Exploring Family Ethnography: Culture, Migration, and History

Running head: ETHNOGRAPHIC 1 Ethnographic Assignment Skyla K. Watson Jackson State University

ETHNOGRAPHIC 2 Family Ethnography When thinking of your family’s ethnography, we think of the study of one’s specific culture. Ethnography helps to view the different relation patterns, structures, cultures, ethnic backgrounds, etc. Ethnographic also helps to study a family’s origin, illness history, marriage, traditions, deaths, and migration. Every family is unique and has their family tree, way of life, culture, and origin history. Different sites on the internet can help you find some of your family’s background history and kinship. These sites include Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast, My Heritage, and many more. Though these websites exist, one of the best ways to find out your family’s history, background, or family tree is through different generations in your family. Due to not having a lot of people who can help me dig into my family’s background, I decided to give Ancestory.com a try. Learning about your family history can be very enthusing and exciting. As I have dived into my family’s history, culture, ethnic background, and family tree, I have learned a lot of intriguing facts. One of the most intriguing/devastating facts that I learned while building my family tree, is that my paternal grandfather was alive when I was born. For as far as I can remember, I would tell that he had died before I came into the world. Although I was four years old at the time of death, I feel like I would have remembered something about him. My paternal grandma passed away just two before the passing of my grandfather. I say that I would have remembered some things about my grandfather become there are many memories that I hold close to me about my paternal grandmother. I was able to find obituaries of my

ETHNOGRAPHIC 3 paternal grandmother and grandfather. I was also able to find an obituary of my maternal great grandfather. I have very short generations in my family. My mother and father were not married at the time of my birth and neither have they ever been married. Both my maternal and paternal grandparents were never married either. I am the youngest child on my mother and father’s side of the family. I am the younger sibling of five on my father’s side and one on my mother’s side. Migration, Factors that Lead to Challenges, Gender Roles A great number of African Americans moved to the Northeast and urban Midwestern cities to find jobs after the Emancipation. The migration was so tremendous. By 1998, 55% of African Americans lived in the South. In the 1870s African Americans began moving North and West. In the 1890s, several African Americans moved to the Northeast. By the next decade, the Midwest was double that of the previous decade. Throughout the Great Migration, black migrants were heavily directed to a small number of northern and western cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia ( Gregory 2005 ; Tolnay 2003 ). I have many family members who reside in both Detroit and Chicago. According to Ancestry, my great-granduncle, Burford Jennings moved to Michigan in 1943 and married Oleva Roseman. Burford Jennings is my maternal great-grandmother, Tessie Jennings Watson. On page 7 will be an interesting picture of my great-granduncle’s marriage certificate. With the occurrence of blacks migrating to Urban areas, African Americans were to work longer hours and women began to enter the workforce which caused a break in the traditional African American family structure. As far as I can remember, my maternal great-grandmother was a housewife of four children, while her husband worked on the farm. Both my maternal and

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

ETHNOGRAPHIC 4 paternal grandmothers worked, one of whom worked as a correctional officer and one as a nurse. This means that they did not live the traditional lives of my great-grandparents. Parents began to work a lot which led to the children being left alone and not seeing their parents until late or sometimes days and months at a time . Since the turn of the century, social theorists have argued that slavery resulted in no organization or stability in black families (DuBois 1899, 1909; Elkins 1963; Frazier 1932, 1939; Myrdal 1944). Due to men not being in the home a lot, young men were forced to raise themselves and sometimes their younger siblings. They had to learn how to do manly things at young ages to help fill the role of their fathers and help their mothers while they were away. I am not a victim of migration, but I have many families who were a part of this event. In researching my family’s history, I begin with my paternal and maternal grandparent’s ways of life. This is because I was able to witness and listen to stories of how they were with their family groups. My maternal great-grandparents are Tessie and Ivory Watson. Family Tradition, Religion, and Pride/Shame My family traditions are very vague as I remember and from what I am witnessing now. I did not grow up around my siblings or my fathers and still do not know which about them till this day I grew up in the home with my mother, brother, and grandmother in the home, it stayed this way until I was 10th grade. In 10th grade, I moved with my uncle to help with his children while he worked. When it came to family dinner and preparing meals, with did not eat at the dinner table and my grandmother prepared most of the meals. It is still this way today. As a family, we rarely get together and cook big meals, not even for the holidays. In recent years, we have not been celebrating the holidays due to my uncle’s recent decision to change his religion. He decided to become an Israelite. The rest of my family and myself are Christians. The tradition

ETHNOGRAPHIC 5 of holidays has changed since I have gotten older. My family does not have any pride or shame towards anything as far as I know. I would say that I am more spiritual than religious, though. I grew up in the Church and attended each first and third Sunday until I turned about 12 years old. I stopped attending church once my grandmother stopped attending due to her mobility. Coping, Illness/Death, and Seeking Help Many families cope and seek help by therapy. Until recent, none of my immediate family members went to therapy. My mother is the only person that I know who is in therapy today. I wanted to be in therapy as a teen, but my family did not allow me to do so. My family does not have healthy ways of coping. When trying to talk things out, it usually leads to a heated argument which leaves everyone mad at one another. When it comes to illnesses my family is very close nit to caring for the sick. I commend my family for looking out for one another in this nature. Death does not appear to be taken very hard in my family. It is hard to judge because I have not experienced a great loss since my great-grandmother in 2004. I am scared that once I must face death of a close loved one, I will not know how to handle it. Influence on My Social Work Practice I believe that my culture would influence my practice of social work in a positive manner. This because I will know that not every family has the same cultures. I will know not to try to overbear my clients with my own beliefs and practices. Cultural sensitivity is very important to me, this is because I would not want anyone to push my culture aside to force me to practice and make decisions based on their own cultures. Conclusion

ETHNOGRAPHIC 6 In conclusion, I have learned that my family does not practice the typical black family traditions. I have learned that my family does not celebrate much of the holidays. I also learned that there was not much marriage happening after my great-great grandparents.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

ETHNOGRAPHIC 7

ETHNOGRAPHIC 8

ETHNOGRAPHIC 9

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

ETHNOGRAPHIC 10

ETHNOGRAPHIC 11

ETHNOGRAPHIC 12 References

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

ETHNOGRAPHIC 13 Ruggles, S. (1994). The origins of African-American family structure. American Sociological Review , 59 (1), 136. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096137 Tolnay Stewart, and Crowder Kyle (1999) “Regional origin and family structure in northern cities: The role of context.” American Sociological Review 64 (1): 97–112. [ Google Scholar ]

Ethographic Assignment 123

Related Documents