...collective identity of an ethnic group is an intrinsic part of social life; the identities that make them unique from other ethnicities are built based on experiences and traits. On the other hand, many experts argue that ethnicity, as an occurrence is a socially built mainly as individuals select a particular part of history as well as to focus on their dissimilarity from other ethnicities. Therefore, collective ethnicities do not just focus on the somebody's skin color but also on the values and beliefs of their choice, which also includes religion and political beliefs as well. When an identity is passed on from, one generation to another, this process is called an ethnic collectivity. The main focus will be of the ethnic collectivities and the ethnic categories of the Haitian Americans and African Americans. An ethnic collectivity is derived from social negotiation in which an identity is aligned with various elements similar to other ethnic categories, which means that some ethnic group are incline to identify with and relate themselves with an another group in order for them to establish an identity; for instance, the case of the Haitian Americans. Haitian Americans originally came from Haiti, which was once under the French rule making them fluent in French and also majority of them are blacks. The Haitian American immigrants that came to the United States assimilated and fully adapted the African American culture. Furthermore, the second generation Haitian Americans see themselves...
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...African Americans: The Role of Race Abstract The Following Essay defines and integrates the role race plays on the African American culture in their family values and politics in comparison to the Anglo American Culture. The United States has become increasingly diverse in the last century. While African American families share many features with other U.S. families, the African American family has some distinctive features relating to the timing and approaches to marriage and family formation, gender roles, parenting styles, and strategies for coping with adversity. African cultures, slavery, slave rebellions, and the civil rights movements(circa 1800s-160s)have shaped African American religious, familial, political and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in myriad ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion and worldview, and food preparation methods. In the United States, the very legislation that was designed to strip slaves of culture and deny them education served in many ways to strengthen it. In turn, African American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on myriad elements of mainstream American culture, among them language, music, dance, religion, cuisine, and agriculture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization. Over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world...
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...Counseling African Americans A multicultural competent counselor is, someone who’s able to work efficiently with groups of students from culturally distinct groups (Thomas & Vines, 2008). Furthermore, culture competency plays a key role in how counselors diagnose and treat their patients from any background or culture. The (Surgeon General, 2001) broadly defines culture as a common heritage or set beliefs, norms and values. Culture applies to all groups of people but unfortunately; there are major mental health disparities amongst minority individuals compared to white individuals. According to the Surgeon General (2001), ethnic minorities have less access to mental health services than their white counterparts. Additionally, minorities are...
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...Renaissance Poets The Harlem Renaissance was the time period that immediately followed the First World War. During the great migration a vast number of African Americans left the southern states to relocate to northern states such as Chicago, New York, and Washington DC. They were in search of new employment and artistic opportunities. This was the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance era where African American artist (musicians and poets) called themselves the “New Negro”. The two Poets I chose to discuss throughout this essay are Langston Hughes and Claude McKay. I will be discussing their roles during the Harlem Renaissance, The elements of double consciousness within their poetry, and the primary themes seen in poetry during this time period. Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was one of the most influential writers during the Harlem Renaissance. His unique style of writing incorporated Jazz and Blues music into poetry. Langston Hughes played a significant role during the Harlem Renaissance period, his work became the voice for the average African American struggling to deal with the stress / pressures of being racially discriminated against. His poems encouraged them to love their brown skin and accept who they are and not how they are seen by their white counterparts. Instead of African Americans sacrificing their identity (culture) to blend into the white society he encouraged Negroes to have a sense of pride in their ancestry and celebrate their spirituality and culture...
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...schemas, abstract and organized packages of information, are the cognitive version of identities. Self-schemas include organized knowledge about one's self, the cognitive response to the questions of identity. These include the characteristics, preferences, goals, and behavior patterns we associate with ourselves. Group schemas (analogous to stereotypes) include organized information about social positions and stratification statuses, such as gender, race, age, or class. Because the social positions we occupy have immediate consequences for our sense of self, group schemas play a major part in processes of identification. Self and group schemas illustrate both advantages and disadvantages of categorisation systems. They allow us to summarize and reduce information to key elements; thus, they also entail losing potentially valuable information. And, categorisations are almost always accompanied by systems of evaluation of some categories as better or worse. Schemas are not just perceptual phenomena; they can serve as explanatory devices and justifications of social relationships (Tajfel 1981). Thus, social identities are embedded in sociopolitical contexts. Social identity theory focuses on the extent to which individuals identify themselves in terms of group memberships (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The central tenet of social identity theory is that individuals define their identities along two dimensions: social, defined by membership in various social groups; and...
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...As with any identity, ethnicity is far more complicated than simply personally identifying. Jenkins separates the identity into two distinct elements- the nominal and the virtual, simply the “who” and the “what that means” in terms of their experience as a result (Jenkins, 1994). The following examination of the connection between ethnicity and mental illness looks at culture as the internal social element, along with the larger social forces of health inequalities and racism, which have shaped current outcomes or the virtual reality of living as an ethnic minority. Values can differ greatly between cultures, and even within them, so it is impossible for institutions to govern with values that align with everyone. This applies to mental health as well, as definitions of health and illness vary so differently across cultures. This means that mental health diagnosis is tied so closely to culture, and is largely impacted by dominant western culture...
