Theme 2: First Experience With Race

Theme 3: Positive Sense of Self Brainstorm

Positive sense of self and experiences with identity and race are highly connected with each other. Personally, I deal with both of these attributes through my identity because I have both pride and struggle with my identity. I have a negative perspective of my identity because being an undocumented Mexican woman prohibits or limits what I can do in the U.S. on the other hand, I am also prideful of my identity because my culture is beautiful and my experiences through things such as holidays and traditions have been memorable. It is different compared to some people, and I find it incredibly interesting. I would assume that a person who identifies positively with African American Psychology might have a stronger sense of self or ethnic identity because they feel connected to their identity despite the negative aspects there are.

In addition, African and African American cultures have many similarities including the profound love and respect for their God and spiritual tradition that is implemented in their everyday lives. The concept of collectivism is also fostered by both cultures rather than individualism. 

Theory 2: 7 Concepts of Afrocentric Psychology


The concept that is mostly present in the African American community would probably be Maafa. Maafa is defined as the enslavement of Africans and it connects to the history and behaviors of people towards African-Americans. For instance, a key foundation or point of history would be the enslavement of Africans which later led to the discrimination or racism that African-Americans face now. The systems set up before in history continue to be used now and because of this, African-Americans face hate crimes and violence from others. 

The concept that is the least present in the African-American community would be Sankofa. It is difficult to say which one is the least present as I am personally not African-American, but I do believe that the concept of Sankofa is the least present based on generalities. The definition of Sankofa would be to look back in order to go forward, and based on the many recurrences throughout history, I can say that it is less used. Hence the phrase, “history always repeats itself”. 

Theory 3: 7 Principles of Nguzo Saba

The concept of Umoja resonates with not only me, but the African-American community. It is defined as unity and it is demonstrated in not only my own culture, but African-American culture as well. Unity has always been important to me whether it is from friends or family because support is always needed. Unity is better than individuality and that is also demonstrated in the African and African-American cultures because they tend to foster collectivism over individualism. Most of their values include that it is better to be with people and help others to live a better life. For example, Umoja is seen through strong family relationships where everyone eats together at a dinner table, lending money to each other, and living a good life together. 

Within the category of Natal Measures, I chose to include my birthplace, siblings, and parents because they are the only aspects in which I am familiar with. My birthplace is incredibly important to my ethnic self-identity because it relates to how although I was born in Mexico, living in America has also shaped my identity. Being born in Mexico made me undocumented in America and it has shaped my personal experiences as my family still practices traditional Mexican customs compared to others who were born in America. My siblings are also important because it reminds me of my oldest and youngest siblings not having to face the same hardships as me. For example, my older sibling has DACA, a program in which I was too young to enter before it got shut down for new applicants. My younger sibling was born in America, and it adds to my own longing for an American identity instead of a Mexican one. My parents are in the same situation as me, and I relate to them the most because they are undocumented as well and have no other way to legally get papers just like me. 

Within the category of Behavioral Measures, language use, music, and food are important aspects of my ethnic identity. I speak both Spanish and English; however, switching between both languages has always been difficult for me because I tend to forget many words in Spanish. Since I am always speaking English at school and I am there for about ⅔’s of my day, forgetting Spanish has always been a fear. My home, on the other hand, is primarily a Spanish-speaking household and that is how I have maintained my ability to speak Spanish even though I get made fun of for forgetting the correct pronunciation/grammar. Compared to my friends, I tend to not have much of a connection with Mexican music and it adds to how much living in America has shaped my identity. Food is important because my household always has traditional Mexican dishes ready and they are different compared to what other people may have in their own households. 

Within the category of Subjective Measures, I chose self-identification and preferred ethnic groups because I have always struggled with embracing my own identity until now. As mentioned before, living in America has shaped my identity and there has always been a sense of longing for an American citizenship. On a more personal level, I have always strived to be like my older sister because even though she is undocumented like me, she found help through DACA and was able to graduate CSULB and get a job which connects to my own dream of being able to financially support my family the way she does. 

