ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: identity

These comments lead us to believe she was acknowledged for wearing nice things. In due time these beauty trends begin to fade. In route to the internment camp the daughter notices the mother beginning to look tired and older, she asks, “When did you stop wearing lipstick (Otsuka, 37)?” This question works to set the tone for a shift in the mother’s appearance. Later on in the novel we see the mother dressed in a wool head scarf, baggy trousers, and a heavy sweater- total contrast from her initial attire. Similarly the father, experiences a shift in physical identity when he is removed from the home in the middle of the night. Like American fathers, Japanese fathers are considered the head of the home, the breadwinners and providers, the strong one of the family. The fact the father was dragged from his home in the middle of the night, hatless and in slippers, goes against the preexisting image of the father -who is recalled as often wearing a suite, hat, and clean shaven. We notice a constant struggle within the son to come to terms with his father being humiliated while the neighbors peeked out their windows. Writer Jeanne Wakatssuki Houston recalls being 7 years old when her father was removed from their home by the FBI, in which her mother broke down crying as she clung, “to her legs, wondering why everyone was crying (Tong, 12).”
Topic: identity

This sight to a child can be quite disheartening; likewise, a father that has to endure being taken away from his children may work to physically break him down. Moreover, the father’s letters often depict him as doing well, but we see this isn’t quite the case when he is released from the authorities. It is bad enough that the boy’s image of him begins to fade while away at the internment camp, as he randomly mistakes other males as his father. Even more saddening is when the father arrives at the train station, in a completely different image. “Our father, the father we remembered, and had dreamed of, almost nightly, all through the years of the war, was handsome and strong. He moved quickly, surely, with his head held high in the air –The man who came back on the train looked much older than his fifty-six years. He wore bright white dentures, and he’d lost the last of his hair. Whenever we put our arms around him we could feel his ribs through the cloth of his shirt (Otsuka, 132).” This very instance supports the notion of the father’s physical identity loss. The family also suffered a loss of physical identity in relation to their geographical location. With the establishment of the internment camps, many Japanese faced a sudden change in the atmosphere.
Topic: identity

At least 100,000 Japanese were forced to leave the west coast and travel to desolate lands of California, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and Arkansas. Moreover their destination was not like the homes they were accustomed to, but rather racetracks, livestock pavilions, and fair grounds encompassed by barbed wire that were transformed in to uncivilized housing. Small rooms, like the family in the novel lived in, was often 16 by 20ft with little or no privacy and unclean (Rentelin 619-620). The novel states, “There was no running water and the toilets were a half block away (Otsuka, 51).” Often the heat would drop below zero and rise to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (Rentelin, 620). This unfamiliar environment removed the family from everything that was normal to them. They lived in a neighborhood, had a nice house, slept in their own personally decorated bedrooms, played outside on their nice green lawn, and now all they knew had vanished. Thus, in a sense their environment change led to a psychological and physical change.
Topic: identity

The dust, extreme heat, and cold became mentally overwhelming at times. Physical changes were also apparent, “His mother said it aged you. The sun. She said it made you grow older (Otsuka, 63).” The loss of cultural/social identity also held great significance in the novel. One of primary ways we can see this is through religion. In an attempt for the American to have greater control over the Japanese, it was demanded that Japanese revoke their right to practice non-Christian beliefs. American’s felt it was quite absurd for the Japanese to worship the Emperor; thus, they banned such practices claiming they aided in Japanese Americans attempt to be untrustworthy and remain loyal to Japan (Rentelin, 625). Likewise, in the novel we see a shift in the way the mother worships. There is no emperor worshiping or Shinto allowed at the internment camp. In an attempt to showcase her American loyalty, we notice the mother takes a portrait of Jesus to the camp with her and places the colorful image over her cot. Oddly enough, the mother’s inability to practice her original beliefs, she begins practicing Christian rituals, such as reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
Topic: identity

To view this in a greater contrast the author allows us to become aware of the older Japanese man next door that still chants to the Imperial Palace. Through this moment it becomes more apparent that the mother is separating from her original religious identity. The loss of cultural/social identity is also witnessed through the change in the characters’ eating habits. As the mother is preparing for the move it is mentioned that she enjoys some rice balls and pickled plums- both foods which are common to the Japanese culture. Likewise, before the family leaves their home for the internment camp we notice they are sitting down at the table, conversing, and sharing a meal together. Consequently, we begin to see a shift in these types of eating habits. Dinner is no longer a ritual after school, but rather an unexciting event that is recognized by the sounding of a bell. In relation to food selection, Japanese culture often placed vegetables and rice as important dishes in their meals, but the internment camps replaced these selections with mutton, mashed potatoes, and other undesirable foods.
Topic: identity

