Identity cannot be formed and defined in one category; it is defined in many ways. Our Identity is formed by our race, culture, language, belief and environment. Sarah Morris described,” Every thing around what and us shapes who we became we believe about other and ourselves.” (1) In the book Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? (2) Shows that identity is formed by the following category: objects possessions, creations, interests, friends, family, work hobbies, practices, habits, choices, values, beliefs, appearance and ethnicity. I agree that identity is formed in the entire category list above together to shape up who we are. However finding who we are is not easy but the more we find out about our self the better we know who we are.
To begin with, identity is basically the question “ Who am I?” Tatum, 2003, p.18, himself writes, “ The answer depends in large part on who the world around me says I am.” (3) I think this is true because people view other people feedback and suggestion to help us learn more about who we are. One category that affects who we are is our race. Parham, Thomas A, Helms, Janet E article The Influence of Black Students racial identitudes on preferences for counselor’s race writes, “ Racial self-designation (e.g., black, Negro, Afro-American) was not associated with preferences for either Black or white counselors.” In other words, everyone defined themselves differently, and by knowing what race you are it will affect your life. Another example is when you apply for a job or anything; there is a race box where you have to put yourself in one category. The race you check may affect you from getting accepted or not. Therefore, one way identity could be defined is your race.
Another category that defined your identity is culture. Culture identity is a person’s background and how you can refer to a person. This also means where you are from, what language