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...neighborhood of New York City, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.[1][2][3][4] The Harlem Renaissance is unofficially recognized to have spanned from about 1919 until the early or mid-1930s. Many of its ideas lived on much longer. The zenith of this "flowering of Negro literature", as James Weldon Johnson preferred to call the Harlem Renaissance, was placed between 1924 (the year that Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life hosted a party for black writers where many white publishers were in attendance) and 1929 (the year of the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression). Contents [hide] 1 Background to Harlem 2 Development of African-American community in Harlem 2.1 An explosion of culture in Harlem 3 Music 4 Characteristics and themes 5 Influence of the Harlem Renaissance 5.1 A new black Identity 5.2 Criticism of the movement 6 Notable figures and their works 6.1 Novels 6.2 Short story collections 6.3 Drama 6.4 Poetry 6.5 Leading intellectuals 6.6 Visual artists 6.7 Popular entertainment 6.8 Musicians and composers 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 10 Bibliography Background to Harlem [edit] Until the end of the Civil War, the majority of African Americans had been enslaved and lived in the South. After the end of slavery, the emancipated African Americans began to strive for civic participation, political equality and...
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...“Down Low”: Homosexuals in the African American Community: Why is it a Taboo Topic? Danielle Carter Senior Seminar HSU 498 Professor Hogan March 25, 2010 Abstract The phenomenon known as the “Down Low” among African American Men who have sex with Men has caused much concern among black community leaders, the general population, and not to mention HIV/AIDS researchers. There are questions which are not being addressed regarding communication patterns of stigmatized groups specifically the “Down Low” group. Why is there little research about the “Down Low”, when there is more than half AAMSM in this world? This paper will explain why so many African American men are on the “Down Low,” why there is a lack of communication when it comes to speaking about the “Down Low. This paper will also help Human Service workers learn how to help AAMSM and their families. “Down Low”: Homosexuals in the African American Community A Review of the Literature Today, while there are men who are openly gay, it seems that the majority of those having sex with men still lead secret lives, products of a black culture that deems masculinity and fatherhood as a black man's primary responsibility (Roscoe, 2008). The “Down Low” culture has grown in recent years out of the shadows and developed its own contemporary institutions for those who know where to look for example...
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...Erik Erikson Author’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: Course Details: Date of Submission: Erik Erikson Introduction Erik Erikson was a rare psychologist who created an eight-step model outlining the different steps in development psychology in the growth of an ordinary human being from birth to old age. His specific insights concerning human mental processes would affect the way people reacted to children and foment a deep interest in studies in human psychology. Though other psychologists have improved on Erikson’s initial findings, original findings retain a lot of significance. There is need to research and study Erikson’s work with particular interest in his explanation of the ‘adolescent stage’ Erikson’s Contribution Freud’s views about the nature and construction of the human personality significantly influenced Erik Erikson’s understanding of humanity. There was a considerable difference between the two men: whereas Erikson was an ego psychologist, Freud was an ID psychologist. Erikson stressed on the functions of society and culture and the divergences that can occur within the ego itself while Freud highlighted the conflict between the superego and ID. At all psychosexual phases, Erikson observed that the person grows in three levels concurrently: social, biological, and psychological, which represent the person, his or her connection to society, and individualism. His work was a lifetime representation of human development...
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...R. Sarenka Smith 13 December 2013 Race, Civil Rights, and Literature—Paper #3 Cultural Heritage Through the Creation of Art and Language: Recovering Ancestral Identity in Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow “People who can’t call their nation. For one reason or another they just don’ know. Is a hard thing. I don’ even like to think about it.” --Lebert Joseph, Praisesong for the Widow Paule Marshall’s autobiographical article “From the Poets in the Kitchen,” published a month before her novel Praisesong for the Widow, describes stories from her childhood that reflect the immigrant experience, addressing the constant presence of the Caribbean and its influence on Marshall’s life while growing up in the United States. Marshall’s mother and her female friends, immigrants from Barbados, would gather in the Marshall kitchen after their days of working in low-paid jobs to chat, gossip, and “tackle the great issues of the time” including the economy, politics, war, and their nostalgia for home. They discussed their adopted home, America—acknowledging both the racism they endured, and also the wealth of possibilities that the country offered. These women and their stories were, for Marshall, the origins of her fiction. She asserts that a writer’s ability to render everyday speech is derived from close listening, and the talk that “filled the kitchen” additionally functioned as a kind of therapeutic catharsis, a release of creative energy. The special kind of...
