In “It’s Hard Enough Being Me,” written by Anna Lisa Raya, Raya is a second generation Mexican-American/Puerto Rican from Los Angeles, In the article she expresses how growing up she never second guessed who she was. Then when she went across the country to attend Columbia in New York City, where she was constantly questioned who she was. She stated how “culture shock and identity crisis are common for the new l mitted collegian who goes away to school”(Raya 122). Raya explains how her experience is a little different and more complicated, she goes on by saying how in El Sereno she was considered a majority and in college she is a minority. She is discriminated for being a minority while also facing criticism for being “white-washed” or “sellouts”
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People always judged me for having curly hair, dark skin, for the way I dress. It all started since I was little, I came to the United States when I was only 9 months. As I grew up I knew I was not the same as the other children. When I got to pre-school i was judged solely because I looked “hispanic,” i lived in a very racist neighborhood. As I grew up I was bullied because of my curly hair and brown skin, there were many times when I have wished I was a shade or two lighter. Fast forward to fourth grade, I went to Mexico for a year and it was as if I was being profiled over there. Since I grew up across the border, the neighbors in Mexico would call me “guera” or they assumed I did not know how to speak my homeland language. I was constantly profiled all my life. Your personality is partly shaped through your genetics and partly by the environment in which you grow up. It is not however as if you are a blank page on which these characteristics get imprinted: Personal identity is learned through introspection and experienced as one considers ‘what I sense’, ‘how I feel’ and *‘what I think’. Your personal identity is what makes you unique, what makes you different in a SPECIAL way. It can also be described as your authentic self. There will never be another person just like …show more content…
I was not accepted in the U.S. with my American friends nor in Mexico with people from my own race. I was an outcast everywhere. Been profiled is horrible, imagine going to the airport and because of your looks you are “randomly selected.” Being a minority is difficult, usually when there is a crime the first person the police looks at is a minority. You cannot even go to a store comfortably; as soon as you walk into the store you get plenty of attention. I do not think it is okay to use profiling standards to prevent future unwanted behavior. For example, it is as if a black guy walks in, for instance, should you anticipate the guy to steal or if you see a Muslim, should you be on guard for a terrorist attack. Someone’s look should not determine whether they are a criminal or someone of interest. We should not have any kind of profile standard to prevent unwanted attention. We should not have to judge someone based on looks. We should profile people on who they are and how they treat others, not by
People always judged me for having curly hair, dark skin, for the way I dress. It all started since I was little, I came to the United States when I was only 9 months. As I grew up I knew I was not the same as the other children. When I got to pre-school i was judged solely because I looked “hispanic,” i lived in a very racist neighborhood. As I grew up I was bullied because of my curly hair and brown skin, there were many times when I have wished I was a shade or two lighter. Fast forward to fourth grade, I went to Mexico for a year and it was as if I was being profiled over there. Since I grew up across the border, the neighbors in Mexico would call me “guera” or they assumed I did not know how to speak my homeland language. I was constantly profiled all my life. Your personality is partly shaped through your genetics and partly by the environment in which you grow up. It is not however as if you are a blank page on which these characteristics get imprinted: Personal identity is learned through introspection and experienced as one considers ‘what I sense’, ‘how I feel’ and *‘what I think’. Your personal identity is what makes you unique, what makes you different in a SPECIAL way. It can also be described as your authentic self. There will never be another person just like …show more content…
I was not accepted in the U.S. with my American friends nor in Mexico with people from my own race. I was an outcast everywhere. Been profiled is horrible, imagine going to the airport and because of your looks you are “randomly selected.” Being a minority is difficult, usually when there is a crime the first person the police looks at is a minority. You cannot even go to a store comfortably; as soon as you walk into the store you get plenty of attention. I do not think it is okay to use profiling standards to prevent future unwanted behavior. For example, it is as if a black guy walks in, for instance, should you anticipate the guy to steal or if you see a Muslim, should you be on guard for a terrorist attack. Someone’s look should not determine whether they are a criminal or someone of interest. We should not have any kind of profile standard to prevent unwanted attention. We should not have to judge someone based on looks. We should profile people on who they are and how they treat others, not by