Running Head: My Culture Immersions

My Immersion Kendra Bridges Georgia State University

Running Head: My Culture Immersions

Abstract

This paper will discuss my personal biography. The first thing I will discuss will be of Positionality and Identities and Dilemmas and Americanization. In this section I will address questions about the type of groups I grew up around and how I lost some of my African culture and became Americanized. The latter sections will discuss my Families culture, Culture awareness and Intersectionality. I will then address questions about how I have become culturally aware and dating outside of my culture. Exploring My Culture Introduction It is important as a social worker that you are aware of where you come from to understand where you are going and what ways can you help. I feel that being aware of who you are can help you find out your strengths and weaknesses. In this paper I will do a self-evaluation on my life which should help me understand exactly who I am. Positionality and Identities I feel that being a social worker is one of the most rewarding professions. I find it rewarding after helping an individual get through family crisis or income hardship. I realized I wanted to be a social worker after I saw another social worker help a family through a life changing event at the hospital. I knew I could walk away feeling fulfilled because of the aid I can provide to an individual. For the first half of my life, I was raised in a two parent home until drugs tore my parents marriage apart. Boy did life change. We went from a two income household to only one. For the first six months of the separation, my mother put our things in storage and we moved in with my cousin about thirty-five minutes from where I grew up. I shared a room and bed with my mother and older sister. Every night all three of us would pile into the full size bed. Those were defining moments for me. It was in those tight moments I learned to appreciate education and where education could take me. This experience taught me to value education. I learned that sometimes divorce is not optional, but where you can afford to live after the divorce is optional. My mother and father education didnt go past high school. This made their job choice limited. Life wasnt bad growing up. We never went without food, clothing or shelter, but there were certainly activities I could participate in due to lack of funds. Credit score is another thing that Ive learned to value. After seeing my parents be denied the option to purchase a home made me realize the importance of keeping good credit. Where I come from has helped to shape me into the woman I am today. I am very ambitious with many goals to reach. In the next few years I see myself completing graduate

Running Head: My Culture Immersions

school and working as a social worker for the Fulton County school district. I also plan to start a non-profit mentoring organization for teen girls, ages of 12-18. A program like this would have been very helpful for me during the time of my parents divorce. I choose to not let past experiences hinder me, but I choose to use the as a tool of learning to get me to my next destination. Dilemmas of Americanization I was originally born in a small town called LaGrange Georgia. It is about an hour south of Atlanta. I lived there for about the first nine years of my life, and then my family relocated to the suburbs outside of Atlanta. While living in LaGrange, I attended a diverse elementary school. I remember having a mixed group of friends. My best friend was a Hispanic girl named Erin. Her family was from Mexico, but she was from the United States. Whenever I spent the night over her house, we would eat a Mexican dish and watch Mexican movies. I didnt realize at the time that I was being culturally immersed through Erins culture. After my family relocated to the suburbs of Atlanta, I wasnt exposed too much if any diversity. The middle school and high school that I attended was predominately Black and so was my neighborhood. There may have been one White assistant principal, but most staff members were Black. I had very few classmates that were of another race, and to be honest that made me comfortable. In middle and high school, I never experienced any negative incidents dealing with race because we were all the same. Everyone was treated on an equal playing field. I was allowed just the same opportunity as my other classmates; however, I cant say the same thing for elementary. Back in LaGrange, I do feel that at times I was isolated because of my race. I didnt feel this way with my friends, but with my teachers. I recall receiving lower conduct grades than my friends of different race. They were all given the same grade, but my grade was lower. I also recall feeling excluded when my teacher would check the students head for hair lice. She would actually take the time to look through other races hair, but barely touch the black students hair. At that time, I felt like my hair was dirty. This was a negative experience for me. I feel that I gave up a piece of my culture and became Americanized the day my mother put a relaxer in my hair. In the African American culture, we are born with a curl or wavy hair texture. Some women choose to keep their hair in that state and some choose to get a relaxer which will make their hair a silk soft texture. I thought with straight, silky hair would also help change my identity along with my accent; however, a relaxer did nothing but damage my natural hair. According to Schiele (2005), Internalization can generate a sense of ethnic selfdepreciation or what some have called low cultural, ethnic, or racial esteem. I had such low cultural esteem at that age due to all the oppression that was linked to being an African American. Now that I am older, I have learned the importance of keeping my culture. I dont look at our history of oppression as us being weak; however, I think it makes us look strong. I now wear my natural hair texture with pride. I feel as though it ties me back to African heritage in a sense.

