Because of my distinct up bringing the cycle of socialization was applied prior to this multicultural communications class. Growing up race never came up as an issue to me; my mother never gave race enough attention for it to be significant. All I knew was that I was African-American and most of my friends were Asian Latino and white, but I didn’t even look at them as colored kids, just kids. Because my circle of friends was so diverse the physical differences didn’t really stand out among plus we were young and didn’t care. I was more concerned with Pokémon cards and what not. This mindset stayed with me until about 5th grade. I was never a victim of anyone’s prejudice so i didn’t develop any hostility towards any race.
One of the most vivid memories i have from elementary school is being taught the golden rule. “Do unto others as you would want did to you” From this rule i would say i sprouted my norms, rules, and models of ways to act. This rule had nothing to do with race, it was just a standard rule to abide to if you wanted to be respected.
My all around cultural landscape growing up was centered on family and education. It wasn’t until I moved to Seattle from Lynnwood when i noticed race as an issue. Phrases like “white boy” and “nigga” became prevalent and race smacked me in the face. These words were mainly used by the student body, which shocked me the most. i thought in this day and age kids didn’t care about race, but in a metropolitan area the results could differ. The thing that irritated me the most about the situation was that the other African-Americans among themselves who were increasing the stereotypes about others knowingly and about themselves unknowingly.
Recently my high school held its first dance of the year, Homecoming. The thing about Garfield’s dances is that the dance floor always ends up segregated. Blacks in the front, Whites to the front left and nobodies in the back black or white. I always though that this was peculiar, so i thought why? I came up with these reasons for the actions. Usually hip-hop i played at these dances, so it’s understandable for most of the Blacks to gather in the front near the DJ. Next the whites, usually they get to the dance earliest, so they can get a spot in front of the dance floor, but are usually pushed to the left by the later arriving groups of black people. Also because most white kids are considered not to be able to dance that well justifies them being pushed to the left by their black counterparts.
Anyway my point is that even the younger generation is setting themselves apart from each other consciously and sub-consciously. Memories of parents or relatives expressing a certain feeling about another race that while awake may have been disregarded, sub-consciously this may invoke actions in the adolescence he or she might not be aware of, but visible to another race. This is why we must change as people. we must be aware of discrimination and prejudices that are around us and influencing the younger generations.