Navigating Race and Ethnicity: A Personal Reflection in Anthropology

Jack Elliott Professor Walsh ANTH 2/ Introductory Anthropology April 29, 2022 Journal #4 Race is something that is fundamental to the human experience as for most people, it is something that they have to deal with on an almost daily basis. Race tends to take shape in our daily lives by influencing our interactions and thoughts. There are many ways in which race takes form in my life. The most fundamental ways it does include how I express my race and how I interact with other people based on my race. I am half European and half Mexican, but I spent the majority of my time growing up around my abuelita, who taught me the ins and outs of her Mexican roots. I didn’t grow up learning and speaking Spanish, but I did celebrate traditional Mexican holidays like Día de los Muertos and Día de Reyes to name a few. I also grew up learning how to make traditional Mexican food like Mole and Pozole. I would consider myself to be a part of my abuelitas ethnic group, which is a group of people that identify themselves based on a shared ancestry. 1 Even though I proudly consider myself part of my abuelitas ethnic group, I rarely tell other people. I grew up in a predominantly white and Asian neighborhood, so I was forced to assimilate, or pick up on the traditions of the dominant culture, 2 and I was forced to repress my culture. The most I ever did to display my culture to other people was through small acts of symbolic ethnicity, or a small display of ethnic pride. 3 I had a Virgin of Guadalupe figurine that 1 Medeiros, Perspectives: An Open Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, (The American Anthropological Association, January 1, 2020), 9. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid.

hung from the mirror of my car, but other than that I did very little to show or tell people about my ethnic group. This however was not a huge deal because I very much enjoy spending time around the friends, I made from my neighborhood growing up. Works Cited

Nina Brown, Thomas McIlwraith. “The Culture Concept.” Go to the cover page of Perspectives: An Open Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, 2nd Edition. The American Anthropological Association, January 1, 2020.

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