Within the category of Situational-contextual Measures, I chose Home-Family and education. My family’s household has shaped my behavior/identity because to me, we have a special family dynamic. Although we still live in a patriarchal household like most Mexicans do, my family has moved past some of the machismo that other families have and it made me embrace my feminism. I was not raised in a conservative household and grew up to be free, and it has allowed me to express myself in whatever manner I’d like to. My education is important because it taught my second language, English, and has introduced me to others who are in similar situations as me or different ones. That way, I can reflect on my own and see what I can do better with my own situation. 

3.2: Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure

My Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure score is 42.

To me, this score demonstrates how although I see my ethnic identity through a negative perspective at times, I am still proud of who I am. I continue to want to learn about my culture, participate in traditions, and have social groups with the same ethnicity as me. This sense of familiarity makes me comfortable with those I am friends with. 

I think this means that I have a strong bond with the Hispanic/Latino ethnic group because I am proud of doing what I do for my culture/ethnicity. I speak Spanish, eat Mexican food, listen to Mexican music despite living in America and it relates to how connected I am to my ethnic group. It is a part of who I am and will continue to be so. 

I was surprised by how high my score was because I usually see my ethnic group as a burden to me or as something that has negatively impacted my ability to do things. This also demonstrates how I am knowledgeable about my ethnic group and how much I have connected to it even though I thought that I didn’t know much about it at times.

3.3: Rosenburg’s Self-Esteem Scale

My score for Rosenburg’s Self-Esteem Scale was 18.

Anything within the range of 15-25 is considered normal and it makes sense because I am proud of myself, but I also feel badly about who I am at times. Despite this, I strive to be a better person and be positive about myself and it has definitely helped me shape into who I am now. I do wish that it was higher than normal because I should be even more proud of myself for everything I have done for myself and others. I have worked hard to get where I am and it should reflect on my scale as well. 

My scale number is 18 which is normal because I grew up in a positive environment where I was taught to embrace myself and work harder to improve myself. Sometimes it can turn into a negative environment where I do not feel confident in myself, but it works out in the end and it helped my score be out of the below normal scale. Though, my pessimistic perspective about myself also kept me from being in the above average scale as well.

3.4: Racial Identity Development 

In the category for People of Color, I believe that I belong in the “Internalization-Commitment” stage. I am definitely past the ideology that white is better because I have never believed that they were. I believe that there is no racial superiority and that all of the racial groups are equal. For example, I have also lived through enough experiences in which I felt discriminated against or have experienced cultural situations to be affected by White beliefs. I have always tried to avoid symbols of whiteness because it is not a part of my ethnic identity. I have also taken Chicano Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Sociology classes to continuously inform myself of one’s history/culture. I am barely at the stage in which I feel secure about my racial identity and I am more open-minded about not only my racial background, but the background of others. I have never disrespected a White person just because of their identity and have even been able to speak to them and see their own perspective about situations. I have even gone beyond to teach others about my identity and learn about others to take action against stereotypes/prejudice toward minorities at educational settings through an organization called Girls Build. I constantly speak out about race and have made friendships not based on race, but on personality. 

3.5: Find your Racial Identity Resource

https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/joaquin.htm 

The poem/writing, “I Am Joaquin”, is important to me because it acknowledges the struggles that Chicano people have faced while trying to achieve economic success and equal rights. Although I was not born in America, I have lived in the United States for the majority of my life to relate to the Chicano community. Struggles in my own life have included having the same rights as those who are “above” minorities or “above” those who are poor or from the low-income class. 

After reading the chapter, I do not believe we live in a post-racial society because of several reasons. Despite there being several advances and developments from being away from racism or discrimination, there are still many people who have the same racist stereotypes and ideologies that harm people of color. It is reasonable to say that there has been progress such as people of color rising in political institutions, people in general being aware of racism/discrimination going on, and there being movements to help out victims of racism. However, people still continue to discriminate against several ethnic or racial groups. 

Personally, my definition of race would be groups of people distinguished by their area and the people in the area’s features. After reading the slides and assigned readings, I have realized that race is a social construct or a mix of both a social and biological construct because perspective is an important aspect to acknowledge. People perceive a person’s race based on the person’s biological features and one can say that they might be a certain race while at other times other people state the opposite. 

