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AndresSanchez
English113B
ProfessorDitch
16,February2015
DualIdentity
MyidentityisMexicanAmerican.Mexicanfirstbecausethatisthebloodthatflows
throughmybodyandthecultureIwasraisedintobeapartof.Americansecondbecausethatis
thesoilinwhichIwasbornonandraisedbysocietytobeapartof.IbelieveIambothbecauseI
andmanyothersareapartofaculturewheretheirfamiliessacrificedandlefteverythingbehind
toliveinsunnySouthernCaliforniaorotherregionsofAmericainsearchofthatAmerican
Dream.MyparentsvaluethatIamthefirstgenerationcollegestudentatCaliforniaState
UniversityNorthridgebecausetheydidnotmakeitpastthethirdgradeandwereforcedtowork
inthefarms.KnowingallthethingstheyleftbehindinMexicosuchasfriendsandfamilymakes
mevalueandliveuptotheirexpectationoftheirchildbeingsuccessful.Inasocietythatdepicts
methroughmyrace,ethnicity,socioeconomicclassandworkspaceitishardtobebothsoIam
forcedtochooseoneortheothertobeacceptedinacertaintimeandplace.Situationslikethisis
okaytobeoneortheother.Somesaythistypeofculturalperformanceistroublingor
problematic,whereasIbelieveitisanecessaryskillinordertoadapttodifferentsituations.
Whatraceareyou?Whatethnicityareyou?Oftenpeoplecanconfusethetwoasthe
samethingbutthesetwotermshaveutterlydifferentdefinitions.InTheInventionofEthnicity
intheUnitedStatesbyKathleenNeilsConzen,DavidA.Gerber,EwaMorawska,GeorgeE.
Pozzeta,andRudolphJ.Vecoliexplaintheoriginsofthewordethnicityandhowitcametobe.

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Therearemanydefinitionsofthetermethnicity,butastheprominentanthropologistsClifford
GeertzandHaroldIsaacstheoryare,basicgroupidentityisanessentialneedforbelonging
whichissatisfiedbygroupsbasedonsharedancestryandculture(Neilsetal.22).Basically,
GeertzandHaroldissayingthatethnicityiswhowetaketodefineourselvesas.
Raceiswhatpeopledepictyoutobeasbasedonyourphenotype.Forexample,one
incidentthathappenedtomeandafriendofmineisthatweweredrivingaroundtheSanta
Monicaareaandwewerepulledoverbythepolice.MyfriendMarvinDuranisalso
MexicanAmericanbuthisphenotypecharacterizeshimselfassomethingelsebecauseofhis
hazeleyes,lightskinwithfreckles,andblondehair.Helookedliketheminoritygroupthatmade
uptheareaofSantaMonica.Whenthepolicemanapproachedthedriver'ssideheaskedforhis
licenseandregistration,afterhelookedatitandlookedathimhegavehimawarningtodrive
slowerbecausehewasspeeding.IwasshockedtoseethatbecausewhenIdroveabovethespeed
limitIreceivedaticket.Marvinwentalongandadaptedtothesituationhewasinbecauseifhe
actedanydifferenthemighthavereceivedaticket.Situationslikethisiswheretheauthority
choosesyoutobebasedonyourphysicalappearanceandlabelsyouasaspecificrace.
DistinguishingthetermethnicityandraceisimportantbecauseithelpedmeunderstandwhoI
amandwhatIclaimmyselftobe.
OccasionallywhenspeakingspanishtomyfamilyorcoworkersIconstantlychangemy
languagefromenglishtospanish.Thisisbecausemyspanishisbrokenduetopoorusageof
thelanguagesoIcannotspeakitasfluentlyasIwouldliketo.InordertogetmypointacrossI
replacewordsIdonotknowinspanishwithenglish.Thisisanexampleofcodeswitchingandis
definedintheEncyclopediaofLinguistics,Speakersofmorethanonelanguage(e.g.,

