Personal Narrative on Race, Class and Ethnicity

This personal narrative explores the impact of race, class, and ethnicity on the author's life and interactions with others. It discusses the privileges gained, overcoming oppression, discrimination based on race, and personal experiences based on identity. The narrative also addresses how these experiences shape the author's interactions with clients and the steps they are taking to overcome biases and challenge themselves.

Running head: RACE, CLASS AND ETHNICITY PERSONAL NARRATIVE 1
Personal narrative on race, class and ethnicity
Name
Professor
Course
Date

RACE, CLASS AND ETHNICITY PERSONAL NARRATIVE 2
Personal narrative on race, class and ethnicity
Learning about people differences
Race, class and ethnicity are social factors that shape the way people live, socialize,
interact or do as they live in a given area (Kleinman, & Benson, 2010). Our knowledge of race,
ethnicity and class are subconsciously connected to our lives on a daily basis as we constantly
interact socially. Although race, class and ethnicity concepts have a social construct, they
become real based on the consequences they have on our lives. Their social world affects are
evident from my personal experiences obtained from peer groups, religious and educational
institutions, media representations and I have been able to perceive of my sense of identity. I am
a 30 year-old female black student from Nigeria and am undertaking my second in the USA. I
moved into the US some nine years ago when I was almost completing high school. I took my
final year in the US and then moved to college thereafter.
Privileges gained
Throughout my life, I have come to understand much about class, race and ethnicity as
far as human interaction is concerned. I have interacted with people of different races, ethnicities
and classes, and this fact has given me enough experience on how to interact with people from
different backgrounds based on these three social concepts (Alexander, 2012).
Overcoming oppression
Coming from an African country where live is characterized by culture, class, ethnic
groups and different beliefs, I was able to learn much about identity based on these concepts. Our
country has people who are predominantly black but the different tribes shape different ethnic
backgrounds based on culture and class (Lichtenstein, 2015). The fact that different languages
exist allowed me as a young growing person to be constantly aware of the fact that I am

RACE, CLASS AND ETHNICITY PERSONAL NARRATIVE 3
different. Through my daily interactions with peers from the lower elementary learning to the
college level, I have found myself struggling to fit in the different groups. Back in my country
the problem is based on the aspect of ethnicity and class. Class determines the social status one’s
family is, in terms of middle, lower of upper classes. I come from the lower class social status.
Considered prejudices and stereotypes
As I schooled with peers of different class and tribe I realized that there are groups that
are considered minority than others especially in a case where your tribe is not popular among
the social elites. I found it hard to interact with peers of middle and upper class or those who felt
that their tribes are superior to others. However, I was very comfortable when amongst the peers
whom we were in the same class or tribe as I was. We have to know that we are different from
the way one group of peers will treat us when we try to socialize (Resnick, & Wolff, 2013).
Those who feel themselves higher than others will try to show you that you do not fit in their
group through various ways of discriminations. They normally looked down upon people of my
race and color.
Discrimination based on race
When I came to the US, the situation was worse as I met people of completely different
skin color. Though as a young Nigerian, I had learnt about the whites, I had never got the chance
to interact with them as closely as in a classroom. I also came to realize that I was not the only
different but the country had different people coming from different areas of the world. I began
to understand more about race as I interacted with these people. Learning in a predominantly
white environment also makes one see the differences among people, especially based on race
(Wolff, & Resnick, 2012). I have so far noticed that blacks have hair that is completely different
from that of the whites. I have in many occasions tried to fit myself in the groups of people with

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light skin which are normally considered greater in the country. I have tried to put hair
extensions which have earned me such as comments as ‘give the hair back to the horse’. To
avoid such embarrassing moments I learnt to attach myself to the other minority groups as I find
them to be part of my clique.
Personal experiences based on identity
Being ethnic minorities in the country, makes us feel that we belong to this clique
especially when the whites excluded us for being black. Ethnic symbols through the media also
shape this aspect that we are different. Reggae and hip hop music are used to set people of
different race and class apart. They shape the aspect that in the social world there are people who
are quite different based on class, ethnicity and race (Alexander, 2011). These concepts define
who we are in the society and one has to identify him or herself with the group where he or she
fits. People who share common class, race or ethnic background tend to live and relate well Barr,
D. A. (2014).
The fear of being different
In such groups, one will feel welcomed, accepted and develop the feeling that something
common unites them. While in the classroom, an aspect or alienation is normally felt (Lorde,
2013). As I grew up, I never had the feeling that I would be able to speak up amidst people
especially those of different race, class and ethnicity to mine. There has always the fear of
exposing my outgoing persona for people are bound to make fun of me. I found myself different
and feared doing anything that makes people focus their attention on this difference. During
group projects in the class, I normally took the roles that would make me speak out the least to
avoid that much attention. This has been the case especially when I was grouped among the
groups who are perceived to be superior to mine.

