What makes Me'Me A look at my ethnocultural heritage

1
What makes Me.Me!A look at my ethnocultural
heritage

• By Miranda Chapman
• Educ 2201

2
My Ethnic and Cultural Heritage

• I am a mix of Irish, German, Swedish, and Cherokee

3
My Background

• Southern, white Female
• Born and raised in Georgia
• Two parent Household
• Lower Middle Class
• Raised as Southern Baptist
• Strong emphasis on Family
• First person to graduate from college on both
  sides of my family
• Married to a Man from a similar cultural
  background but from a different socio-economic
  background and a Mother of a two year old.

4
Exposure at an Early Age

• My Elementary school was very diverse with
  teachers and children who were African-American,
  Asian, Hispanic and Mixed Races.
• Ive always had neighbors of different ethnicity
  African-American, Hispanic (Ecuador, Chile, and
  Mexico) and Indian.
• At an early age I was exposed to Buddhism,
  Muslim, Holiness, and Jehovah Witness.
• My parents strongly encouraged me to be friends
  with children of different races and religions.
• My Fathers best friend in high school came out
  right after they graduated. He has always been a
  part of my familys life. Because of him, and
  what my parents saw him go through, they have
  always emphasized to be supportive of gays and
  lesbians.

5
Culture Shock

• In Middle School it was the first time that I did
  not have at least three teachers that were a
  different race from me. The racial and religious
  diversity in the student population dropped to
  almost none.
• It stayed that way until I went to College.
• It was also the first time that I knew of someone
  being homosexual that wasnt my parents friend.
• It was also the first time I experienced white
  privilege.

6
The College Years and Working YearsThe Advantages

• Going to School at Georgia State University and
  working in downtown Atlanta for the Department of
  Natural Resources exposed me to even more
  cultures, religions, and homosexuality. I feel
  very enriched by the people who I met during this
  time in my life.
• When I got pregnant the most supportive female,
  other than my mother and mother-in-law, was an
  older African-American Lady, Jackie, who I still
  keep in touch with. She is a very special person
  with a huge heart. I cant imagine not ever
  knowing her.
• I also met, Larry, during this time. He is gay
  and he is one of my closest friends. He was
  patient enough to answer all of my questions
  about what is it like to be gay. I exposed him
  to the joys of holding a baby. He was 31 years
  old the first time he held a baby.

7
The College and Working YearsDisadvantages

• Gender Discrimination
• In the Geology program at State University of
  West Georgia, out of 14 students in my class only
  5 were female and there was no ethnic diversity.
• While the environmental field is becoming
  diversified, it is still a male dominated field.
  I started out in a small environmental company
  of 15 employees. Out of 3 female employees, I was
  the only one that did field work. I looked young
  for my age. Therefore, I had to work harder and
  longer than my male co-workers to prove that I
  could do the job or project and do clerical work
  that the male employees wouldnt do.

8
Am I Privileged?

• Advantages
• I feel that because I look like what most
  consider to be the preconceived notion of what a
  white female looks like, that I have been given
  certain advantages. But I dont necessarily think
  its just because Im white. Ive gone into a
  stores and The High Museum and watched the
  security follow my white, female friends around
  because they had piercings, tattoos, and funky
  hair dos.
• I dont get followed around in stores.

• Disadvantages
• Im not part of the Good Ol Boy network. For
  me, the good ol boy network is the perfect
  example of white privilege and Im the wrong
  gender.
• I couldnt get scholarships based on my
  ethnicity.
• Ive had several friends in the past who have
  assumed that because Im white and that I have a
  college degree that I had everything handed to me
  by my parents. My parents, although very
  supportive, never had the financial capability to
  provide a higher education for me. I got my
  college degree because of my wanting something
  better for me and my children and working three
  jobs to get it done.

9
First a Geologist, Now a Teacher?

• My early introduction to racial and cultural
  differences has made me more accepting and a
  better person. Those experiences laid a
  foundation for which I can build upon in the
  classroom.
• Going to school and working in a very diverse
  area enriched my life dramatically. It added to
  that foundation and taught me that empathy,
  patience and sometimes just listening will go a
  long way.
• In working in a male dominated field where I was
  gender discriminated against I feel that I would
  be more understanding towards male teachers,
  being that teaching is a white female dominated
  field.
• Encouraged by my early experience I now live in a
  new subdivision that is extremely diverse
  Several mentally handicapped children,
  African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, Jewish
  and first generation immigrants from Italy. Im
  excited that I have the opportunity to live in
  such a diverse community that I can incorporate
  into my teaching and that my daughter can
  experience such diversity in her own
  neighborhood.
• Even though I have a good foundation there is
  still so much for me to learn from different
  cultures. I am lacking in foreign languages. I
  need to refresh myself in Spanish and be willing
  to learn some basic words from other languages.