were in it.
The adult's present (older relatives that were watching us) told us we were not in the North and
to comply, or they could get arrested. A diverse experience with an African origin Nigerian man
is when a friend married a Nigerian man, and he expressed his ideas about the role of women
were contrary to my beliefs. We agreed to disagree and ended the interaction. I have a number
of stereotypes about Latino Americans that I know to be untrue, but am aware that I presume all
Latino Americans know how to speak Spanish and know how to play soccer. I am also aware
that other people may stereotype me due my multiple identities (gender, ethnic background, my
student status, and my regional culture).

Conclusion
In conclusion, this cultural biography assignment allowed me to assess my cultural
background and identity as well as determine the amount of contact with groups and individuals
of other cultures and ethnicities. I have reviewed my beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral responses.
I understand the importance of attaining knowledge and skills in my social work education
journey. The assessment raised consciousness about other ethnic and cultural history, beliefs,
and interaction patterns will increase one's cultural awareness and make working with
multicultural clients in social service agencies a beneficial experience for both parties. I also
value the employment experiences that I have had and looked forward to the opportunities in the
future armed with my newest cultural awareness toolkit.

References
acculturation - Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. (n.d.). Retrieved
from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acculturation
Drabble, L., Sen, S., & Oppenheimer, S. (2012). Integrating a Transcultural Perspective
into the Social Work Curriculum: A Descriptive and Exploratory Study. Journal Of Teaching In
Social Work, 32(2), 204-221.
Lum, D. (2011). Culturally Competent Practice. A framework for understanding diverse
groups and \justice Issues. (4th\Ed). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. ISBM: 978-08400-3443-4.
Powell Sears, K. (2012). Improving cultural competence education: the utility of an
intersectional framework. Medical Education, 46(6), 545-551. doi:10.1111/j.13652923.2011.04199.x
Steinberg, S. (2014). The long view of the melting pot. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 37(5),
790-794. doi:10.1080/01419870.2013.872282
The Social Work Interview: A Guide for Human Service ... (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://books.google.com/books/about/The_social_work_interview.html?id=utP4NAT1lD