My score on the sorting people activity was 6 correct out of 24. It was very difficult to sort the people based on their physical appearance because most of them had traits that can be seen in different races. For example the young man who identified himself as Japanese looked like he could have been Native American due to his dark skin and long hair. His eyes were almond shape like most Asians but some Native Americans do have a similar almond shaped eye. I found this to be very interesting because in our text it stated that; “A given individual might have a skin color that is associated with one race, the hair texture of a second, the nasal shape of a third, and so forth.” (Healy, Stepnick 23) I interpreted it as we generally focus on the person’s appearances. We put a lot
...of emphasis on racial categories to be able to identify a person’s background. In the textbook Diversity and Society, authors Healey and Stepnick stated, “Race, along with gender, is one of the first things people notice about one another.” We tend to categorize people who share the same biological traits that we as society think are important.
Healy and Stepnick stated on page 23 that in the United States we still categorize people by their skin color alone and we group them into the category that we believe they belong to without taking their culture background into consideration do determine their ethnicity. Some people are not affected by being placed in the certain race categories; they simply shrug it off and continue with their lives. I am sure that other people
who are being racially categorized into the wrong category would feel uneasy about it because most people are proud of their race and their ethnic backgrounds; it is something that they are proud of. I am first generation U.S. born Mexican American both of my parents were immigrants. I was raised in a household where Spanish was the primary language and English was secondary.
I am married to a Caucasian man with red hair and green eyes who doesn’t speak Spanish. Eight years ago we went to my mother in laws funeral and I was introduced to distant relitives of my husbands. I was introduced to a cousin of his and he proceeded to ask me if I was of Hispanic descent. I said yes I am Mexican American and they he asked me if I was fluent in Spanish and I replied yes I am it was my first language. He then continues to question my race on my appearance and the way I spoke English. He said to me you don’t look like you are a real Mexican and your English is perfect. I was baffled by his words because in his mind he perceived Mexican American individual characteristics to fit a certain label.
