Core Concepts: The Best Way to Learn and Understand Core Concepts

Question One 

Different factors shape my identity, and this makes me see it as complex. Gender is a factor shaping how people see me from my sibling, parents, and friends in school. At a young age, my parents could assign me tasks that were in line with my gender. Other than my gender, education is also another factor that shapes my identity. I tend to interact more with people from my academic level. For me, these factors interact to produce my character. For instance, my gender interacts with my sexuality to create the kind of task I like and the kind of friends I choose in my life. My gender and sexuality also interact to define my fashion, the nature of colors I chose, and the type of lifestyle I want for myself. 

Question Two 

Though I have no experience of microaggression, I have heard of it on different occasions. I was in a class where there were both non-white and white students in equal numbers. However, it was on many times that a teacher could complement the way African American students were using good English than some of the white students. It was like a constant reminder to the white students that they own English and should use it better. Though such were to be motivating complements, the African American students were not taking them kindly. They felt it was more of racism. They had to rise against it by challenging the teacher that they could also use English better than white students. 

Question Three 

One of the weaknesses that I have is the ability to socialize with the opposite sex. I have heard the problem for a long time and talked about it with my friends, parents, and some psychological counselors. However, some of the reasons that make it difficult for me to break the chain is ignorance and powerlessness. I assume that socialization with these people is a form of bad influence. Since I was a young person, my parents were strict about going out with the opposite sex. Since then, I have come to admit that it is a form of bad influence, and I have no power to break the chain. 

Question Four 

Sometimes I feel strong at a personal or micro level and have the will to go beyond what I think I can do. For instance, on a personal level, I believe that I should socialize with any person regardless of their background and gender. However, such feeling becomes weaker at the institutional level or meso level, such as in school. At macro levels such as in our neighborhood and society, such feelings suffer a significant blow. At both meso and macro levels, the perception about what people will say or think about me if they see me interact with such people overwhelm the personal opinion I have about socializing with the opposite sex and people from other races. 

Question Five 

Italian American is an example of immigrants who would later become white, which indicates that race is more of social perception. Upon migration, these people went into the transformative process into "whiteness" because of the perceived social class they were in the country ( Gardaphe, 2019). Therefore, it was an indication that the poor would become the people of color, but those of the upper class would become part of the white community. 

Question six 

Despite their white skin color, Asian Americans did not join the white community in the country. The reason is that these people become casual laborers who were poor and were dependent on Americans to make end meets ( Gardaphe, 2019). Therefore, they become racially abused, even though this was the first time they were experiencing such treatment. 

Question Seven 

Oppressions occur in normal daily activities such as a lady taking the sir name of the husband or the father as her name. Others are evident where people of color do not have enough protection of the law and face police brutality while walking on the streets. Treating Islamic individuals abnormally and subjecting them to suspicion is a form of oppression that takes place in society ( Hanlon &Wallace, 2019). The fact that people live in a community where those who control wealth are small in number than the poor is underlying oppression taking place in normal daily life. 

References 

Gardaphe, F. (2019). Flavor and Soul: Italian America at Its African American Edge. 

Hanlon, S., & Wallace, A. (2019). Socialism and the fight against Transphobia.  Irish Marxist Review ,  8 (23), 15-23.