Culture is what defines your ethnicity, religion, and language, views on the world, beliefs, and interaction with humans. Since everyone has a different culture it helps stimulate individuality and separates you from the world. Growing up, I only inherited one culture although, my family is part Native American we only practice American Culture. The culture that my family abide by is not far from the traditional American culture, of course we speak fluent English and eat traditional American food.
One major point of culture is our views of the world, we do not stereotype the world because acceptance is important when dealing with a very diverse state, although sometimes we do not agree with things that society does, and we still respect everyone. We are firm believers in peace, harmony, and love. However my family and I have a very simplistic culture, and since we are Christians that makes it simpler. We do celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and Easter. We have never celebrated worldly holidays such as Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. One major tradition that my family and I have is for Thanksgiving my sisters and myself go to my grandmother’s house and help prepare the dinner. On Christmas we have a tradition of being able to open one present on Christmas Eve. We value these traditions because these are the major holidays that we celebrate and of course Easter, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are the occasions we most appreciate each other more than ever.
However where you are from is also a part of your culture. Since my mother’s father was in the military they often traveled to different countries and states. The state where my family originated in was North Carolina. North Carolina is a southern state, where there is the farms and also the city. Since we do have a little bit of southern hospitality we often eat soul food. Should food is a category of food that consist of collard greens, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, chitterlings, act. When my mother moved to Maryland it was an adjustment because it was completely different from what she was used to. My sisters and I were born and raised in Maryland but every summer we go down south and vest and experience my mother’s previous lifestyle. Growing up in Maryland is not easy because of the racial issues and stereotypes.
Since I am an African American I am categorized as a minority. The minority population consist of foreigners and African Americans. In America being a minority is sometimes difficult because even though it may not be verbally spoken, we are treated differently and are categorized constantly. Society views the minority population as “trouble” because of the fact that we are who we are. Ever since the 1800’s black people we not given many opportunities, however times have gotten better and we are given equal rights. One of the stereotypes that I often hear is that black people are violent, because of the gang activity blacks are categorized. So because I am black, my family taught me one important kept to life which is to conduct myself in a formal manner at all times, due to the fact that we are already stereotyped constantly.
I am very thankful for my culture because it has shaped me as a person and a young woman. My culture has introduced me to family traditions, beliefs, and wisdom. If my family did not teach me what I know today I would probably try to tach myself which could end up bad or good. Culture is a very important aspect in life because culture helps people understand one another better and if they comprehendone another better in their soul, it is easier to overcome economic and political obstacles. It is very important to understand that at the end of the day we are all humans, and we all deserve love, respect, and motivation from one another.
