Cultural Autobiography
Elease Wiggins
Felician University
Multicultural Perspectives in Counseling
Dr. Ghahary
April 22, 2020
Cultural Autobiography
Abstract
In this paper, I reflect on the development of my racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and religious identities. This reflection has allowed me to critically analyze my personal experiences and interpretations of the various aspects of my identity. In addition, I also discuss my awareness of my values, biases, preconceived notions, and assumptions about human behavior. Essentially, this paper demonstrates an Integrative Awareness of my understanding of myself as a cultural being, its impact on my perception of human behavior, and my performance as a mental health professional.
Spiritual Identity
Of my identities, my spiritual identity provides me with the most personal power, has the most influence on my overall identity and perception of life. I am a proud believer in Jesus Christ. A generalization often made about Christians is that we must live perfect lives; I disagree. People should stop assuming that believers of Christ are perfect because only God is perfect.
Christian in America
My beliefs were not given to me by my parents. Instead, I accepted my spiritual beliefs as an adult. My beliefs and personal experiences cause me not to judge people like I used to. Four years ago, when my children and I lived in poverty, my parents considered me an extremist because I did not have a plan. All the experts suggested I should have a plan, but I didn’t. I was solely depended on my faith. Today, my parents respect my judgment. Although I do not attend church (An area I have yet to come to terms with and reject, I do not believe weekly attendance at church determines my relationship with God), I affirm my beliefs by listening to spiritual teachings daily and pray for people often. I believe giving people hope is an expectation of a believer of Christ. For example, last night, I entered the pizzeria and noticed the cashier was frustrated. I asked him if everything was okay. Through his mask, he said it was a long hectic day. I asked him if I could pray, to which he responded yes. So, I began to pray. As I said Amen, I opened my eyes and noticed three white gentlemen all crossing their chest and lifting their heads unison. I realized God used me to bring peace and hope to those essential workers.
Racial & Ethnic Identity
My race is an essential and integral part of my identity (Worrell, Cross & Vandiver, 2001). I chose to combine racial and ethnic identities because I have always used the terms interchangeably and see no separation (Helms and Talleyrand, 1997).
African Born in America
I am a proud African born in America. My family developed my pride in my race and ethnicity. As a child, I learned that my ancestors survived slavery, Jim crow, civil rights, and oppression; my ancestors were powerful people. Therefore, I was socialized to believe that I, too, am powerful. Unbeknownst to me, my family was teaching me about my ancestors to prepare me to face racial discrimination in the future, (Cross, 1995) and (Helms, 1995).
Knowing the struggles of my ancestors comes with high expectations. One expectation is exercising strong willpower. As a child, I remember my paternal grandmother scolding her children. She would yell, “You’re weak!” Afterward, my uncles and aunts would walk away with their heads down and faces of shame and guilt. Back then, I did not understand that my grandmother’s controlling parental warmth and involvement would be critical in my personal development (Ispa et al., 2004). Although she passed away ten years ago, I still consider if she would be pleased with my current decisions. It’s as if she permanently lives in my head.
The second expectation of my racial and ethnic identity believes I can and will overcome any circumstance meant to destroy me, even the media’s agenda to ruin my self-esteem. Growing up, the media perpetuated images of beauty as white, thin women with blonde hair. As an African American little girl, was I to believe that I was not beautiful? Fortunately, when I was a child, my mother was a hair model. Seeing my mother’s pictures in the same magazines as the white models, impacted my self-esteem (Twenge & Crocker, 2002) and taught me diversity.
Although I am proud to be an African American, I do not engage in activities solely attended by African Americans. I have an appreciation for other races and cultures. This aspect explains why I was in a long-term committed relationship and have two children with a Palestinian. I received a lot of negative feedback from family and friends who viewed the relationship as me rejecting my race and disrespecting my ancestors; I do not agree. The relationship exposed me to a different language, religion, and culture and, most importantly, gave me an awareness of myself. I was young and in love with an ambitious young man who loved and supported me. However, his family did not like me because of my race. Unfortunately, this led to the end of our relationship. Now that we are not together, his family sees what I have accomplished without him, and they all love and respect me. Little did they know that their prejudices were preparing me for higher education as a young African American professor.
A generalization other races make about me is that I am intellectually inferior (Sue, Capodilupo & Holder, 2008). At a teacher’s training at Bergen Community College in Paramus NJ two years ago, a white Jewish female professor approaches me in the hallway during our break. She stated she was impressed with the fact that I was articulate when I spoke before the group. I laughed in my head, thanked her for the compliment, and walked away. My family taught me to let people believe what they want to believe about me. Once they get to know me, their judgments and preconceived notions will dissipate. This same woman later became one of my mentors and colleague at the college.
Sexual Orientation Identity
I was not always happy about my sexual orientation. However, I learned a woman is one of God’s greatest creations because we bring life; Being a woman and an African American interrelate because you are born into both identities.