Often time the food was so bad and uncommon that the internes opted not to eat it, because they could hardly stomach it (Ewers, 3). “Both children and adolescents complained the most about the quality of the bland, sometimes unsanitary, food” which often led to stomach cramps and diarrhea (Tong,14). As if it was not bad enough that cultural foods were replaced with slops, the families were also banned from using chopsticks. The fact that spoons and forks were allowed, but no chopsticks, works to showcases the attempt to breakdown the Japanese culture. “It is apparent that immigrants were expected to shed their prior cultural identity in order to become good citizens (Rentelin, 634).” All in all, Otsuka’s novel gives great insight as to how internment camps worked to strip the Japanese of their self, physical, and cultural identity.
Topic: identity

It is clear, through the supporting documents, that the image Otsuka painted of the nameless Japanese family greatly mirrored the actual lives of the Japanese internees during WWII. Through the harsh and unfair treatment inflicted on their lives, many of the Japanese began to feel unworthy and unappreciated; thus, furthering their loss of identity. Even upon returning to their homes, if they even had homes to return to, the sense of being welcome was gone. “If we did something wrong we made sure to say excuse me (excuse me for looking at you, excuse me for sitting here, excuse me for coming back) (Otsuka, 122).” Life wasn’t the same. Their lives had forever changed, mentally, physically, and socially.
Topic: identity

Generally, users give a lot of personal information to become a member of these sites and it is easy to access this information for hackers and identity thieves. For example identity thieves who could gain very private information such as birth name and date, addresses, phone numbers and relationship status on social networking sites can verify themselves as being the profile owner. Therefore, they can access the users’ credit card number and steal their money easily. Moreover, identity thieves cause not only loss of money but also loss of personal respect and good name.
Topic: identity

They can use the information to communicate with users’ other friends in order to obtain their information too. Rebecca Sweeny (2011) summarizes that users’ lack of awareness of sharing information helps hackers and identity thieves to steal their money and damage good names. (as cited in Acquisti& Gross, 2006) The second threat arising from security vulnerabilities is marketing companies’ accessibility to users’ information without permission. For instance, spamming the users with unsolicited advertising contents can be annoying in most cases.
Topic: identity

Secondly, people share very private information on social networking sites, as Nico Reiher(2009) mentions, “ If the receiver of the information is not trustworthy, the user does not have a chance to track or remove this information back into trustworthy hands.” causes some serious troubles. Firstly, people tend to announce where they are at that moment and what they are doing, therefore, they share real-time location based information on social networking sites. To illustrate, people who share their locations and especially notify others that they are not at home on social networking sites such as Foursquare, provide an opportunity to thieves to rob their houses. In addition, Facebook which is the most popular and preferred social networking sites, also enables people to share that much private information with the “check-in” application.
Topic: identity

Secondly, sharing awkward and embarrassing information or political views on social networking sites lead to trouble in people’s social and professional lives. For example, some companies prefer to look to social networking sites in order to get information about prospective employees. According to SNAPR project team, “Even future employers,…, may be able to view your posted information and draw specific conclusion about you as an individual, which could have the negative effects. “ Moreover, disgraceful posts on users’ profile which can be seen also by instructors or bosses will cause loss of reputation in educational or business lives.
Topic: identity

Those who are not in favor of this opinion seem to believe that social networking sites are safe and information is inaccessible for the public. They think that there are some restrictive privacy settings which allow users to specify who can see their information and profiles. Moreover, there are firewalls which help to prevent users’ information from hackers and identity thieves. Although it may be true to a certain extent, this claim is not strong enough, because these settings are not default without users’ knowledge. Generally, users are not fully informed about privacy issues and share all information without any restriction.
Topic: identity

In addition, they are unaware of how much information they share to the public. There is not any explanation about the amount of the disseminative information. To sum up, the users’ unawareness of the privacy settings on social networking sites and their insensibility on this issue cause a lot of troubles. In addition, digital information’s easy accessibility and fast spreading also pose a danger for users’ privacy. In order to prevent people from these threats, improving the privacy settings and informing them completely should be the major precautions.
Topic: identity

