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Ethnicity
Your ethnicity is a part of your identity that you inherit from
your parents and the generations of family before them. It is your
ethnic heritage.
You may not
know enough about your parents or relatives to know what your ethnic
heritage is. As a result, you may think you don't have any ethnic
heritage because you are not aware of what it is. Everyone has an
ethnic heritage though. Ethnicity is part of your culture and it
affects even your body and health. Do you know if you are Black,
Asian, Hispanic, White, Native American, or a combination of any
of the five? If you do, then you are already aware of how people
and institutions identify you by ethnic heritage.
According
to the Southern Poverty Law Center,
8 blacks, 3 whites,
3 gays, 3 jews and one latino become hate crime victims
every day in the United States.
Experiencing
racism is one unfortunate way of discovering your ethnic differences
from others. Nothing makes you start to wonder more about who you
are then when you are called names and are teased by others for
being different.
Racism
Racism can be expressed by an attitude or action. A racist attitude
can be an Asian person thinking you're not very smart because you're
White. A racist action can be a Hispanic person providing you less
customer service at a store than other customers because you're
Black.
Healthy
ethnic identity
Racism exists in our society in many ways but you can rise above
it. Be aware of it so you can recognize when it happens and don't
tolerate it. A healthy acceptance of and appreciation for your ethnicity
is a part of having a healthy sense of identity. No matter what
others may try to do or say to make you feel isolated or bad about
yourself, your ethnic heritage should always be a proud part of
who you are.
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