Critical Reflections on Race

Objective: This assignment will allow you to take a closer look at race, and the impact that race has had on your identity and experiences.

Directions: In two to four paragraphs, please discuss how you learned about race. Was there an instance that occurred in your life that forced you to think about race and what race means in our society? We learn about things such as race in the process of communicating. Think about the communicative experiences that you have had that allowed you to be introduced to the concept of race. You are to turn in two typed copies. One will NOT HAVE YOUR NAME on the paper, and the other one WILL HAVE YOUR name on the paper. The copy of your paper that does not have your name on it will be read out loud by one of your classmates. These readings will be completely ANONYMOUS and no one will know who wrote what. Please feel free to be reflexive and honest while writing your experience. This activity will allow us to gain a better understanding of each other.

Below are two sample assignment from prior students that were asked the same question:

Example 1: How I Learned About Race When I was growing up, I was always around people of my ethnic culture. I shared the same language and family background with the few people I knew, and never really associated myself with people who were of a different race than me. When I first started school in kindergarten and through the third grade, I was in a bilingual class with students who all spoke Chinese. We communicated to one another using Chinese more than with English, and we were all very comfortable that way. It wasnt until I was transferred to a regular classroom when I started the second grade, that I realized that each classroom was so different. When we used to line up in the yard before school started, I always looked at the students from the other classrooms, all with different skin colors and features, as if they were from another planet. I didnt want to be a part of what they were because they were not like the people who I was so used to growing up. I was afraid of going into the new class because I was afraid that I would be the person they looked upon as the different one.

I was very nervous when I first stepped into the classroom. I did not know a single one of these students and they have been in the same class for four years, so I felt like the odd one out. I felt sick to my stomach and my face was beaming red as the teacher introduced me as the new student who would be joining the class. As I finally looked around the class, I realized that not a single one of these students looked like me. I was so used to having the whole class full of other Chinese children, that I suddenly felt so alone. This was the first time that I felt race separated me from the group of people around me and it forced me to think about the issues concerning race. I didnt have anything against people who were of a different race than me, but I just never got a chance to get to know people outside my race. After I became more comfortable with my new environment, I began making friends. I realized that there was no reason for me to be afraid, and that although we may appear different on the outside, people of other cultures share many similarities as well. We all liked candy and chips, we enjoyed playing dodge ball and swinging on the monkey bars, we all spoke the same language, English. I also learned a lot about other cultures, when I went over to my friends houses to play, I would hear their families speaking in another language and they had different rituals than in my family. It was a very enlightening experience and made my view of culture and ethnic diversity a very positive one. This experience forced me to think about the many issues of race within our society. I think about society and how people are just so comfortable with what they are familiar with, and afraid to go out and learn about different cultures and people. They may be surprised at how wonderful it is to get to know people of another race, with different cultures and customs, and it will really broaden their minds and make them see a whole new side of life.

Example 2: How I learned about race I grew up in Waukegan in the early 1990s. I went to school with a bunch of other kids that looked like me. My friends were all black and practiced the same family rituals as mine. We grew up with the practically the same rules. We were so similar that we used to try and make ourselves "cousins" by naming all the last names in our families to see if we had one in common. It wasn't until I was beginning fourth grade that race became an issue for me. My mother had met a gentlemen and fallen in love. He had to move to Indiana for work and subsequently so did we. I left behind all my "cousins" and moved to Lafayette, IN where my whole world was turned upside down. I remember walking into my new school and new classroom thinking what has my mother done to me. As I looked around, I was the only brown face in the room, everyone else was white. I felt so out of place. I had a million questions running through my head because as far as I knew, black really was the only race. I felt beneath the other students because I lagged behind in my school work. Eventually, I became friends with a few people, we would discuss the differences and similarities between our races. Surprisingly they weren't much different than I!! I would ask crazy questions like if they shower or use the bathroom. I used my ignorance as a learning tool to better myself. Oddly enough when I was a junior in highschool, I had to move back to Waukegan. My mom had to go to Virginia for her job and since I had friends here I chose to come back. I hated it! I

was so used to my school and friends and with my lifestyle in Indiana that I hadn't realized how much different school was here. I was shocked to see the fights and the way the students cursed the teachers out. I made a few new friends, but the girls just didn't like me. I was what they would call "stuck up" or so they said. I got into a fight 3 weeks after I started school. It was during finals so the dean allowed us (myself and the girl) to come to school and take finals, then the suspension would start after winter break. I will never forget the day I came back from my extended winter break. I had anthropology as my 2nd class of the day. I walked into the classroom and introduced myself to the teacher. The conversation went as such: Teacher: Where have you been? Me: Suspended for fighting. Teacher: You black kids just don't get it do you? What were you fighting for? You must have grown up without a dad just like rest of them, no dicipline at all. Me: Excuse me? I won't be taking your class. I was shocked to say the least. Here I am living in my own world where everything was great, and complaining about having to be in a new environment when there are people who have to live with that type of stupidity everyday of their lives.