HOW IMPORTENT IS ETHNIC IDENTITIY?

[ponyboy]

HOW IMPORTENT IS ETHNIC HERITAGE TO OUR SENSE OF PERSONAL IDENTITY?

AREN'T WE ALL SEPARATE INDIVIDUALS FIRST-WHICH OUR OWN COMPLICATED HISTORIES- AND MEMBER OF GROUPS SECOND? AND IF WE BELONG TO MORE THAN ONE ETHNIC GROUP -IF OUR IDENTITIES ARE "MIXED"IS IT NECESSARY TO CHOOSE ONE AS MORE AUTHENTICS THAN THE OTHER?

THINK ABOUT BOY AND GUYS.........

[Hibo]

I think it is important in some aspects & not so important in other aspects of life, cuz god made ethnicity for a reason & that is for us to know our relatives, ancesters, & easily find people we can identify with, but at the sametime we should not use ethnicity agains someone for being deffrnt than us.

 

I hope that helps, peace.

[Baydan]

Important enough..in the sense that 'society

shapes the person' I certainly hold that statement to be truthfull.

 

[Hibo]

 

I think it's an important contribution to my personal identity. Thats all I gotta say at the moment.

 

Salaam

[ponyboy]

i dont wanna marry any other races and my kids be discriminated by otheres and being called "confused"

 

[Hibo]

Pony: I am mixed with allqabiils in somalia ..so I could careless for one particular....plus...i think we should know how we originated coz, to understand our present we should know our past...However, i won't marry someone who is not somali...coz there is no way I can connect with them...too many cultural clashes for my tiny winy brain to tolerate!

 

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Each one of us is a masterpiece in progress

[Hibo]

If any1 else is from the UK I'm sure u've all filled in forms which ask u to state ur ethnical background. Which to me really aint a big deal as I'm a Black African/Somali, 1 thing I cant stand however is when the choices are as such;

 

(How would u describe ur ethnic origin?)

 

Asian or Asian British-Bangladeshi

Asian or Asian British-Indian

Asian or Asian British-Pakistani

Asian or Asian British-Any other background

 

Black or Black British-African

Black or Black British-Caribbean

Black or Black British-Any other background

 

Mixed-White and Asian

Mixed-White abd Black African

Mixed-White and Black Caribbean

Mixes-Any other Mixed Background

 

White-British

White-Irish

White-Any other White Background

 

Any Other

Not Known/Not Provided

 

Now sum1 please tell me whats wrong with dat?

I mean sum1 please tell me I aint de only person to notice, dat sumthin is wrong and extremely biased about a question like dis!

 

I mean come'on how would a Black person who happens to have an Irish passport (nationality) describe themselves? I mean I know ethnicity and nationality is completely different or is supposed to be, but how come u can state whether ur Irish, Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi? Those a nationalities right? Opposite to dat u've got African, which is a continent, now dat can be quite right can it?

 

I might have these questions because I've only been in de UK for 4yrs and wasn't used to fill in forms which asked u about ur ethnicity at all only nationality, perhaps there's a reason behind dis, which I'm unaware of, so if there's any1 out there with a little more knowledge on dis subject PLEASE tell me why!

 

Regards ExDane

[Hibo]

ExDane: Hoooolllllyyyyy!!!! they make u do that in UK. Bisinka iyo yaasinka..

 

It gets on my nerves when you're applying for jobs or filling out applications that these questions are asked. It's like they are already classifying you. What if you're quarter this,and quarter that? what category would you fit it?

 

To answer the poster's q: Knowing what race I belong to helps. Its like you're born into a family!!! But that factor doesn't shape entirely of who I am.

 

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"The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Almighty can stand up to anything."

[WaryaaNo.1]

As far as what your background is, surly you will always be of what ever your father was. Everyone should know their background. A good example of not knowing your background is the African-Americans. Most of them don’t know their background and have nothing to be proud of. When they think of their ancestors they think of only slaves. They don’t know who they are from, they don’t know were they are going. An example of a people that know their background are the Israelites, they were also slaves once, but they also know of great people to be proud off in their background like Ibraham. There is no respect in being born without a history. Even in the Quran in 68:13. Knowing your lineage is a very important thing.

 

 

 

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-WaryaaNo.1

[Hibo]

Waryaa, African Americans know their background. They know their history, the injustice that was done to them. SO are you telling me that its unfortunate that they don't know what their 50th grandfather is? Pls! I don't think that in Islam you're not suppose to be proud of anything(including culture) except for being a muslim!!!! Culture is there so we can get to know each other, and not be proud.