RACE, CLASS AND ETHNICITY PERSONAL NARRATIVE 5
How experience shapes interaction with clients
So far regardless of the challenges of trying to fit in groups that are different in terms of
race, ethnicity and class, I have come to find out that people were created different and that we
need to accept who we are since we cannot change our identifies (OnBeing.Org, 2016). The
failure to accept hurts more than the aspect of being treated as minority. Accepting one’s own
identity makes them develop confidence and face the others and challenge them (Bolin, & Kurtz,
2018). I came to realize that even when we are defined as being less superior, I have the same
talents, abilities, strengths and weaknesses as my fellow light-skinned peers. Based on this aspect
Challenging the self
I have changed my original perceptions, stereotypes and beliefs that I belong to a
minority group or not. As I do my second degree in a college from the US, I am more confident
and determined than I was when I was young. From the experience and knowledge that I have
developed, I can comfortably live among people of different classes, ethnicities and races as
much as I respect my own and other people’s identity that defines who they are in the society
(Alexander, 2014). I am able to work in almost all backgrounds without the feeling that I am
weak in any way. However, sometimes there are situations when people get discriminated based
on race, class and ethnic concepts even in my own country as different people find it hard to drop
the traditional beliefs that they are superior to others (Gordon, 2013). In this case, I can join the
world to fight against these percepts that tend to divide people and affect their social nature. I as
I strive to finish my second degree, I wish to work for an international group that lobbies for
unity, togetherness and oneness regardless of skin color, race, class, or ethnicity. Though this
aspect may be hard to achieve, I have the feeling that trying is better than never doing anything.

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References
Alexander, M. (2011). The new jim crow. Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The
New Press. Ohio St. J. Crim. L., 9, 7.
Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The
New Press.
Alexander, M. (2014). Opinion; Telling My Son About Ferguson. OP-ED Contributor. New
York Times.
Barr, D. A. (2014). Health disparities in the United States: Social class, race, ethnicity, and
health. JHU Press.Looking toward the 21st century. Criminal justice, 3(1), pp.503-552.
Bolin, B., & Kurtz, L. C. (2018). Race, class, ethnicity, and disaster vulnerability. In Handbook
of disaster research (pp. 181-203). Springer, Cham.
Gordon, C. (2013). Growing apart: A political history of American inequality. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation, 277 pp., $39.95 hbk, ISBN 0-87154-652-3. Journal of Social
Policy, 34(3), 499-501.Accessed December, 19.

RACE, CLASS AND ETHNICITY PERSONAL NARRATIVE 7
Kleinman, A., & Benson, P. (2010). Anthropology in the clinic: the problem of cultural
competency and how to fix it. Understanding and applying medical anthropology, 290-5.
Lichtenstein, N. (2015). Growing Apart: A Political History of American Inequality. New
England Journal of Public Policy, 30(1), p.4.
Lorde, A. (2013). There is no hierarchy of oppressions. Bulletin: Homophobia and
education, 14(3/4), 9. http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jc3962/COR/Hierarchy.
Resnick, S. A., & Wolff, R. D. (2013). Class theory and history: Capitalism and communism in
the USSR. (United States). Capitalism theories 7(3), 55-67. Routledge.
Wolff, R. D., & Resnick, S. A. (2012). Economic Theorists: The High Priests of Capitalism.
(United States). Capitalism theories 10(6), 525-537.MIT Press.
OnBeing.Org., (2016). On Being with Krista Tippett; Michelle Alexander
Who We Want to Become: Beyond the New Jim Crow. Vol (1) pp (1-7). Online show
newsletter. Dakotaland

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Appendices
Appendix 1: questions answered in the narrative
How did you learn that you were a member of this group and what was your reaction? When did
and how did you first become aware that others were different? When and how did you
become aware that your membership in the identified social group affected the way
others would treat you? o When and how did you become aware that your membership
in the identified social group gave you privilege not enjoyed by members of other groups
or meant that you were denied privileges enjoyed by others? How do your unearned and
earned privileges provide you with social power? How do your unearned and earned
privileges influence your interactions with others who are similar and different? How has
the absence of privilege and social power affected you? Denied you social power? o
Describe a time when you may have gone along with the oppression of a member of the
identified social group or the privilege afforded to that group. How did you feel and react
to the situation at the time? How, if at all, did it affect you?

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What are your conscious, non-conscious, intended, unintended, automatic,
institutionalized/personal, and conditioned prejudices, discrimination, ‘ism’s, stereotypes,
beliefs, and micro-aggressions/micro-oppressions that you have internalized towards
yourself and your own identity group (i.e. internalized sexism, racism, homophobia) and
those that are directed toward people who are similar to and different from you in the
discussed identity/group? How did you learn them? How do you perpetuate them
(internalized and externalized, consciously, unconsciously, intentionally, and
unintentionally)?
 Address influence on practice in all four installments—this section is not optional: o How
might these beliefs, behaviors, your past and present issues/experiences, and access to
social power (or lack of it) influence your interactions with clients and other people
(similar to and different from you) in your social work practice? o How might they
influence your work at mezzo (e.g., communities, organizations) and macro levels (e.g.,
policy, institutions)?
What steps do you need to take to overcome your hidden and evident biases, ‘isms’, etc.?
How could you challenge yourself to be more sensitive towards and aware of yourself and others
regarding this social identity/group? Specifically discuss: o How could you challenge yourself to
be more aware of and to better address your own prejudices, biases, attitudes, and behaviors
(conscious, unconscious, automatic, intended, unintended, institutionalized, etc.) towards others
affected by the social identity/group (i.e. sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism,
homophobia, ageism, ‘ableism,’ classism, ‘religionism’)? o How could you challenge yourself to
be more aware of and to better address your own internalized beliefs and “isms” (i.e. internalized
sexism, internalized racism, and internalized homophobia)? o How could you challenge yourself

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to be more aware of and to better address your own and others’ unearned and earned privileges,
and power/powerlessness in this social identity/group?