Bell Hooks essay “Keeping Close to Home”, describes her struggles after she was accepted at Stanford University to further her self-realization. In this essay Hooks talks about her journey to educate herself and no losing her sense of where she came from as African American woman from a working class background. Hooks parents wanted her to go to a school close to home, a non-diverse like Stanford was. They wanted her to go to a school no just close to home but were the majority were black too.
Topic: identity

At the same time, I did not see their opposition as an expression of their fear that they would lose me forever, “Like many working-class folks, they feared what college education might do to their children’s even as they unenthusiastically acknowledge its importance” (101). Most kids have a very strong knowledge about were they come from like Hooks was, opposite to some others which doesn’t, this make them to be weak, they could change their values and they might forget about their families and community.
Topic: identity

When kids go to college they are in touch with many different people from different backgrounds. It is normal that their parents could be afraid of their kids changing their minds afterwards they will be living away from home and this could happen. This changes depend on how strong their roots are. Having no contact with no contact with their families that could happen, like Hooks explains on her essay when she said “Often I tell students from poor and working-class backgrounds that if you believe [that] what you have learned and are learning in schools and universities separates you from your past, this is precisely what will happen. It is important to stand firm in the conviction that nothing can truly separate us from our pasts when we nurture and cherish that connection” (108).
Topic: identity

The best way to maintain the values our family gave us when we go away from home either to college or to live far from our families is keeping in touch with them for this purpose talk to our families once in a while will be good also never forget were we came from. When I read Hooks essay, this send me back in time to the year of 1979 when I graduate from High School. As I was reading her essay I felt that Hooks and I had the same struggles. Before I graduate from High School I had my mind set about going to college. My family was very poor. My mother was always a very hard worker woman, she ironed all the neighborhood clothing. I am very proud of my mother being a single mother she was capable to race my little sister and I all by herself after my dad past away when I was twelve years old Hooks’s talks about how proud she was about her father too when she said “ “ I never knew how poor we were until I needed to go to college. I knew I will need to find a job to further my education. Hooks reveals all the pain and struggles she had after she was accepted at Stanford, how her parents were not supportive.
Topic: identity

I had the same exact struggles. My mother was very upset when I told her about my decision on going to school, she argues with me about how her friend’s kids never came back to their homes and how they stop visiting their parents after they went to school. My mother was not being very supportive like Hooks parents were. She teaches us to how to be loving, caring, how to respect each other in the family and everyone else. She wanted for me just to find a job close to my house, she even talked with the owners of this pharmacy on the corner of my house to give me a job as a cashier. She said I should stay home and help her with the house chores, she never thought I could be anything more than a housekeeping. We lived in a very small town called Villa Canales which was eight hours away from the college I decided to go. That was the most painful decision I had ever made. After all I was the first generation going to college.
Topic: identity

My family was very tight with very strong values. My sister and I used to spend all our summers vacations at my grandma’s house when we were little, we loved to listen all the stories she had to tell us, while we grow up. This made my family very similar to Hooks’s family. However my mother was afraid of me being far from her and my little sister and forget about them which didn’t happen. Even when the communication was not easy in Guatemala where I grow up, I did all my efforts maintaining communication with my family. Distance was not enough reason for me to stop keeping in touch with them the same and never forget about all the instructions she gave me. The same way Hooks never stopped her contact and communication with her family.
Topic: identity

The purpose of her essay is to argue about that students coming from a working class background should not be ashamed where they come from nor either forget about their families. Going to school far from home shouldn’t change people, at least no their values. To keep this values intact people needs to keep the connection as Hooks did by keeping in touch with her family and community. Universities separates families this should not happen because the only way we keep our values is being tight with our families.
Topic: identity

and why it is important to the successful future of mental health counseling. This paper will also review the key characteristics or personality traits of a successful professional counselor and the duties and functions performed by a mental health professional. Last, I will evaluate the professional setting in which I would to like see clients. In the late 1970s, in-field professionals formed Mental Health Counseling (MHC), making it the youngest of the counseling fields (Pistole, 2002).
Topic: identity

Since its start, it seems that separating itself as its own professional identity has been a huge focus in the profession. In 2013, the MHC profession is more united than ever, and has its best chance for its own professional identity. This unity and strength is due in large part to the creation of the 20/20 Principles for Unifying and Strengthening the Profession, a document crafted in 2005 by the leaders of the MHC. “This document delineates a core set of principles that unifies and advances the counseling profession.
Topic: identity

The Principles for Unifying and Strengthening the Profession is endorsed by 29 major counseling organizations.” Of the seven issues identified by this document as needing immediate attention by the counseling profession, “Strengthening identity” and “Presenting ourselves as one profession” were at the top of the list (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011). The MHC profession involves helping people in some way. This help may involve severe emotional problems or minor decisions; in either situation, the counseling professional offers some assistance in the particular situation (Collison & Garfield, 1996).
Topic: identity