Woman in America
A generalization about women is that we are the weaker sex. I do not agree with this. I believe in the exchange of power between men and women, which states, “When a man truly loves a woman, she becomes his weakness. And when a woman truly loves a man, he becomes her strength.” I believe God created both sexes to complement each other. However, in the absence of one, if an individual partners with God, all their plans will succeed. I have not come to terms with and all together rejected the idea of staying in an unhealthy relationship to maintain an image of a happy nuclear family. However, since I have been single, I have been able to accomplish more in my professional life (ex., becoming a self-published author, managing a business, being a philanthropist, having a full-time job and being a full-time graduate student). Therefore, my sexual orientation identity has dispelled that “Women are the weaker sex” myth and strengthened my self-image because, without a husband, I still achieved all the goals I set for myself. Currently, I’m solely caring for two children while managing other responsibilities, which does come with its unique challenges. However, this is where my belief and race identities inform my sexual orientation identity. This awareness forces me to remember my ancestors’ perseverance, and most importantly, partnering with God in raising my children gives me divine direction. I believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Social Class Identity
My social class identity interrelates with my sexual orientation identity because both have a contrast and provides me the same level of personal power. The social implication of this aspect is that you are either rich or poor and male or female. Unfortunately, if you are a poor woman, you are more likely to become a victim of violence, marginalized, powerless, and exploited, which gives you the least personal power. In contrast, my social class identity is like my religious identity because they can both be changed.
Class in America
Everyone in my family had stable government jobs, but I was the first to graduate from college. Four years ago, when the children and I became homeless after my relationship ended, my family humiliated me by saying, “You thought you were so smart, but now you are poor.” This factor transcends my trauma to serve marginalized and underrepresented populations, behavioral changes, and sacrifices that were necessary for me. These changes were made through the process of conscientization. That is, I gained a critical consciousness of God within me. Again, my belief identity informed another identity.
My family now resides in a middle-class neighborhood, and I work for the government. This may be an overgeneralized routine observation or an area I have not come to terms with, but my middle-class co-workers are resistant to change. They complain about things other people pray for. Whereas practicing conscientization makes me grateful and is largely responsible for my upward mobility. I value my family’s healthy, peace, and safety over everything. Knowing that “I did not forget where I came from, I just chose not to stay there (Wiggins, 2015).
Integrative Analysis
Being a Christian, African American mom of two children who were once poor and worked my way into the middle class affects my performance as a helping person in three ways. The first is my group memberships give me the strength to empathize and empower clients who are oppressed by society, their family, an intimate partner, and their minds.
My group membership also affects my performance as a helping person is at times; it can be my weakness. For example, I had a client who had been sleeping on a friend’s couch with her three-year-old son as a result of domestic violence. Due to the father’s male privilege and power, he threatened to tell child protected services that she had the child living in an overcrowded environment. She came to my program for help. To fulfill the program’s work requirements and to be closer to her son’s daycare, she got a part-time job as a cashier. When my program ended, I referred her back to the Board of Social Services. They denied her benefits because she made $11.00 over the income guideline. She called me frantic from her car and almost got into a car accident from having a panic attack. I met her in the parking lot of the supermarket and gave her $300.00. Why did I do this? Sometimes people just need a chance. I knew she was trying but was being oppressed by multiple entities. Besides, God blessed me with the resources to give, and I reported it to my supervisor. However, the next day we were all quarantined. A month later, she is now eligible for benefits due to her hours being reduced at work. So, she and her son are moving into shelter next week, which will help her with rental assistance.
My group membership sometimes serves as a mental barrier when helping clients. I was contacted by a man from Argentina who recently lost his business due to this pandemic. Initially, I thought I was not qualified to help him because he was wealthy, and I have never worked with a wealthy client before. I had only worked with oppressed clients. When I put my insecurities asides and began to just listen to him, I no longer saw him as a wealthy, privileged man; I saw him as a lost soul due to a significant life shift. It turns out; I have helped him to reprioritize his responsibilities and made him aware of his spiritual self in two sessions. He has started new business ventures that work around his new priorities and want to continue working with me. He said what he has learned from working with me is, “It’s not what he lost, but he has the opportunity to create during this time.”
The intersectional aspect of all my identities interrelate to make me a woman who believes in God, loves the skin I am in, and loves my children. I value my worth, respect the struggles of my ancestors, and have a strong work ethic to improve my family’s future and serve the oppressed.
References
Cross, S. E. (1995). Self-construals, coping, and stress in cross-cultural adaptation. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 26(6), 673-697.
Helms, J. E., & Talleyrand, R. M. (1997). Race is not ethnicity.
Ispa, J. M., Fine, M. A., Halgunseth, L. C., Harper, S., Robinson, J., Boyce, L., … & Brady‐Smith, C. (2004). Maternal intrusiveness, maternal warmth, and mother–toddler relationship outcomes: Variations across low‐income ethnic and acculturation groups. Child Development, 75(6), 1613-1631.
Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., & Holder, A. (2008). Racial microaggressions in the life experience of Black Americans. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(3), 329.
Twenge, J. M., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race and self-esteem: meta-analyses comparing whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians and comment on Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000).
Vandiver, B. J., Fhagen‐Smith, P. E., Cokley, K. O., Cross Jr, W. E., & Worrell, F. C. (2001). Cross’s nigrescence model: From theory to scale to theory. Journal of multicultural counseling and development, 29(3), 174-200.
Wiggins, E. A. (2015). A Farewell to Welfare: 25 Strategies to Freedom, Independence, and Prosperity. Elease, LLC, 2015.