Well it looks like I'm the first one to post so I'll just jump in. My heritage is Swedish, Irish and Scottish. My Father is actually a first generation Swede, both of my grandparents emigrated from near Stockholm, Sweden. The Irish and Scottish come from my Mothers side of the family. As far as religion goes I'm a Christian but I do not follow any organized religion as far as being Catholic, Protestant etc. I just go my own way following God. If I were to identify myself I say I'd be a Caucasian female, I've got auburn hair and fair skin much like my ancestors.
My first awareness with ethnicity and race has come at several points in my life. I remember hearing stories from my sisters and brother growing up in Virginia where my father was a minister. Once my Father served an all black church, he said it was the best congregation he had ever had to pleasure to lead. He did this on his own time because they were without a minister. One night after my siblings were in bed there was a knock at the door, my mother opened it and there was a group of men wanting to speak to my father about the church. My brother was told to stay at the top of the stairs with a baseball bat to protect my sisters (I had not been born yet). All of this because of spreading the word of God to someone with a different skin color. The next instance was as a mother bringing my first daughter to work and seeing the look on her face when she saw her first black woman. She was maybe 6 months old but you could tell she didn't understand why this woman looked different. It really bothered me. I didn't realize it would be such a shock.
As far as what I was taught growing up, I mentioned my father was a minister. He retired from the ministry when I was very little, still there were certain things you just didn't do. Dating someone from another color was frowned upon, Gays in my mothers eyes are a sin. For the most part I didn't think anything of it until I actually went back to school in 2009. I was introduced to a lot of different materials and information and it really opened my eyes. One of the biggest things was a movie called "For the Bible Tells Me So" regarding the church's stance on homosexuality. I have many gay friends who I'm very close to but as far as bringing them up to my parents I'd rather write a 20 page essay. After seeing the movie and actually doing a presentation on it for a communications class I went and sat down with both my parents and told them what I found out. My Dad was actually very open to what I had to say. He was happy that people have started to interpret the Bible into today's society and stop focusing on what it said 1000s of years ago. We won't go into what my mother had to say. Going back to college has definitely opened my eyes and made me a better person and that I have passed on to everyone I know including my children.
I cannot think of any act of racism that I have encountered. I guess that's a good thing but it also makes me think maybe I'm just not looking for it. I'm really looking forward to what everyone else has to write. See you in class.
Thanks for being brave and going first, Jen! What I found most interesting about your post is how you connected issues of ethnicity and race to other issues of identity within your life such as religion and sexuality. As we will see throughout the semester issues of ethnicity and race are intimately tied to other forms of oppression.
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