Successful counselors must also have flexibility to work in a wide variety of work environments such as a private office, meeting room, outdoors, or even in a home. Last, professional counselors must display self-control, tolerance, integrity, and sensitivity with their clients (Myroup, 2010). A mental health counselor’s primary responsibility is helping clients; the best way they can do this is by listening and asking questions. Once they have accomplished this first step, they can help their clients understand their problems better and develop coping strategies, learn additional behavioral skills, and gain tools to enhance their lives (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, 2012).
Topic: identity

I would be best suited to work with women who suffer from anxiety and depression because of issues including: infertility, pregnancy loss, unplanned pregnancy, postpartum depression, cancer, and other women’s health issues. I have life experience with the majority of these issues and I could relate well to women struggling with these troubles. I would be an engaged and empathic listener and would enjoy the opportunity to help other women help themselves. Although I have very little exposure to the following area, I am also interested crisis counseling and think that a career with the Phoenix Fire or Police Department would be interesting and rewarding. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website provides the following list of duties that pertain to a Mental Health Counseling career: •Diagnose and treat mental and emotional problems
Topic: identity

Even though my two areas of interest, women’s mental health and crisis treatment are vastly different, the list provided by the BLS would likely pertain to both careers paths but is certainly not conclusive. Crisis counseling with the Police or fire department may be more of an acute counseling situation on site (of a fire or crime scene) and then clients are referred to a private practice or outpatient counseling setting. The decision to go into private practice should not be taken lightly; there are many pros and cons to this professional setting. On the positive side, counselors have more autonomy, scheduling flexibility, earning potential, and they can make the decisions on the client types they wish to see.
Topic: identity

Some negative aspects of private practice are the responsibilities related to running a business such as billing, medical records, and office administration. Counselors are also responsible for establishing and maintaining their patients, getting referrals from new sources, and promoting the practice (Carney & Granato, 2000). From a business perspective, I possess some of the key qualifications that would make me a good fit for private practice like my background in the medical field and my bachelors degree in Business Management. I worked for a total of 12 years the medical field as a medical office administrator managing all aspects of the office including billing, medical records, HIPAA, and marketing managed every aspect of a medical office including billing, HIPAA, medical records, and marketing. I also have the luxury of time.
Topic: identity

Our household is not dependent on me for an income, so there would be time to build up a practice of clients without the stress of a delinquent income. I am further intrigued by the autonomy, flexibility, and economic self-determination aspects of private practice. In conclusion, this paper has demonstrated the concept of professional identity as it relates to MHC and why it is important to its future. It also has discussed the key characteristics and personality traits of a successful counselor and what duties and functions they may perform. Lastly, it evaluated the private practice setting as a work environment and how I think would be suited for it from a business perspective.
Topic: identity

Finding peers, friends and partners who respect and accept our presence is a vital part of our establishment of an adult identity. Our identity gets more complicated with the passage of time. With age comes new frontiers, challenges and opportunities that individuals can grasp with either hesitation or optimism. The movement from an adolescent identity to an adult identity can often be a challenging one, particularly when the experience is fuelled by frustration, mishap and confusion. Being an adolescent or young adult is a time fraught with fear for the future and uncertainty, since the body and the mind experience great change – physical, physiological and social change. As gregarious and cognisant beings, we loathe ostracism and desire assimilation. 3. Families and intimate relationships with others shape who we are.
Topic: identity

Families ideally provide love, protection, security and the opportunity for us to find out who we are. The need to belong is an intrinsic motivation in all humans to feel accepted and valued by others through sustained, meaningful connections that validate our role in society. Not all families provide the same kinds of opportunities for personal growth and, even in the most stable and supportive families, pressures to conform may occur. While we do not choose our families, we can choose the close connections we forge with other people. A desire to belong is also a desire to connect with others. Changing circumstances can precipitate a change in our close and intimate relationships, which in turn reshapes and further develops our identity. It may seem that our everyday lives are filled with mundane routine, however we eventually realise that every relationship and commitment gradually becomes a significant part of who we are and how we see the world.
Topic: identity

