Response to Sept. 17 Class

The part of our class discussion on Thursday that I thought brought up an important question was the idea of whether we can truly create our own identity or if our identity is always somewhat shaped by our culture.
I think that no matter what we do, culture is always tied to identity is some form. Those who proudly accept the culture that they were born into often interweave their individual identity with their cultural roots. On the other hand, even those who may not identify as strongly with the culture of their heritage cannot ever really escape the identity that comes with their ethnicity or race. Even if they personally do not identify with the culture that they or their family comes from, that does not stop others from adopting preconcieved ideas of their identity. A common example of this that is discussed in the book is the idea of minority identity vs majority identity. There are more stereotypes and judgements that come from being in a minority group.
A personal example is that my grandmother is a hispanic woman who immigrated to the United States from Mexico. She was not accepted and was looked down upon when she immigrated to California as a young girl, and eventually she abandoned much of her previous cultural identity. She never taught my mom or any of her other children to speak Spanish, and integrated herself into the white majority culture. Looking back now she regrets not passing on her cultural heritage to her children, but at the time it was to her the only way to be accepted.