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bilinguals)areknownfortheirabilitytocodeswitchormixtheirlanguagesduring
communication.Thisphenomenonoccurswhenbilingualssubstituteawordorphrasefromone
languagewithaphraseorwordfromanotherlanguage.Somemightarguethatnotknowing
yourlanguagefluentlyisproblematicbutIbelievecodeswitchingbetweenthetwolanguages
andtwoidentitiescanbeusefulinthiscase.Yes,itisabadthingtonotknowyourlanguagewell
butcodeswitchingcanalsohaveitsadvantages.Codeswitchinghelpsmecommunicatewith
otherspanishspeakersandausefulskilltomemorizewordsinthefuturethatIdonotknow.
Situationslikethisisokaytochoosebothidentitiesratherthanone.InthearticleHow
CodeSwitchingExplainsTheWorldGeneDembygivesexamplesonmanywayswecode
switchthroughouttheday.Dembystates,
manyofussubtly,reflexivelychangethewaywe
expressourselvesallthetime.We'rehopscotchingbetweendifferentculturalandlinguistic
spacesanddifferentpartsofourownidentitiessometimeswithinasingleinteraction.
Dembyspointisthatweconstantlychangeouridentitiesbasedonthespaceswearesurrounded
by.
IalsochangethewayIactwhenenteringanewspacesuchaswhenIgotoschoolIbecome
astudent,whenIaminfootballpracticeIbecomeanathlete.ItwouldbeawkwardifIwentto
classwithmyfootballuniformonandgotofootballpracticewithmyschoolclothesandbooks.
Codeswitchingisnecessarytoadapttoadifferentspaceandanecessaryskillforeveryday
situations.
EverydayIconstantlyenterdifferentspacesandculturalspacesasIgotoschooland
enterwork.AtfirstthesechangesweredifficultformetoacclimatetobutthemoreexposureI
gottothesespaces,themoreIbecamebetteradjustedtothem.InthearticleSelfIdentityand
CulturebyRonaldL.JacksonII,CeriseL.Glenn,andKeshaMorantWilliamsexplain

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acculturationandhowitisused.JacksondefinesacculturationasTheprocessoflearningand
adaptingtootherswhoarenotinasharedculturalgroupisreferredtoasacculturation.(126).I
usethismethodinordertofitinandlearnhowthebiggergroupactsandcommunicateswithone
anothersoIcanfitintothatspecificgroup.Iamtakinginanothercultureotherthanmyownto
satisfytheothergroupandIbelievethatisacceptableinthesesituations.AlisaValdes
RodriguezdoesthesamewhensheconfrontswhitesandLatinomen.InthearticleMyHips,
MyCaderasRodriguezhastochangeherappearancefromhervoluptuouscaderastoher
intellectualside.Shehopesthatonedayshecanchoosebothsidesinsteadofoneortheother.
Forexample,SowhenIwanttobelovedformybody,IamLatina.ButmostLatinomenwill
notlovemymindastheydomybody,becauseIamanAmericanizedprofessional.(75).What
RodriguezissayingisthatifshewantstosatisfytheLatinomengroupshewouldratherbeloved
byherbodydotothefearofLatinomennotcaringmuchforthemindbutmoreforthebody.
ShealsostatesthatWhenwanttobelovedformymind,Iflocktoliberalintellectuals,usually
whitesbuttheyareembarrassedbymyhips.(75).WhatRodriguezmeansisthatwhenshe
wantstobelovedforherintelligencesheusesitwithwhitesbecausetheyareembarrassedofher
hips.Shehastolearnwhateachgroupslikeanduseherunderstandingofwhattheyliketo
satisfyandfitinthatgroup.IusethismethodofacculturationalotwhenIenteranew
environmentwithanewgroupbecuaseIwanttobeincludedintheirgroupandinteractwith
them.
IneverrealizedhowconstantlyImakechangesthroughoutmydayandhowIalternate
identitieswhenIamindifferentspaces.ThroughoutthedayIcodeswitch,observe,andtakeina
cultureinordertofitinacertainspace.ThisismywaytoadapttomyenvironmentsandIfindit

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anecessaryskillinordertobetterinteractwithothersandfitin.Idonotthinkitisproblematic
toswitchidentitiesbutmoreofausefulwaytogetby.

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WorkCited
Conzen,KathleenNeils,etal.TheInventionofEthnicityintheUnitedStates
Historyof
Americas.
Ed.Ngai,MaeandJonGjerde.Ohio:CengageLearning,2228.Print.
Demby,Gene."HowCodeSwitchingExplainsTheWorld."NPR.NPR,8Apr.2013.Web.14
Feb.2015.
JacksonII,RonaldL.etal.SelfIdentityandCulture117131.Print
Rodriguez,AlisaValdes.MyHips,MyCaderas7375.Print.
TexasA&MInternationalUniversity.CodeSwitching
TheEncyclopediaofLinguistics.
Texas
A&MInternationalUniversity,n.d.Web.16February,2015.

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