Groups and communities can provide security, support and acceptance in our lives. By nature, human beings are not solitary creatures. Belonging is an inherent aspect of our human condition that is a universally ubiquitous concept in humanity. Examples of groups include families, factions, teams, clubs, schools and workplaces. Contributing to the social fabric can have a positive effect on our sense of self – it can enhance our self-esteem as well as our self-worth. Not only do we belong to a family group, but also to racial, religious and cultural groups – even without our knowledge (passive). We fulfill the need for belonging satisfactorily when the group values and respects the contribution our presence makes to the group. Belonging to a group often carries with it a sense of exclusivity or privilege. It also fosters a feeling that we are accepted and loved.
Topic: identity

Belonging can often be contradictory in nature as people may want to belong to a group or organisation out of fear of being left out or ostracised. To attain a sense of social integration, we attempt to affiliate ourselves with groups that share mutual values and ideologies which affirm our identity and social role. It is often difficult to belong if we hold different ideas, beliefs and values from the majority of a group or community. Refusing to conform to the expectations of the majority – especially in schools or workplaces – can take considerable courage and strength of character. Misalignment between individual and group identity will have the same isolating effect as social solicitude, leaving us spiritually disoriented and emotionally desolate.
Topic: identity

The people and ideas we encounter on a daily basis change the way we see the world and how we see ourselves. Our identity develops as we grow and change. As teenagers we may be challenged by peer pressure and thus might be easily swayed by others with stronger personalities. Our beliefs – political, religious and personal – may also be challenged and our identities reshaped as a result. Beliefs add meaning to our lives and connect us to others, by giving a sense of direction and purpose. If our beliefs are shunned, all semblance of our individuality and character can sometimes be diminished. When we are disconnected from others, we tend to view our own ideals and values unfavourably because they are ‘different’ from the rest of society. This disparity can place a burden on one’s self-worth and identity.
Topic: identity

In some circumstances the only method to find our true self is to go against the boundaries applied to use by others. Overemphasis on adapting ourselves to satisfy what others think and desire can cause individuals to turn into such parochial beings that we lose sight of reality and who we really are. Knowing who we are and where we belong is fundamental and it allows us to live as happy and confident individuals able to reject conformity. We are all part of a family, a community and a culture. While we think of ourselves as being individuals, we must also accept that as social creatures we like to feel like we belong and feel safe. This, in turn, gives us the confidence to be ”me”. The clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the football team we belong to, even the school we attend forms the parcel of who we are.
Topic: identity

Conforming to the needs of a group can often stifle one’s true identity, and thus an individual can choose not to belong to a certain group. Whilst belonging suggests a desire to be connected to others, it may also result in a dependence on others and a subsequent loss of individuality. Choosing not to belong to the mainstream can be a difficult yet rewarding decision. An individual may define themselves in opposition to social norms and expectations. When an individual decides that they do not want to belong to a specific group or community, they demonstrate strength and courage, as well as a dominant, unique identity that is able to cope on its own. However, there may be some drawbacks. In not belonging and conforming to a group or community, we may be left feeling lost, confused and without purpose in life, regardless of the strength of our individuality. If we do not fulfill the fundamental necessity for social integration, we may feel isolated from a world that we share nothing with and lose the sense of purpose that defined social roles are able to provide. If this crucial aspect of the human condition is not fulfilled, we may lose all semblance of our identity and place in society. The nature of isolation holds no benefits for the individual, as it disallows an individual to view life in a positive manner, and denies them the right of relishing upon the positives in life. When individuals are alienated, they tend to lose their sense of identity because they feel as though they are ‘nothing’; to the world they do not exist.
Topic: identity

To gain a true sense of acceptance sometimes requires compromise. Because there will inevitably be conflict between the views of the individual and that of the group, we must often conceal or renounce nuances of our true character that are contradictory to the group’s collective identity. In order to belong to a group, we have to give up some of our individual freedom. Sometimes we may even have to compromise certain personal beliefs or modify our behaviour in order to fulfill an impulse to belong. This means belonging will invariably challenge our identity by forcing us to either uphold our own values or conform to the will of the group. Thus, a sense of belonging can benefit or hinder personal development. A sense of belonging can either support or detract from our personal identity. We must make compromises to suit which direction we would like to take in our lives. While in some instances belonging may challenge identity, identity and belonging must coexist in society. This is because identity is actually formulated through perceptions of individuals and that without social groups, identity would only be a figment of one’s imagination. In a society which inherently seeks to categorise individuals and others’ acceptance is based largely on the extent to which one conforms, it is paramount that every individual finds their genuine place in the world.
Topic: identity

