Racial & Ethnic Groups

Autobiographic Essay

You are required to submit an autobiographic essay that recounts your changing perceptions of, and your experiences with, an ethnic group other than your own. The autobiographic essay is due by the deadline listed under the Course Summary of the Syllabus on Canvas. A late paper will be marked down by 10% for each tardy day, albeit accepted.

Instructions: Select a racial or ethnic group other than your own (e.g., Latino, African American, white American, Native American, Asian American, or Middle Easterner), and write an autobiographic essay about your recollections and experiences with that group. Your essay should include at least the following information:

Background information (e.g., your race/ethnicity, family, community, schools attended).
Your earliest knowledge (including stereotypes) of the group that you acquired from your family, friends, books, the mass media, or other sources before your interaction with members of that group.
Your first experience with the group that you are writing about.
Changes in your perceptions of the group over time and factors that caused the changes.
Your present feelings about this group and your ability to interact with it.
One piece of advice or wisdom you would share with your “younger self” if you could go back in time.
This writing assignment is informal in context (you may use “I statements”), however, I expect you to do all of the following: Write with purpose. Each sentence should contribute to your overall writing (no fillers like very very very very interesting). Do not use clichés, text speak (e.g. ROFL), emoji, non-text characters, or non-scholarly sources. You should write in paragraphs which are organized to fit together.

All autobiographies must use APA or ASA formatting for in-text citations and reference list and be free of spelling and grammatical errors. You should divide the essay into a few sections and add subheadings for the sections. Your assignment should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, and be 3-4 typed pages with one-inch margins on all sides and page numbers. Please do not vary your font, font size, spacing, or punctuation in an effort to overcome the length requirement, as this is readily apparent to your instructor.

The paper will be graded in terms of (1) how well it covers the required information, (2) how well it is organized and written, and (3) other miscellaneous criteria (e.g., length, typing, spacing, time of submission).

ANSWER

Racial and Ethnic Groups

As an African-American, I grew up in a black neighborhood. I attended schools that mostly consisted of minorities. I grew up seeing the atrocities committed against my people. I was taught things I do not think should be taught to seven-year-olds. As early as seven years, my mother had already had the talk with me. No, not that talk, the talk where you are told that when stopped by the police, you should make yourself as small and as invisible as possible. Keep your hands where they can see them. If asked a question, answer with either yes sir/madam or no sir/madam (Richardson, 2020). Do not talk back, do not sound defensive. We were taught to survive at a young age. I hated that it had to be like that, and I hated that so many young people who looked like me kept dying. This led to the belief that all white people hated us and that they wanted us dead.

As I grew older, my parents managed to secure better jobs, and this enabled them to move to a better neighborhood than where we were living before. We were not rich, but drug addicts and gangs did not surround us. This neighborhood was different from where we had come from. There were white people surrounding us, and they were our neighbors. Our immediate neighbor was a Caucasian white young woman. She was friendly to me and treated us normally. I was not used to this treatment because I remember I once went to a white neighborhood, and I got many stares. She did not stare at us, she did not ask uncomfortable questions, and this was the beginning of my change of perception. Prior to meeting her, I believed all white people were rich. Seeing that we were living in the same neighborhood, the first perception changed. I was shocked to know that Caucasian white people also struggle with poverty. I also learned they struggle with problems such as drug addiction. Previously I thought that it was an African-American problem.

A change in neighborhoods also meant that I had to change schools. The new school was mixed. There were students from different races. I met many white kids. Sure not all were nice to me, and some were blatantly racist, but I met some lovely white friends. They would defend me and were even ready to fight off the students who were mean to me. They also asked a lot of questions that I was ready to answer because they were ready to learn. The friends I made were not disrespectful and did not ask offensive questions. I realized that they did not know much about me as much as I did not know much about them. The move helped me change my perception of Caucasian white people. I learned that some of them struggled as much as we struggled financially. I also learned that they were not all racist, and some were genuinely interested in learning my culture and understanding things that made me uncomfortable so they could steer clear of them.

As I grew up, I interacted with more white people. I have had bad experiences with some of them, but I have learned to live with those experiences. I decided to interact and live peacefully with those who respect me and educate those who do not. I also understand that those who disrespect me think I am different from them because of my skin color, and I understand that they are ignorant because the difference in the shade of my skin does not make me less human. What I could tell my younger self is that I am as good as the white people, and I deserve the same opportunities and chances as they do.

References

Richardson, A. V. (2020). Bearing witness while Black: African Americans, smartphones, and the new protest# journalism. Oxford University Press, USA.