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...RUNNING HEAD: CULTURE AND PARENTING Culture and parenting Introduction Parenting is the first and likely most important mechanism through which culture is reproduced (Cauce, 2008). Every child is born into a certain circumstance and learns through interactions with the surroundings. Parents are generally the first and key people in a child’s life, so it should come as no surprise that parenting has influences on the development of children’s temperament, which later impacts their school performance. This article is going to explore how parenting varies among different ethnic groups including Asian Americans, African American, Latinos, and European Americans. More specifically, what factors should be included when considering the parenting characteristics of a unique ethnic group and what implications might they have for schooling today. Theories Two of the modern theories that are concerned with cultural influences on human development are Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and Ecological Systems Theory proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. First, Vygotsky’s theory defined culture as the values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group. His Sociocultural Theory focuses on how culture is transmitted to the next generation. According to Vygotsky, social interaction – in particular, cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society – is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking...
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...The question of identity is complex, to be certain. Philosophical thinkers have been wrestling with the question for centuries. Such intellectual exercises have frequently been rooted in the idea that no matter the individual differences between us, we are the “same” because each of us is, at base, a human being. Using this as the basis for understanding our individual identities within the context of a civilized, democratic society, we should be able to co-exist harmoniously in a country founded on the following familiar words from the United States Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The reality of the situation, however, is arguably that white culture has interpreted these words to mean that anyone who identifies themselves as not white, either by some physical trait, or a set of ideologies that do not mirror the protestant values on which this country was founded, is essentially and innately substandard. As a result, they are marginalized and assigned a sub-par position within society. Certain groups are notable for the social and political resistance they begin to demonstrate against the white establishment. Two notable groups which have shown (and continue to show) such resistance are African-Americans and the LGBT community, significantly notable because both groups...
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...The Dramaturgical Process as a Mechanism for Identity Development of LGBTQ Youth and Its Relationship to Detypification -Erica Rosenfeld Halverson According to Erica Halverson, “youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) construct and present complex identities by using a method known as the dramaturgical process”(Halverson, 635). The dramaturgical process consists of the telling, adapting, and performing of personal stories. This study involved the About Face Youth Theatre (AFYT), a Chicago based organization that works with LGBTQ youth on the dramaturgical process. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between the dramaturgical process and the psychosocial process of identity development. There were forty different youth who participated in the 2003 season of AFYT, ranging in age from thirteen to twenty, and with different ethnic backgrounds. This study mainly focused on eight of those participants. Of these eight, four were female, three were male, and one was transgender, all with varying ages. The independent variables of this study was the sexual orientation of the participants and the participants’ views on how they wanted to be represented in front of an audience. The dependent variables were the scripted scenes that would be performed by the group for a public audience. The main findings in this study was that the use of personal stories allows youth to engage in the change events described...
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...Savannah Starnes AMH 2010-112963 Slave Resistance Paper Due: April 26, 2013 Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life written by Stanley Elkins in 1959 is a controversial seminal piece in the history of slavery. Elkins outlined the problems of slavery in the 1950's, and in depth detail discussed his Theory of Sambo. Elkin's defined Sambo as the standard North American slave personality, a zombie like state of mind, Elkin's believed that slave owners had complete control over a slave's body and mind. He compares slavery in the United States to the concentration camps in Germany. This comparison sparked the most controversy among historians, catapulting Elkin's thesis to become a heavy influence in the study of slavery. After the publishing of Elkin's work, historians shifted their attention away from the slave master's point of view and focused on the daily life of slaves and how they overcame their captivity. The indirect and direct forms of slave resistance disprove Elkin's Theory of Sambo. A vast majority of slaves were shipped from different parts of Africa all having a variety of different ethnic, linguistic and tribal origins fusing together into a new melting pot community upon their arrival in North America. Slaves had formed a culture, and an identity through southern institution, they had a strong family life, religion, education and rebellions to help form and shape slave culture and define the slave community. Family life among...
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...The U.S. Census Bureau outlines this ethnic group as a separate entity than White or Black people. There is even White and Black Latinos or Hispanics depending on how they choose to identify. There is a broad range of variability in this ethnic group as well as some cultural, language and religious differences as well as a few different subgroups. Identity The United States Census Bureau is the sole provider of all of the statistical data about our nations’ population and economy. Census information is gathered and reported every 10 years. Census reports first implemented that Latino/Hispanic could be identifying factors on our census report around the 1990 census data collection, which held the most comprehensive data. In previous years, Latin Americans were able to identify with by listing any of the subgroup they belonged to. In previous years, beginning in 1930, the census attempted to identify “Mexicans”, then later in 1970, where there was a nationwide category and then 1980 added the more effective category that really won over society in 1990. Most Latinos and Hispanics have no easy task in explaining their identity. Whether you are a Latino or a Hispanic is largely in part based upon where your family originated from. Although they agree that they share similar cultural views, language and a tad bit of history, it is just not the same. Hispanics are generally defined by Spanish speaking countries only, like Spain or those located in Latin America. While Latinos...
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