Despite the often horrific consequences that come attached to defying convention, the determination to find who we truly are is sometimes so great that we are willing to risk everything in order to try. Some sort of balance must be reached such that we feel validated and significant but also understand our true selves. Conforming with prevailing culture has the capacity to strip an individual of their identity or at least parts of it – it is the self that is compromised and dampened. Isolated are those who maintain individuality to the detriment of collectivism. Assimilated are those who unconditionally accept conformity; entropy awaits those who have no regard for self and others; but salient are those who are able to maintain a discernible element of individuality whilst concurrently achieving societal acceptance. It is difficult to fulfill these dual impulses: to belong to a group, and to be free to express one’s individuality. This is the distinction between acceptance and the exertion of individual identity (through personality, beliefs, gestures etc.).
Topic: identity

and implicit (bully). Where we sit in the social hierarchy can affect how we see and how we feel about ourselves. While there are no specific rules or conventions for such roles, we are inclined to behave in a way that is synonymous with our designated ‘identity’ so that we meet other people’s expectations. In all of the social groups that we as individuals belong to, we have a status to abide by and a role to fulfill. Status is our relative social position within a group or community, whilst a role is the part our society expects us to play in such a status. For example, a man may have the status of father in his family, and is thus expected to nurture, educate, guide and protect his children. Mothers usually have complementary roles. One can also have multiple roles and statuses – such as an uncle, grandfather and so on.
Topic: identity

Individuals gain more from belonging to a group than from living in isolation. Most groups have certain expectations that members must conform to, but they also provide a forum in which individuals make valuable connections with others and enrich/reinforce/question their identities. Members of a group can also teach each other, sharing the wisdom they have gained from their life experiences. The wisdom is used to enrich the group’s collective knowledge. Belonging can facilitate or perhaps stifle personal growth.
Topic: identity

Identity can be perceived through language; is one of the many ideas that are illustrated throughout Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. The language you speak is a part of your culture, and your culture is what defines a person the most. Living in a country that is seen to be melting pot of many cultures and heritages, you are bound to encounter someone of another culture but that doesn’t mean we suppress their ability to represent who they are because of their lack of knowledge pertaining to the primary language used in this country.
Topic: identity

This term is used to describe an action of suppression by a majority group to a minority group because of their values, norms and even language. This occurs because one usually feels dominant and superior over the other. Anzaldua states in her essay that “Our language has been used against us by the dominant culture; we use our language differences against each other.” (136) Living in a diverse cultural country such as the United States, many immigrants feel the need to learn the appropriate English in order to communicate and fit in with society.
Topic: identity

Many aren’t able to completely emerge themselves into the American way of doing things without sacrificing a part of themselves through their cultural heritage and identity. Majority of them feel the need to learn English in order to get a job. Even then they are suppressed because they speak with very simple English with heavy accents. Once these immigrants start to feel comfortable with their English, they are often pushed off by their native tongue because of embarrassment and disrespect to their own language.
Topic: identity

There are times when groups that have tried so hard to fit in with the Americans are looked down upon by their own culture and society. Anzaldua says, “‘Pocho, cultural traitor, you’re speaking the oppressor’s language by speaking English, you’re ruining the Spanish language,’ I have been accused by various Latinos and Latinas” (133). This portrays how her own people have looked down upon her because the English she speaks now is evident through her Spanish, shaming the language as a whole in their eyes. Such things cause people to feel discouraged and fear being judged by their own culture.
Topic: identity

This fear of judgment causes people to have multiple consciences. Sociologists use the term double conscience, a term that coined by W.E.B. Du Bois, to explain such phenomena. It is a way of awareness of who you are and a very different awareness of what other people see you as in contrast to that. The way you act at home would be different in terms of your values, social norms and language. Once you leave your home and enter another society, those values, norms and even language change to those that are commonly believed and used in that newer society.
Topic: identity

Anzaldua notes that “My ‘home’ tongues are the languages I speak with my sister and brother, with my friends… last five listed… From school, the media and job situations… standard and working class English. From Mamagrande Locha and from reading…standard Spanish and standard Mexican Spanish” (134). A double conscience or a multiple on can be used to explain Anzaldua’s reason for using different languages in different parts and areas of her daily life. She talks about how she picked up different languages from different places because it was important for her to fit in and communicate with them, changing her conscience along the way .
Topic: identity

Gloria Anzaldua is a strong activist when it comes to the connection between language and identity. In her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” she outlines her strong emotional arguments about the ability for one to conform to a society by disposing their own language or identity. Your identity is determined by language, the language you speak is a part of your culture, and your culture is what defines a person because of their beliefs, norms and values. Even though there will always be Linguistic Terrorism and suppression, it is important to remember that your language is what makes you who you are and changing from one language to another is something you must do but that doesn’t mean you let that change your true language or your true identity.
Topic: identity

