That being said I hope you enjoy it....
Learning About Ethnicity as a
Child
As I sit and contemplate what I was
taught about my own personal ethnicity as a child, I’ve concluded that it’s
more accurate to say that I was not taught anything.
Being
born into a white lower class family that was a mixture of German, Scottish and
Irish, ethnicity was rarely (if ever) spoken of with a serious tone. If I
recall, my family worked harder at perpetuating the typical stereotypes of the
aforementioned cultures through either their own actions, or the telling of
slanderous jokes, of which they bore the punch line.
On
my mother’s side, our lessons in culture came from primarily my Grandfather’s
stories of leaving his parents to travel from Kentucky to Ohio at the age of
fourteen. The move stemmed from a falling out between my grandfather and his
own father (my great-grandfather). These were coupled with my own father’s
tales of moving from Michigan to Ohio shortly after his mother’s death when he
was around ten years old.
Perhaps
I could surmise that due to the extenuating circumstances in their own lives,
the priorities during their youth didn’t involve learning much about family
customs. I certainly cannot fault them for that, as there were no doubt other
things that called for their attention at the time. This fact does nothing to
calm my curiosity when thinking about the question of “where I came from.”
Neither
my mother’s nor father’s side of the family would be classified as spiritual
enough to attend church regularly. Truthfully, I cannot clearly recall a time
when my father or mother declared any particular religious loyalty, although
most family members did have a painting of Jesus hanging somewhere in their
homes. In retrospect I feel the paintings served the same purpose as a fire
extinguisher.
It
was solely through repetitious acts I was able to learn that we celebrated only
the most typical American and Judeo-Christian holidays; St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth
of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. These usually involved the
occasional firework, overindulging in food and spirits with my relatives in
attendance.
Further
complicating this was the fact that by and large most of our family time was spent
with my mother’s side of the family. If there was a barbeque, or other
gathering, it was most usually at my mother’s parent’s home- with her siblings
and their extended families. This effectively cut me off from being able to
pick up any second-hand knowledge of culture that my father’s German relatives
might have been able to pass down.
Real World Impacts on My
Ethnicity
Through my own schooling and
independent reading I later learned that my German ancestors were responsible
for some of the most horrible atrocities in recorded history (I will return
later to this topic). In contrast, my Irish relations survived famine and
maintained a proud and vibrant culture. Likewise, my Scottish relatives
overcame the oppression of tyrants to break free and form their own unique
society.
In
an effort to be completely honest, I can say that in the instances of both my
Scottish and Irish brethren from a historical perspective they’ve taught me to
be tenacious, resourceful and courageous. However, I will state that this has
never gone beyond more than just a superficial connection, and could claim no
formation of ideals based on these historic accounts. Sadly, to say that I have
“pride” for any strand of my heritage would be stretching the word.
Pride and Shame within My
Ethnicity
Without a doubt the most glaring
example of ethnic shame I feel would be Germany’s role in the Holocaust. To
this day it can be hard admitting to someone you are German (especially if they
happen to be Jewish). I can only imagine what the reaction was following the
end of World War II.
Although,
on the flipside present day Germany seems to be doing a much better job in the
humanitarian role. The modern day Germany has (by some counts) accepted over
700,000 Syrian refugees in 2015 alone. This number and their total pledge to
aid refugees far outpace that of any other country in the world. This is a
statistic of which to be proud. Though again, because I lack any true anchored
connection to my German culture I can only take that pride so far.
Passed Down Perceptions about
Other Ethnicities
Regarding
messages that have been passed down to me from others regarding ethnic groups-
particularly dominant vs. minority groups- I struggle to come up with any that
reflect positively on any group which might’ve been discussed in front of me in
my youth. It didn’t take me long to figure out that my family was clearly
prejudiced. Though it may seem strange, I can at least say they were evenly
biased,as along with other ethnic groups, they also held upper-class whites in
disdain.
To
start, my grandfather was unapologetically racist against African-Americans.
While it was never spoken to me, I witnessed him berating an African-American
couple that moved into the apartment complex behind him when I was only six
years old. While I will not recount the words he used while yelling at them, I
will note that the only problem he seemed to have with them was they had more
melanin in their skin than he did. I remember thinking how shocked the couple
looked and wondering why my sweet “Papaw” was so mad at these strangers. The
way he was acting didn’t seem justified. I stood there confused and awkward,
not knowing what to say, having never seen my grandfather behave in such a way.
When
I asked my mother about my granddad’s behavior, she brushed it off. To this
day, I am unsure if her non-explanation was good parenting or not, but she did
manage to make the scene into a non-issue in my mind, at least when I was
child. I can only wonder if this led to helping me to not draw attention to it,
so that it wouldn’t become taboo or somehow interesting.
Luckily,
my parents themselves were fairly level-headed, if not culturally aware. The
only time I can recall receiving any message about groups outside our immediate
home was when it came to upper class whites. Both of my parents carried the
thought that anyone that earned a better living than they did couldn’t be
trusted. Often the connotation was carried further, assuming that the offending
party was elitist, snobbish, and quite possibly “up to no good” as was my
mother’s turn of phrase.
Regrettably,
I must state that the behaviors I noticed as a child and into young adulthood will
affect my labor as a Social Worker. Nonetheless, let me be clear; I state this
only because it would be less than honest to say they’d have no affect on me. Further,
I can state with the utmost confidence that they’ve only provided me with
examples of what not to do, how not to treat people, and how not to act in interactions with those
that may be physically, spiritually, or culturally different.
These
experiences, coupled with the fact that I was born with cerebral palsy helped
to form the earliest foundations of what I perceived to be the proper way to
treat others. I reasoned that because of my disability, I didn’t want anyone
treating me unjustly. As a result, how could I seek to do it to someone else,
regardless of the motive? The examples that were shown to me by my family never
sat well with me because of this methodology. In every instance I felt they
were inherently wrong, often times despicable, and therefore I didn’t want to
replicate those examples in my own behavior.
Closing
In
conclusion, I feel the need to say this paper has not been easy to write.
Reflecting on some of these memories has been emotionally trying. I have often
felt like a traitor to my family and a stranger to my various cultures.
Ultimately,
I am pleased that I went through the exercise, as I can now reaffirm I hold few
biases. This also helps to reinforce areas where I may need to be aware, to
further ensure I keep a watch over my own way of thinking when interacting with
others.
It
would certainly be rare for a person raised in modern society by any human
being, who of course holds as much potential for fallibility as the next
person, to assume they are bias free. Obviously, I wouldn’t dare to assume
that. I will say that knowing where you’ve come from and how you learned
certain perceptions goes a long way in helping check behaviors that could be
interpreted as insensitive, uncaring or downright disrespectful.
Moreover,
I would venture to say it stands as a testimony to the attempts of others to
teach right and wrong, versus innately knowing
the difference between them.
