My Racial Identity

Racial identity is a learned social category. Our agents of socialization, primarily our families, and peers, show us the expectations associated with our race. Sometimes this is explicit, and sometimes it is very subtle. How did you learn your racial identity? Which agents of socialization taught you about your race? Describe a time when your family or peers enforced lessons about racial identity with you. Perhaps it was a kind of food you were or were not supposed to eat or a way to dress or even talk
I learned about my racial identity the summer before I started kindergarten, so I was 5 years old. The other little girls liked to play games that would involve doing each other's hair. Since my mom always had my hair in braids or twist I
From my family, I learned that I was black. I come from a very racially ambiguous family. When I was 6 I was asked my parents why I wasn’t white like my great grandmother. Her skin was white her hair was the same as my classmates, so I assumed she was white. I was quickly corrected. The explained that black comes in all shades, and I could never let my grandmother hear me refer to her as white. I come from a prejudiced nondiscriminator family. My great grandmother has 3 beliefs that she has instilled in all of her offspring. First, there is no such thing as good hair. Second, having light skin does not make you better than anyone else. Lastly, you can be friends with white people, but you should never trust them. White people will always choose another white person over you, even if you are friends. The first time I was mistaken for being of mixed race I was in the 6th grade. My peers told me that one of my parents had to go, and went as far as saying my dad was lying about being my father. My real white father left before I could remember him. When I became visibly upset they accused me of being racist. According to them if being white is upsetting than I must hate white