Sunday, February 25, 2007

In order to respond to the criticism of this submission, I took a look at “Ethnic Notions.” I would have thought I would have come into contact with this documentary somewhere along the line, but it was first released when I was in Nicaragua, and I missed it. It has had a profound impact on me now – particularly in regard to this assignment. I can see how the “black identities” that formed part of the broader American culture during the 19th and first half of the 20th century could hurt and how they did “shape the most gut-level feelings about race” -- in the most harmful of ways.

“From the Cake Walk to the jitterbug, an image was forged that blacks, with in-born
rhythm and musical talent, were indifferent to poverty, subservience, segregation - as slaves they danced even at their own auction block. Black's greatest joy, however, came in providing service to whites.” (from Ethnic Notions).

In terms of identify development, the negative portrayal of African-Americans in the decades after slavery ended, did keep blacks subjugated without the physical bonds of slavery by establishing and then reinforcing the damaging stereotypes with words that identified them as “darkies, coons, niggers, mammies” and other equally negative labels.” How could any black develop a positive self-identity or image of self or a white hold a positive image of an African-American with stereotypes such as those defining the black American? Those images served to maintain negative processes of avowal and ascription in one fell swoop.

Even If the critical perspective of contextual identity formation is taken into account, it is still hard to understand from the vantage point of history, how the negative image of African-Americans endured for so long. It wasn’t until after World War II that some resistance to the ascribed identities came about and developed through the decades to the point where we are today – far from ideal, but better than what was. It’s not that racism or prejudice or discrimination or stereotyping no longer exists; it does, but at least today, we are all bound – at a minimum – to pay lip service to the terminology of “political correctness” that covers all racial, ethnic and gender stereotyping.

On another level, I will relate the process of identity development to myself and the impact my “changing” identity has had on me. When I went to live in Puerto Rico as a young woman, my identity was tied to being “a good American.” I went out of my way to learn Spanish and to understand the Puerto Rican culture – not because I was so noble, but because I didn’t want to be like other Americans in the newsroom where I worked who had lived in Puerto Rico for 20 years or more and still didn’t speak Spanish. The Spanish language, at that time, was tied to the Puerto Rican identity – and a sense of “Puerto Ricanness” that probably had more to do with politics than it had to do with culture. But I learned Spanish, integrated into Puerto Rican society and through that took myself on a path that defined my professional life as a correspondent in Latin America for years.

Today, like everyone else, I have many different identities – as a white American, someone of Jewish descent, as a political liberal, as a mother, sister, partner, friend and at a different time in my life, wife. But today I am going through an identity crisis, which I just internalized for myself in the process of reviewing this assignment. My reality is that I have always defined my public persona or identity in terms of what I do for a living – my profession. For years, I identified myself as a journalist and I was quite content with that public self. When I came to Gainesville, 5 ½ years ago, I was ready to give up my identity as a journalist and identify myself as a mid-level University of Florida administrator with access to and acceptance in certain circles based on that identity. When political change came to UF and I was “restructured” out of the job I held, I lost that identity. And I still haven’t found one that works for me in the context of Gainesville and which allows me to find a place for myself in this town once again.

I am not comfortable with the “student” identity – even though I get praise from people for being willing to go back to school. I don’t feel comfortable with the “professor” identity that comes from teaching at the University of North Florida because I feel like I am always flying by the seat of my pants in terms of class presentations. I realize now what I am doing is searching for a new public identity through the process of stages and development that we are looking at in our readings. And it has lead me to understand, that I because I define myself by what I do – I have to continue look for “a do” that give me a new public identity with which I can identify. (The latter is NOT for public consumption in any way – just a perception that I am willing to share with you for purposes of this assignment and how I have been able to internalize it and apply it to myself.

Submission:

a

Social and cultural identities define who we are and who the people are with whom we most identify ourselves when we move beyond the immediate scope of self and immediate family. My sons are simultaneously Hispanic, Latino, Nicaraguan-Americans, and Caucasian; Jewish, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. This mix allows them to be “culture brokers” when they choose to be so; but they seldom think of themselves in the contexts to which I just made reference. Both my sons have other social and cultural identities that determine the spheres in which they move right now much more than their “birth” identities. These identities are the ones that reflect their interests. Son Number One is a runner and that is his passion. His best friends are runners; his social life is spent in the company of other runners; his email addresses have to do with running as does his spot on Myspace.com. If I had to ask him to define who he thinks he is in one word, it would be as a runner. Son Number Two son is a musician; and like his brother he sees himself within the boundaries of his social-cultural identity as a musician much more than he thinks of himself as Caucasian, Hispanic or Jewish. So how does this look at my sons tie in to the movie, “Crash?” In my view, who they are and how they relate to their society is a product of circumstances, context and coincidence – and they can act and react in a positive or negative manner depending on the same. If we lived in Los Angeles or New York or Miami – or remained living in Nicaragua or in Chile, my sons might have grown up with an entirely different sense of self and social and cultural personas. I would like to think that I raised my sons to be free of prejudice, bias and bigotry, but “Crash” makes me think that view is too simplistic. The somewhat depressing message I got out of “Crash” is that we all have hidden pockets within ourselves of all that is ugly about the human race – although it also provided me with a ray of hope that when the moment is right, we have the ability to be noble and heroic and do the right thing. That’s how, in the movie, we can see a racist cop humiliate and sexually molest an African-American woman – and the next day see him pulling her out of a car that has just crashed to save her life. The film is about the racial biases and stereotypes that dominate our American life. It is set in Los Angeles, in and of itself a stereotypical city of racial, ethnic and social clashes. Bias, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping dominate the movie and the interaction of the characters with each other – just as bias, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping impact our own lives. However, our own lives do not play out in such dramatic fashion – and if I come back full circle to my sons, my hope is that they would get and internalize the message of “Crash” and apply it to their own social and cultural identities as they mature.

posted by Ronnie @ 2:38 PM

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