Introduction to Sociology Race in Everyday Life Race expresses itself in many wa

Question

Introduction to Sociology
Race in Everyday Life
Race expresses itself in many ways in US Society; from names, clothing and advertising, to language, symbols
and norms.
Race is an important part of society that helps us manage our relationships and behaviors. It is important,
however, to recognize the things that we’ve been raised to do as a result of your race. There are many racial
stereotypes present in US Society that have been so internalized that we no longer recognize them.
For one full day, keep a list of the actions and behaviors you do that are a result of your race. Aspects of daily
life that you should pay attention to are:
• Getting ready
• Clothing
• Eating
• How you speak
• How others speak to you
• Primary group interactions
• Secondary group interactions
• Interactions with strangers
• Shopping
• Household tasks
• Roles
• Norms
• Values
• Media
• Advertising
At the end of the day, take a look at your list and then answer the following questions.
1. How many items are on your list? Do you think you were able to write down every race action?
2. Were there any types of behaviors that were easy to recognize as race based?
3. Which areas of your life do you feel are the most impacted by your race?
4. Which areas of your life to you feel are the least impacted by your race?
5. Once you started watching for race actions, what did you notice about your behavior?
6. In general, how much of an impact do you think your race has on your everyday life?
Your submission should meet the following criteria:
1 – 2 pages long
APA format with works cited page
At least one reference to the textbook
Submitted on D2L before the deadline: ____________________________________________

Explanation / Answer

I am an Asian American living in California. I trace my roots to India.

1. The items on my list are - eating, how you speak, primary and secondary group ineractions, roles and norms.

Eating - My eating habit is hugely influenced by may race. Me and other members of my household eat a meal which is dominated by healthy food items. Rice is our staple food item.

How you speak - we tend to avoid speaking very fast, and speak slowly and in clear and audible voice. This is another trait typical of Asian Americans.

Primary and secondary group interactions - We share a very strong bond with our primary group. The primary group includes are families, friends, and social groups. Great importance is placed on primary groups as they define our identity and this is reflected in our primary group interactions.

We, as a race, place great importance on maintaining a personal relationship, even in our secondary group. We treat every individual with respect, even if they are in the secondary group.

Roles, as an aspect, is very strongly influenced by our race. The male members in a family are supposed to be earning members of the family and females are nurturers, and are expected to look after the family.

Norms are very strongly followed in this race. We take our religion seriously and always respect our elders.

2. Our eating habits are easily recognized as race based. Asian Americans from Japan eat lots of rice, noodles and fish. Asian Americans from China eat lots of rice and noodles. Asian Americans from India eat lots of rice and curry.

3. The areas of my life most impacted by my race are roles, norms and values. I am the working member in my family and my wife is a homemaker looking after the kids and my aging parents. My parents live with us in the same house. We are very religious and pious people.

4. The areas and aspects of my life least impacted by my race are:

clothing - we have embraced the american style of clothing i.e. comfortable, stylish and contemporary. We wear formal attire to office and easy and relax wear during weekends.

household tasks - In India household tasks is performed manually by domestic helps. The domestic helps washes the dishes, cleans the house, washes the clothes manually.

In America, the household tasks are done the American way and are not impacted by the race. All household tasks are done without domestic help and using equipments like dishwasher, washing machines etc.

5. Once i started watching for race actions, i realized that my behavior is very strongly influenced by my background and my race. I never realized this earlier, as i did all the activities as a part of my life in a general way. But when i started pondering on it after considering the racial influence, i became aware that there were several things that i did in a particular way because of my racial impact, without even realizing it.

6. In general, race has a substantial impact on my life. My background gave me the value of working hard in life. I was always very serious about my academics due to norms in my race. People were supposed to work hard in school and college and then later in their professional life. My race has taught me to be compassionate and treat everyone with respect.

So i can say that my racial influence has been very strong and has played a key role in shaping my personality and thought process.

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