James Baldwin’s life was deeply marked by an identity battle. A battle to discover out what it suggested to be an American and foremost what it indicated to be an Afro American. Like in other works he likewise handles this subject in his very first unique Go Inform It on the Mountain, where John Grimes confronts this problem on his fourteenth birthday. The following paper will for that reason have a look at the possibilities used to the Afro American characters in the story, particularly to John, and what role the church plays in this context.
Topic: identity

Those who do not accept their role imposed to them by society tend to fail in life. For example Aunt Florence who sets out North in order to achieve a higher living standard, but ends up alone after driving her husband away from her due to her ambition to gain a higher social standard. Further, John’s real father Richard is crushed by the injustice against black men in a dominantly white society and consequently commits suicide. Hence, John and the following generations are taught to accept the circumstances and their status in American society. In order to cope with this they are advised to lead a highly religious life and to shut out all secular elements. It is this aspect that Baldwin criticizes mostly.
Topic: identity

He blames the black people for accepting the myth of being inferior to white people without a struggle . Moreover he accuses them of copying white ways and replacing their own African traditions . Aunt Florence even takes a step further in the novel by trying to bleach her skin with beauty products, hereby rejecting her black skin and thus her heritage. At the same time he blames the Anglo-American society for depriving black people of all freedom and power to direct their own lives . This identity struggle is clearly visible in John’s case and will be discussed in detail in chapter three.
Topic: identity

Since the current story evolving around John primarily takes place in a church and deals with his conversion it is important to take a closer look at the role of Black Christianity and the Black Church. The Temple of the Fire Baptized, family Grimes’ church, is presented to the reader as a place of redemption and as a shelter from all the sin in the world. John is confronted with this supposedly sin on his way to church every Sunday in the form of men and women coming home from bars and cat houses . The constant threats of damnation and hell itself, which Macebuh states as being part of the Black Christianity, also appear throughout the entire novel. Due to the permanent warnings of temptations and sin by his parents and the church community, John lives in abiding fear of God’s wrath, even in harmless places such as the movies:
Topic: identity

Especially the younger people do not seem to go to church voluntarily to help out, leaving John usually alone to clean up the Temple, unless Elisha shows up to give him a hand: “Lord, Sister McCandless,” he said, “look like it ain’t never but us two. I don’t know what the other young folks does on Saturday nights, but they don’t come nowhere near here.” . Ironically, while Elisha says this, John thinks to himself that not even Elisha shows up frequently on Saturdays.
Topic: identity

All these passages show that the so called “saints” in the novel do not go to church out of religious reasons but because they are desperate and consider the church as a “rallying point around which they sought to lessen their pain by sharing in one another’s joys and suffering” as Macebuh puts it . Peter Bruck interprets this similarly. He sees the Negro Church as the only available social space for the black society in history. But still this social field of activity does not help to change the inhuman conditions each character suffers and the prayers also do not improve their psychological and social circumstance . In this context, particularly in chapter two, “The Prayers of the Saints”, the reader gets an idea of what the prayer of each member consists.
Topic: identity

During mass all of them reflect on their past and recall their sins, but they do not pray out of their love for God but out of fear that He might make them suffer his wrath, since He is not the “compassionate God of the New Testament” . Colin MacInnes goes even further in his essay by referring to religion as “a fierce and constant compulsion that never abandons them [the characters] a second” . Bone states that religion means refuge from the terrors of everyday life and God therefore represents safety: “God and safety became synonymous, and the church, a part of his survival strategy”. However, the price for this safety is renouncement of personal power of one’s sex and social power of one’s people . Overall Bone reckons that the church offers either the path of self-hatred or the path of self-acceptance, with Christ as a kind of spiritual bleaching cream. In this structure the Negro masses function as a ritual enactment of their daily pain .
Topic: identity

Edward Margolies depicts the Negro Church as a “kind of community newspaper” which links the new immigrants to their Southern past and functions as an output for their rage, terror and frustrations . In addition to all the authors here mentioned, Margolies expands the church’s functions upon the field of masculine identity. The church exemplifies by means of the wrathful Old Testament God a masculine role model many Negro adolescences lack in their family environment . This can also be applied to John’s case. Rejected by his father, or as the reader knows, his stepfather, he feels unloved and ugly. On the one hand he despises God, since he sees his father as God’s minister . On the other hand though, he longs to be saved and become God’s son, who would then protect him:
Topic: identity