The Scientific American article, “Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue”, argues that race is a social construct and can help challenge racism. In this article, they also state how geography is important just like how I mentioned one’s race should be distinguished by the area the group of people are in instead of biological features. I agree with what they state; however, there should also be some acknowledgement to how a person’s features distinguish race as well.

After reviewing the required readings, I found the idea that there are several types of racism interesting. I had some idea that there were different types, but not as many that were mentioned. It really demonstrates how society has negatively perceived minorities or people of color. It is significant in the unit because it allows one to realize how racism does not only exist by itself, but through institutions, feelings of superiority in culture, history, and privileged attitudes from the people who set up an unfair system of beliefs. 

4. Since slavery, racism and discrimination would probably be some of the most important impacts on Black families. Slavery created unjust systems that put White people or people with lighter skin in a position above African Americans. Because of this, African Americans faced wealth inequalities, hate crimes, and less opportunities to grow as people in society. This caused an increase of poverty and lack of African Americans in high positions. In a Black family, poverty, lack of education, and abuse is very common and it affects some of the members thoroughly. 

5. https://jlc.org/news/family-preservation-matters-why-kinship-care-black-families-native-american-families-and-other

6. After reading the required readings and slide presentation, the idea that racial socialization can help Black family structures stood out to me. I have mentioned before that when parents empower their children, they develop a sense of ethnic pride that allows these children to continue to thrive in a racist society. As long as one feels confident about their ethnic identity and culture, they can do well and help future generations thrive as well. It can strengthen families and allows Black families to promote racial equity instead of endorsing shame and discrimination in generations.

2. The Imposter Syndrome affects students in their educational journey and their career experiences because there are several cases in which teachers or even parents doubt a student’s success. It is common in educational settings for teachers to discourage students who are more typically troublesome. They see them as troublemakers who have no path to success because of their behaviors in class and it discourages students during their educational journey. When referring to their career experiences, many students who are acknowledged by teachers or are constantly discouraged by teachers are kept from pursuing “hard” careers in college for future jobs. For example, careers in STEM would be more specific when connecting Imposter Syndrome effects on career experiences because students who don’t positively interact in a classroom are not motivated to pursue those careers. When students feel discouraged during their childhood, it continues through their careers and they fail to enjoy their career experiences.

3. Imposter Syndrome specifically affects the self-esteem and mental health of African American women in the workplace because it is most common for them to face Imposter Syndrome. African American women feel the constant need to prove themselves not only in their work setting, but to their entire race because they want workspace equity. Since most workspaces have workers that are predominantly White males, African American women feel like they need to constantly prove themselves worthy of their position. Because of this, they feel doubtful of their actions and work and fail to recognize that they belong in the same workspace as a White male. As mentioned in the video, Morgan Jerkins, who is an African American woman, also faced these problems and she failed to recognize her success even after she had actually achieved her goals. 

4. Race and gender play into the African American woman’s experience in the workspace because intimidation comes into the mind. To begin with, people of color in general tend to be intimidated by the presence of White people in the workspace. Now including gender, it adds to that intimidation and doubt that African American women hold in their workspace because they feel like they need to be more accomplished in order to be at the same level as a White male.

5. In order to improve the issues and concerns regarding women of color in their workspace, places of work should make equal opportunities for every person in the workspace. Instead of giving certain jobs to certain people, they should give equal opportunities to all workers. That way, White males won’t be in higher positions all the time instead of women of color. In addition to this, workshops and monthly presentations informing workers that they are equal despite differences in gender and race should be set. 

6. After reading the required readings and unit slide presentation, the Gifted and Talented Correlations portion stood out to me. When I was in elementary school, I remember being put into the Gifted and Talented program despite being a girl and Mexican. However, other people feel that it is biased. It demonstrates the difference in different educational settings and how the people in charge really do make a difference. Going to school in Compton allowed me to be surrounded by people of color and of the same social class as me. This allowed me to get the same opportunities as other people in the school, but the GATE program typically had more male students in it as well. 

Several stereotypes are perpetuated when racial microaggressions are thrown towards a person of color including being well educated, being intelligent, speaking English well, and where we come from. People who tend to be racist towards people of color believe that people of color aren’t as educated as them. Because of this, when they show their intelligence, people of color typically get told by White people something along the lines of not expecting “someone like them” to have that much knowledge. In addition, White people expect people of color to speak broken English because they expect them to be from a foreign country. It can be offensive to people of color altogether. 