Running Head: My Culture Immersions

Growing up in a predominately Black neighborhood and school helped influence my decision to attend a diverse college. I am aware that the world is made up of more people than just Black and Whites, and it is important to be able to adapt. Family Culture I grew up in an African American family. For the most part my mother was the keeper of the culture; however, my father was the bread winner. Religion was very important in my household, so we went to church every Sunday and sometimes mid-week bible study. We identify ourselves as Christians. According to Cokley, Garcia, Hall-Clark, Tran, & Rangel (2012), Over 76% of the adults in the United States identify as Christians. My foundation in religion effects how I view the world in a positive way. I believe in forgiving those that hurt or misuse you. I try to believe that everyone try their best whether it is good enough for me or not. My religion values have helped to shape me into the woman I am today. For example, one of the most important things I value is marriage. I plan to not have any kids until I am married, because that is the teaching I grew up under. While I lived in my home town, we worshiped at United Methodist church. After we relocated, we started worshiping at a Baptist church. I experienced a major change in the Baptist church than in the United Methodist. For example, at the United Methodist church communion was done often rather than in the Baptist church communion is done once a month. Sticking together as a family was always significant. Holidays seemed to be the occasion that brought us all together. A few of the holidays we acknowledged were Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July and Birthdays. One of my aunts has a traditional Christmas dinner every year on Christmas Eve. Family from all over would gather at her house eat dinner and exchange gifts. That was one of my favorite times of year because it brought everyone together. I am uncertain if I will ever have a partner who is of another race. Although I am not close minded to the idea, I have never dated outside of my race. I have never even been approached by another race to even consider dating. I think a lot of that has to do with me being raised in a predominately black area. Dating someone of the same race is just my comfort zone. I do think dating a person outside of my race would be accepted by my family. I remember one Thanksgiving my older boy cousin brought a Caucasian woman to dinner as his date. My family didnt treat her any different than anyone else. Culture Awareness of other Inventory Because of the area I was raised in, I had never associated with different ethnic groups such as Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Koreans Americans, Vietnamese Americans or First Nations Peoples. When I was a child, I thought only Chinese Americans only owned nail shops and First Nations People only owned gas stations. That was because that was the only capacity I saw them in. I developed this thought, which I am embarrassed to admit that they come to American to buy up our land and we end up jobless because they only hire they own. That was a negative mentality to have and I am glad that today I know better. I believe I

Running Head: My Culture Immersions

formulated my negative opinions about other races because of my parents attitudes towards them. The first time I became very active with Chinese Americans once at a job I worked. My first impression was very favorable. There are a lot of stereotypes just as any other group of about Chinese American that are false. I created great relationships at that job and they have lasted to this day. Now that I am an adult, I would like to think I am a bit more diverse than I were when I was a child. While attending Georgia State, I have been force to get out of my comfort zone and interact with students from all different backgrounds whether in group work or school clubs. My personal life is still predominately Black, and that is something I would like to change.

Intersectionality A few internal intersections that one may not know about me are that I identify myself as an African American female. I am a member of the heterosexual orientation group. I am a junior at Georgia State University majoring in social work. I would love to obtain my master degree immediately after undergrad and work with children and women in some capacity. I have an older brother and an older sister, but I am the only child between my parents together. I dont have a close relationship with either sibling and maybe that is due to the fact that we didnt grow up in the same household. I currently have an apartment with my boyfriend of a year. My parents are not top happy about that decision because theyve always wanted me to get married before live with a guy. Despite my parents opinion I feel that I made the right decision. A few external intersections that one may be able to notice are that I just had my twenty second birthdays. I identify myself as an African American female. My native language is English, but I have taken a few Spanish classes. Fashion is my hobby so invest a lot of time in my appearance. I being comfortable with whom I am and where I come from will help me be a very useful social worker. I can use my culture and past experience to help clients with their problems. I found this paper to be very helpful. It forced me to reflect over where I came from in order to understand where I am trying to go. I am not content with where I am right now, because I feel that there is always room for improvement. Although I didnt grow up leaning about other cultures, I am willing to put in the work to be culturally competent to be an effective social worker.

Running Head: My Culture Immersions

Work Cited Schiele, J. H. (2005). CULTURAL OPPRESSION AND THE HIGH-RISK STATUS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS. Journal Of Black Studies, 35(6), 802-826. doi:10.1177/0021934704265560 Dimovski, V., kerlavaj, M., & Mandy Mok Kim, M. (2010). Is There a 'Glass Ceiling' for Female Managers in Singapore Organizations?. Managing Global Transitions: International Research Journal, 8(4), 307-329.