Fitting In

The first step to understanding racial ethnic relations is defining what is an ethnic group. Ethnic groups are basically smaller subgroups within a larger population that maintain a distinct identity that differentiates them from other subgroups. They have unique cultural traits, a communal connection to others in the group, and generally have a belief in the superiority of their group.

One of the more interesting qualifications of an ethnic group is the concept of ascribed membership, which is when an individual is placed within an ethnic group, usually at birth. For almost all people this is how they end up in the group they occupy. While some may attempt to leave their group ultimately it may prove difficult, if not impossible, for someone to fully escape the identity prescribed to them at birth.

In addition to learning about what traits define an ethnic group as a class we were presented with a variety of questions to ponder, one of which I see as pertaining to ascribed membership. While generally external forces place us into ethnic categories or groups, we may sometimes place ourselves into a specific group. One question given to us was how do people mold their behavior to fit in and belong to a certain group. That made me think about my life and how I have spent the majority of it doing the opposite.

An example provided in class of self ascribed membership were children whose families had not traditionally hailed from the Southeastern United States behaving as a part of this group known as 'Southerners'. Being from a family that has been in Georgia for sometime I have many family members who believe in this concept of Southern pride and see themselves as different from other Americans. One of the biggest supporters of this is my mother who doesn't see any state outside of the Deep South, which include Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,Louisiana, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina as being southern states. My entire life I have adamantly rejected this idea of being from the South somehow makes me different, which has greatly annoyed her over the years. I even consciously took extra effort in distancing myself from what the members in my family saw as being Southern.

Of those efforts perhaps the most noticeable is my accent, specifically my lack of one. Despite living in the North Georgia mountains my entire life I possess no accent and at work and among other natives of Gilmer County whenever I am asked where I am from they are astounded to learn that I come from the same place they have. Looking back the reason I chose to reject many family traditions and actively work to change how I spoke I realize that my situation is not exactly the same as that described in chapter one of the book, but this has given me the opportunity to at least try to understand the steps that some take to move away from the group they were placed into involuntarily.