Analyzing My Family Background in Relation to the Sociological Concepts - Essay Example

Sociology Introduction Sociology focuses on the study of people, groups, and society as a whole. To gain better understanding about my family history in a sociological perspective, this essay will focus on discussing and analyzing my family background in relation to the sociological concepts that were tackled in class. In general, family is one of the three major institutions of the society aside from work and welfare. (Hughes and Fergusson, 2004, p. 2) In fact, family is considered as the basic unit of a society. Therefore, it is important for each individual to gain a full understanding on how their individual family structure is functioning. As part of going through the main discussion, my own personal development in comparison to the previous generations will be tackled in details. Eventually, ways on how environmental factors combined with my family background has influenced me as a person today will be explored accordingly. Discussion To learn more about my family background, I opened up some personal questions while having dinner with my parents. When I asked them how we came to settle in Oklahoma, my mother explained that our family first came in through PA before settling in Oklahoma. All these happened during the slave days. Our family name started as Sheank which was eventually changed to Shank upon our arrival to the United States. After the slave days, our family name was changed to Shankle because the slaves kept the Shank. Since our family wanted to be differentiated from other group of people, they decided to finally change our family name to Shankles. My family background and environmental factors had taught me the importance of diversity. As a person, I was born and raised in North East Texas during the 60's and 70's. Back then, we used to live in a lower class neighborhood. Because of financial reasons, I live most of my life in a community that is dominated by the African Americans. Therefore, during my school-age days, I remember myself being one of the few white students who went to the black schools. Race is defined as “a human population that is believed to be distinct in some way from other humans based on real or imagined physical differences” (Cragun, Cragun et al., 2003, p. 133). Based on biological classification, people are often categorized depending on their facial features or skin color and that the skin color of each individual is highly dependent not only on individual and collective ideas but also on larger social forces. Specifically the differences of each individual’s facial features and skin color are used to create social identity. With regards to the physical qualities of each individual, Johann Blumenback initially classified race as American, Caucasian, Ethiopian, Malay, and Mongolian (Ballantine & Spade, 2011, p. 248). Eventually, the act of classifying each person based on their physical attributes resulted to the practice of racism. The term ideology is defined as “a set of beliefs taken to be accurate accounts and explanations of why things are as they are” (Ferrante, 2011, p. 252). In most cases, the ideologies of racism support the idea that the biological features of each social group can be used to “explain and even justify inequalities between racial and ethnic groups” (Ferrante, 2011, p. 252). For instance, it is a common perception of people to think that most of the White Americans are better as compared to the African Americans in terms of their socio-economic status in life. For this reason, most people accept the idea that the African Americans are most likely to have low-paying jobs as compared to the White Americans. Due to the presence of social and institutional forces, racial ideologies become a prejudice and stereotype that leads to racism. Upon analyzing my personal development, racism is something that is not a part of my personal attitude. In fact, my open-mindedness about the differences in race, culture, nationality, and ethnicity was instilled in me by my father at the age of 5. To encourage me to accept everyone as they are, my father used to tell me that "the African Americans are similar to the White Americans except for their color". After spending many years with the African Americans, I was convinced that this group of people is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, the many years of being close to the African Americans made me learn to appreciate not only their individualism but also the uniqueness of their cultural beliefs. These were some of the reasons why I managed to grow up having a lot of African American and White America friends. My mother is a plain housewife whereas my father used to work as a farmer. Despite being a farmer, I always see my father as a hard working and loving person. As years go by, I managed to incorporate the importance of being a hard working person in my own life. In the process of being exposed to a kind of life with financial limitations, my parents never failed to teach me the importance of valuing money. Because of the hardship I experienced at a very young age, I managed to grow up as a strong-willed person I am today. In fact, my past life experiences made me decide to join the U.S. Marines back in 1982. Culture is an extensive multidimensional concept that includes issues related to ethnicity, race, differences in gender, and social classes among others (Mulligan, 2003, p. 269). Based on social identity theory, social psychology serves as the basis wherein people are able to create the idea of social identity (Deutsch, 2008, p. 82). In most cases, social groups or social classes are formed because of the similarities in the language spoken, attitude and behavior, religious beliefs, tradition, and socio-economic background. Choudhuri, Santiago-Rivera and Garrett (2012, p. 321) defined cultural identity as “the embodiment of the cultural norms, beliefs, values, and worldview and one’s sense of affiliation and belonging to a group identity”. Because of the presence of racism and ethnocentrism (racial and/or ethnic discrimination), the identity and pride of each members of a social class is adversely affected. This explains why there are people who belong to the minority group who could feel rejected and insecure because of their cultural identity (Gonzalez, 2009, p. 16). Furthermore, culture has a significant impact with regards to each person’s identity and pride in the sense that our own cultural background can serve as the basis of our own social status in life (Mulligan, 2003, p. 269). For example, after joining the U.S. marines back in 1982, I decided to marry an Okinawan girl. Due to stereotyping and prejudism, my family members did not appreciate the idea of me marrying an Okinawan girl. I often hear them associated her with the Japanese during the WWII. Therefore, I explained to them that the Okinawans were also brutalized by the Japanese during that war. Conclusion Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality, our own family background and environmental factors affect how we perceive other people around us. Eventually, the values and ideas that were instilled to us by our parents particularly with regards to the way we perceive other people becomes a significant part of our individual norm and culture. Due to financial difficulty, my parents have come to appreciate the importance of being able to live with other people within our financial standing in life. Perhaps one of the reasons why my father motivated me to have a positive outlook with regards to the African Americans is to allow me to easily interact with them without causing me to experience too much superiority or inferiority complex. Because of my father’s effort in making me able to understand and accept other races, I grew up to become less prejudice to other nationality and races. My present values with regards to the differences in race and interracial marriages are very much similar to the values of my grandparents. Based on my mother’s story, her mother who was an Asian Caucasian married his father from Texas. The same is true with my father’s parents. Even though my father’s mother was born in England, she ended up living in Texas where she met her husband. Just like my mother’s father, my father’s father was also born in Texas. Although the number of Americans who are open to the idea of interracial or mixed marriages, the individual values of each person will still based on their family background and other environmental and societal factors. For this reason, it is not easy to conclude whether or not the personal values I have with regards to the issue on racism and interracial marriages is very much similar to the dominant values within a given society. Instead of saying determining whether or not the personal values I have with regards to the issue on racism and interracial marriages is very much similar to the dominant values within a given society, it is safer to conclude that each person is unique and that their personal experiences in life strongly affects their own choices and preferences in life. References Ballantine, J., & Spade, J. (2011). Schools and Society: A Sociological Approach to Education. 4th Edition. Sage Publications, Inc. Choudhuri, D., Santiago-Rivera, A., & Garrett, M. (2012). Counseling & Diversity. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Cragun, R., Cragun, D., et al. (2003). Introduction to Sociology. London: Blacksleet River. Deutsch, N. (2008). Pride in the Projects: Teens Building Identities in Urban Contexts. NY: New York University Press. Ferrante, J. (2011). Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Gonzalez, J. (2009). Conflicts, Disputes, and Tensions Between Identity Groups: What Modern . USA: Information Age Publishing Inc. Hughes, G., & Fergusson, R. (2004). Ordering Lives: Family, Work and Welfare (Understanding Social Change). 2nd edition. Routledge. Mulligan, C. (2003). Family Stress: Classic and Contemporary Readings. London: Sage Publications Inc. Read More