“I don’t always think of myself as Italian or American or Italian-American. Oddly enough, when I’m here in this country I think of myself as a little more Italian, but when I’m in Italy I think of myself as slightly more American. For me, being American has to do with a certain way of life. The New York lifestyle is much more frenetic than the laid-back Italian lifestyle. — Giorgio Ravalli, 22, Italian-American
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Comments?
I agree with Avnee's statement, "I think that where you are at the present is the most important, but at the same time it’s essential to not let go of where you've been. You should not have to let go of your roots to be a part of American society. "
ReplyDeleteOur roots makes us unique and different, it technically defines who we are. The diversity of the various tribes present in America, is somewhat what makes America, America!
I can relate more with Alex Fiszbein and Shirley Acuna. There is always a need for a sense of identity. We are continuously labeled who we are from where we came from, however we get defensive when people ask. A lot of who we are is from a combination of the old and new country. When we share different customs from both parts, it is more difficult to identify yourself more with one group than the other.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex Santana, I tend to identify myself as a person from Brooklyn rather than a person from Syrian decent. I think sometimes we forget how important our heritage is and ignore it. What we keep forgetting is that our heritage is what gives us our dark/light skin, our accents and even our religion. We shouldn't be embarrassed of our heritage we should embrace it.
ReplyDeleteI think that where you are at the present is the most important, but at the same time it’s essential to not let go of where you’ve been. You should not have to let go of your roots to be a part of American society. — Avnee, 22, British- and Indian-American
ReplyDeleteThis quote is everything! I love it. Coming from someone who is Puertorican and Italian, but has a Haitian boyfriend who is from Haiti, lived in Argentina and spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico, I feel like I am all over the place and I pick up on all different types of cultures. I love it!
“When others ask, ‘Where are you from?’ I tend to respond with ‘New Jersey.’ Usually, they are never satisfied with that answer because for them, it does not explain why I have the last name I have, why my hair is so conspicuously curly, why my skin is brown, and why I am able to speak Spanish. — Alex Santana, 21, Spanish- and Dominican-American
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Alex Santana's quote. There is a difference between race, nationality, where you are from and heritage that people get confused all the time. I am a black American from Brooklyn but my dad was born in Jamaica that doesn't make me any less American then the next person
"I think that where you are at the present is the most important, but at the same time it’s essential to not let go of where you’ve been. You should not have to let go of your roots to be a part of American society." — Avnee, 22, British- and Indian-American
ReplyDeleteI was born an American but I don't see myself as just that. I am a child of an Italian immigrant along with being Puerto Rican. I enjoy my culture and proud of who I am. I continue to celebrate and practice the traditions of my culture. I love the diversity and will never let that go. Not only do I get to learn from my cultures but others around me as well. We get to realize all the similarities in differences from one another.
We each have our own identities. Our own backgrounds. Cultures. Each one of them is different but also very similar. We all learn from one another. We broaden our horizon. But it is good to keep your own identity with your own traditions and values and not letting that go while you learn from other cultures from other people.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of it this way, but it's most definitely true when speaking of myself. I consider myself COMPLETELY Colombian amongst my friends and peers. When I'm around my family though, I'm the "American" of the household. When I go to Colombia, I'm considered a "gringa". It's all a matter of your surroundings and location that define how you identify yourself.
ReplyDeleteWe all come from different places around the world. It’s never late to learn about our culture and background. The more we learn about our heritage and ourselves, the further we can educate the world.
ReplyDeleteAs human beings, we are considered to be unique. Unique that we all look different, talk different, act different and like and dislike different things. We are also unique in the sense that we are all in possession of our own identities and backgrounds. There are times where when we are surrounded by people who dont understand the big difference between race and nationality and where you are from. Just as Jason Hall was kindly enough to help bring to light based on Alex Santana's comments. I am a mutt. Im Italian German and Filipino. Usually when people ask me what I am I say that and usually it is a very good response. People generally like that I am a mutt and find it to be an interesting mix, and others do not. For instance since Filipino is a type of Asian, everyone thinks I understand Chinese, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, etc. They wrongly associate the Filipino in me to all the other types of Asian. I remember being young I used to be teased for being Filipino so I always was ashamed of being this and being a mutt and wrong of me, I hid it and didnt take pride. Growing up in a neighborhood that was primarily Irish and Italians. It wasnt easy. I can closley relate with Alex Santana's comments on this misconception of race and nationality and heritage more importantly. I now look back on my decision to hide and not show pride in my Filipino heritage and regret doing so. Alex Santana's comments only helped further make me feel awful for not embracing my unique and beautiful status as a mutt in our society. To sum this up, we should all embrace our heritage no matter the circumstances, because it is who we are, it is what makes us, us. If we fail to do so or are ashamed we do further damage to ourselves than we realize.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't have said is better than Giorgio. The two countries are so different but somehow I can identify with both of the, I don't mind though because I feel like a super power hybrid.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the first day of class when we talked about what tribes we came from. At first my instinct was not to consider a country as my tribe. The only time America has been my tribe is when I went to China for study abroad. America is made of many people and many varying degrees of people. To simply label myself as an American when it comes to tribe association can be difficult because of the misconceptions that come with it. I chose Puerto Rico but even that did not make sense. I never been there or studied much about it, making it as foreign as any other place to me. I think we associate ourselves when it is easier for others to understand and not for us to necessarily accept or feel strongly about it in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI personally dislike when people ask me where I am from. Why would anyone care about that? Also I have noticed that this question automatically build stereotypes in some people's twisted minds. America is the third country I live in and throughout my life (yes, I am old!) I had a chance to meet many interesting people as well as simpleminded. I came to a conclusion that the only place where nationality really matters is prison.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the experiences of all these different people. I noticed that they were all in my age group and I find them more relatable. From reading their experiences I can see the diversity that comes from being a son or daughter of immigrant parents, which I am as well. I agree that people do place an importance on where someone is from and it can be bothersome. I even found myself immediately looking down to see where they were from. I think people feel like they are able to understand someone by knowing their tribe but that is not true. Yet I don’t believe in ignoring people’s tribe all together, I think that would be undermining the tribe's history, struggles and culture.
ReplyDeleteI think when people move to a different country they start to get used to the way of living in that country but their traditions won't change that much. I also agree with Giorgio Ravalli and I think he is mostly correct.
ReplyDeleteI am puerto rican I was born here but when I go to puerto rico I get that whole I am a American feel since I really don't speak Spanish so much. So I get the whole "your puerto rican you are suppose to speak Spanish" and I am not a really "Puerto Rican" top it off "NY RICAN being told to me.
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree with the quote because when we live in America we want to say we are from our native culture and then when we go to our country we get looked at like we are "American" I embrace the fact I am American and my roots are in Puerto Rico .
I am a child of italian immigrants, I was born in America. we celebrate many italian traditions and have kept them going for so long.
ReplyDelete