While considering intersectionality, other issues regarding racial microaggressions affect African-Americans when thinking of job opportunities. Because intersectionality created inequalities, institutional racism would be an important example. Many businesses lack hiring people of color or African-Americans because they believe they aren’t as good at their job as a White person. They doubt their skills and usually believe they aren’t as capable as them. 

These theories regarding intersectionality, racial microaggressions, bias and white privilege affect one’s understanding of their ethnic identity because it creates a general negative opinion about the group of people. Since their identity is constantly being put down, their own opinion about their background begins to change negatively. They’ll believe they’re not enough to become a bigger person compared to White people. 

This source is a great example of what we have been covering during this unit because it provides examples of microaggressions and how the victims process the insults when it's thrown at their faces. To be more specific, the article dives into microaggressions at workplaces and what people can do in order to stop it from happening. People of color or people who are targeted by microaggressions can utilize this article to know what to do in their situation. 

If a person is not aware of how they’re acting or speaking to a person of color in a biased manner, there are a couple of ways that can help them get educated about the situations. For example, places like school or work settings can introduce microaggression awareness presentations that inform unaware people of the possible racism they can be spreading. They might not know it can be affecting their peers and it negatively impacts the mental health of the victim. By holding these workshops, they’ll get informed of what not to say that will insult people of color or other groups of people. 

Something that stood out to me while going through the unit material was the way that there are different types of bias. I usually generalized bias and categorized it under just bias instead of the many types there are. For example, there is quiet, explicit, implicit, and confirmation bias. All of these are the same when it comes to discrimination and racism, but differ in ways that they are conveyed or targeted towards people. 

The weaknesses that Black neighborhoods and communities have are being stereotyped as poor people who live in the ghetto. Because Black people typically live in cities called ghettos, they are mostly categorized as people who live in poverty. They’re constantly being pushed to be portrayed as unsuccessful people; however, it is incorrect for them to be continuously categorized as poor unsuccessful people because they are several African Americans who don’t live in “ghettos” and have a stable income. A solution to this problem can be creating a strong political system for African Americans to be represented well enough to view the problems these neighborhoods face. With this, financial help can come and can help fix their cities to be seen as a stable city and not a ghetto where people of color live.

Three ways in which Black neighborhoods and communities can help the progressive movement of the Black community include: creating safe environments where families can seek financial help, having a stable educational setting, and creating opportunities for people to get jobs. The more these neighborhoods fight for this, the more they would be able to be successful in leading a progressive Black community. This would keep them out of the stereotypes that most Black people live in poverty and that they are uneducated. The creation of job opportunities would also help them get a stable income.

Three ways in which Black neighborhoods could have a detrimental effect on the progressive movement of the Black community would be continuing the violence that occurs in communities at times, accepting imposter syndrome, and isolating themselves instead of having faith in their community. Many cities that are predominantly African American are known to have some type of violence whether it is gang violence or domestic violence in households. It discredits the hard work that Black people have done because they are constantly being put down by privileged people who say they’re violent people. The imposter syndrome can also affect Black neighborhoods because they’re being put down by stereotypes about being poor or uneducated. If they accept these facts instead of challenging them, they will continue to be portrayed the way they are instead of moving towards a progressive community. Faith and connections are strong African American characteristics, so if families or people isolate themselves instead of reaching out to groups of people who can help them, they can put an end to the start of the progressive community. 

This resource includes not only similar themes I have discussed, but themes about gentrification and white flight that are discussed in the unit. They include information about the rise of Black cities in which migration, economic, and housing situations that have contributed to the rise of these cities are discussed. 

After reading and going through the content of this unit, the topic of gentrification stood out to me because I have researched information about it before with Hispanic communities instead. In Compton, gentrification is on the rise and we see this as homeowners are starting to sell their properties to people who have plans to renovate them and sell the properties at higher prices. This causes the rent prices to rise and this increases the amount of people who are unable to pay their rent. This then leads to people having to migrate to areas they can afford or having to work more to be able to afford the place they live.