This passage clearly shows that the church provides John with some kind of psychic compensation for the love his father deprives him of and that he sees in God an ally against his father. This would become redundant if he were to find out that Gabriel is not his real father and that he has also sinned in his past life, namely in the form of his unclaimed firstborn son with Esther . As for Elisha, who also tries to bring him closer to God, John sees in him a brotherly and fatherly figure he looks up to, but he also feels attracted to him in sexual ways. Elisha somehow represents the earthly protection and guidance John needs in order to find his identity.
Topic: identity

He is also the one who shows him another side of God and religion. Instead of the wrathful God his father preaches him, Elisha speaks of a caring and blessing one who protects and saves . In general, the church is depicted as a kind of sanctuary for the characters, just as it was for James Baldwin himself. The black Church offered him in a similar way shelter and refuge from the terrors of the streets . Overall, true belief is disregarded in contrast to safety which now stands for Christianity.
Topic: identity

Given the background so far John Grimes is trapped between the clerical life his parents force unto him and the secular life that awaits him outside his home on the streets. The title of the novel, the first line of a Negro spiritual, refers to the good news of Jesus Christ’s existence. Additionally, the first chapter that introduces the reader to the characters is called “The seventh day”, a clear reference to the creation story of Genesis . Both function as allusions to biblical constructions. In a figurative sense, John’s fourteenth birthday can therefore be seen as a creative process, which marks his finding of self-identity, as well in religious terms as in worldly or sexual terms. The following chapters will take a closer look at two passages where John faces different paths concerning his identity, one characterized by a more material and white world and another leading to a strictly religious life.
Topic: identity

On his fourteenth birthday John uses the money his mother gives him to buy a metro card and drive down to Manhattan. As mentioned before John feels attracted to the shining and sparkling world of white men and is not so “much interested in his people” . He cares more about what the white people think of him and feels very proud when they notice his intelligence in school . This intelligence symbolizes for him a special power the others do not possess and which he hopes will bring him the love he lacks: “Perhaps, with this power he might one day win that love which he so longed for.” . For John the white world represents power and success . Thus, once he arrives at Central Park and reaches the top of the hill, he feels as if he could counter the entire city:
Topic: identity

He did not know why, but there arose in him an exultation and a sense of power, and he ran up the hill like an engine, or a madman, willing to throw himself headlong into the city that glowed before him […] Then he, John, felt like a giant who might crumble this city with his anger; he felt like a tyrant who might crush this city beneath his heel; he felt like a long-awaited conqueror at whose feet flowers would be strewn […] He would be, of all, the mightiest, the most beloved, the Lord’s anointed, and he would live in this shining city which his ancestors had seen with longing from far away.
Topic: identity

There alone on the top of the hill he dreams of being part of the city and belonging to the upper white class, which would accept him unconditionally. But as soon as he recalls the people’s reactions to him he is pulled back into reality: “He remembered the people he had seen in the city, whose eyes held no love for him […] and how when they passed they did not see him, or, if they saw him, they smirked.” . Despite these incidents John still feels as part of the white social stratum due to his intelligence, but reality looks quite different and resembles more his parents’, especially his father’s warnings of the city and white men in general. As he walks along Central Park he keeps imagining what it would be like living in such an environment and being wealthy. The absence of God in this society is not a drawback for John, since he sees that the way of life according to the Lord has not really helped his parents with their everyday struggles:
Topic: identity

In the narrow way, the way of the cross, there awaited him only humiliation forever; there awaited him, one day, a house like his father’s house, and a church like his father’s, and a job like his father’s, where he would grow old and black with hunger and toil. The way of the cross had given him a belly filled with wind and had bent his mother’s back; they had never worn fine clothes, but here, where the buildings contested God’s power and where the men and women did not fear God, here he might eat and drink to his heart’s content and clothe his body with wondrous fabrics […].
Topic: identity

Despite the fact that he knows that “their thoughts were not of God, and their way was not God’s way” , he cannot believe how the white society, being so beautiful and gracious, could end up in hell. He himself had been witness of their capacity to do good when he was sick and one of his teachers had brought him medicine. Although John does not really know yet who he is and where he belongs, at this point he does know that he never wants to end up like his father. Due to his young age and inexperience it is more likely that he feels attracted to the white society on the grounds of a wealthier future it seems to offer and not because he tries to deny his black heritage.