Identity essay (final draft)

Massimo Sarracino

9/12/14

Professor Young

Engw 1100

"Is identity important and if so, what is it?

What does the word "identity" mean to you? The word identity means a lot to me. It explains who you are and what you are about. Your identity can express anything about yourself. A great way to express your identity is through your language. For example, I am Italian and I speak Italian so that is a good way for me to express my identity to people around me. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Gloria Anzaldua explains how she struggled with her identity and her daughters teacher thinking she is not culturally diverse enough. I can relate with her because when I was younger I went into kindergarten not knowing a word of english. It was difficult for me to adjust and people were not as accepting as you think they would be. I can relate to what she is feeling. Also, James McBride speaks of his and his mother's struggles with their own cultural identities in “Black Power” as well. Both my language and my nationality have proven my identity. They have helped mold me into the person that I am today.

Identity can be defined and expressed in many different ways. Some people may express their identity through the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, or even simply their language. Everybody will choose their very own way of expressing themselves. I personally chose to use my language to express myself. It is a part of me that I am proud of and nobody can take away. I have the right to express my cultural identity any way that I please. I believe that it is important to express your identity in some way because it shows who you are. Your identity gives you a sense of meaning it sets you apart from everybody else around you.

Gloria Anzaldua speaks of how she struggled with her daughter being in school and her teacher pointing out to her and the students about their differences culturally, all the way to skin color. Her teacher is not teaching the students correctly, she is simply pointing out reasons they should be separated from one another. The correct way to teach children about their cultures is not to point out the differences that each of the students have. The teacher should be making them find similarities so that they can get along and have fun together, not alone or only in a group of children that look the same as them. Children in kindergarten like Gloria's daughter should not be getting a label put on themselves as to the color of their skin or the language that they speak. It is a struggle that Gloria Anzaldua faces in a time in her life that should have been avoided.

James McBride relates his identity crisis to his childhood. He faces many problems and struggles as a young child. He lived in a home with twelve other adopted black children and a white foster mother. James explains how his mother would have people yelling rude comments at her for no reason except for the fact that she was raising twelve black children on her own. His mother was a very strong woman and did not act out on the people making comments at her. He was faced with many questions at even a very young age. When James was younger he wondered why his mother was white and he was dark. His mother told him that she is just light skinned to keep his questions to a minimum. His identity was shown through the color of his skin. The many problems that he faced were because of his culturally diverse family. The thing people need to realize is that the color of skin does not define who a person is or what a person does.

In conclusion, both James McBride and Gloria Anzaldua struggle with their identities in their own way. Gloria is faced with her daughter being taught false information about her identity and nationality in her school. Also, James is having to deal with his mother getting verbally and physically abused because she is raising twelve black children. These two stories relate in  the sense that both authors are going through an identity crisis trying to find out who they really are and what they believe they are. I can some what relate to both stories because of the struggle that I faced when growing up in america not speaking english. It was a difficult time and although it was hard it taught me that you should always support your true identity and never let somebody take that away from you. Identity is something very important and I encourage everybody to express their own identity in some way sometime in their life.