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I am in the process of writing a paper for my multicultural education class, it is supposed to map my personal racial, social and cultural characteristics and to analyze them. There is the idea that I will be able to contrast my own experience with what I know about other experiences, but it really can't be that easy. I know that I don't have the
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If I could answer that, I think I might be able to at least begin deciphering what my racial and cultural characteristics even are. It's hard to identify separately as both American and Caucasian-American when the gross majority of American culture *is* Caucasian-American practically by default. In fact, I can really only identify myself in the ways that I feel different from the majority. (I wonder what deconstructionist philosophy would say about this, if anything?)
I think I may be able to provide some social background, however. I identify myself, to an extent, by my childhood in a military family. Moving around a lot has left me to wonder what it means to call a place home - especially in the last 2 years, being away from Seattle, which had become the closest thing I had to a "hometown". Not too long ago, I visited Fort Ord, an Army base that I used to live in from about age 5 to age 10. It's since been shut down, but my old housing area was still there, although the houses were mostly empty. The whole place was rather barren, and I left feeling a little somber and reflective.
On the other hand, I'm comfortable with moving places. I also feel very comfortable meeting new people, or when I find myself in awkward situations or social arrangements. I'll talk to just about anyone, because most social intercourse tends to feel somewhat transient to me - if they appreciate my sense of humor, then I may've made a great friend, and if not, then there will be dozens more people after them. Occasionally, I find people or friends that I really want to hold onto, and sometimes I'm overly-sensitive of that delicate early balance between being someone's friend or just another acquaintance. For example, asking you repeatedly if I'd inadvertently offended you with the "brown star" joke. On the other hand, I don't make it any easier for myself, because I tend to be an extremist and a button-pusher in the way I interact. I only have so long to make an impression, so I had better make it last - maybe? A gentleman who spoke awkwardly at Sara and John's wedding probably falls under this category too, though obviously both of our reasons are individual.
Some of this may also come from being an only child. As an only child, you're either a loner, or you come to terms with the fact that you need to go out and meet people in order to properly socialize.
Also, both of my parents worked in my younger years, and so I spent a fair deal of time in daycare. This probably also helped me learn to socialize at a younger age (though where all of that went by the time middle and high school came around is anyone's guess).
So we have 3 different characteristics here: both parents in the military; being an only child; and growing up with two working parents. Truth be told, I wrote a lot more here than I originally expected, and I've actually thought about a lot of things in ways I'd never thought about them before. So I hope this is at least half as useful or interesting for you as it has been for me :) I wish I had a better answer for the racial and cultural facets of your question.
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That or you like presents.
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So perhaps a better question is: do I celebrate Christmas *the way I do* because I'm American, because I come from an anglo-saxon family tree, or because I was raised Christian? Simply put, it's all of them, but the question that it's really meant to get at is how much and in what ways does each tradition contribute to the way I see, experience, and remember Christmas?
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