Running Head: Part B

Individual Cultural Competency Project: Part B Jessica Klinger Georgia State niversity

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!$stract In t%is paper I descri$e my o&n cultural $iograp%y' I start out $y loo(ing at my Positionality' )e*t I discuss t%e &ay !mericani+ation %as a,,ected me' -amily culture is t%e ne*t topic I loo( at' "%e ,inal topic I tac(le are t%e cultural a&areness inventory and my intersectionality'

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Cultural Biograp%y In !merica &e s%a(e %ands $ut in ot%er places t%at could $e vie&ed as an insult' Personal Cultural !&areness is t%e ,irst step to understanding ot%ers' I, I do not understand mysel, t%en %o& can I e*pect to understand you/ "%e ,ollo&ing is my o&n Cultural Biograp%y Positionality01ultiple Identities !s stated $y 2oman 3um in Culturally Competent Practice4 5Positionality is a sel, re,lection on &%o you are4 &%ere you %ave come ,rom4 and &%ere you are %eading as a diverse person6' It is important ,or me to (no& mysel, in order to %ave more cultural a&areness in order to $e a,,ective &it% clients' I am a 7%ite ,emale4 &%ic% s%o&s %o& people can $e part o, a dominant group and su$ordinate group at t%e same time' 7%ite people are t%e dominant group in t%e nited States' 7omen are still oppressed $y men t%roug% jo$s ,or e*ample' I cannot get t%e same pay as a man simply $ecause I am a &oman' I consider my et%nicity Je&is% 8uropean !merican' !lt%oug% religiously I am not Je&is%4 I am culturally Je&is%' Je&is% ,ood4 %istory4 language4 and customs %ave %eavily in,luenced &%o I am' 1y 8uropean culture is not as strong $ut still present' 1y maternal grandmot%er used to read me Scottis% $edtime stories and coo( me Iris%4 7els%4 Scottis%4 and 8nglis% ,ood' 1y religion is spiritual' I attend meditation classes at S%am$%ala 1editation Center o, !tlanta and sometimes go to t%e Spiritual 3iving Center o, !tlanta' 1y se*ual orientation is 3es$ian' 7or(ing Poor &as &%ere my ,amily started out $ut today &e are apart o, t%e pper 1iddle Class' 2ilemmas o, !mericani+ation 1y e*perience &it% !mericani+ation can $est $e summari+ed $y Ronald H' Bayor4 5&%ite racial identity %as $een overstated $ut does e*ist4 and et%nicity in t%e ,orm o, cultural patterns4 values4 and $e%aviors can still $e relevant over generations6' !lt%oug% I %old some o, my Je&is% cultural identity4 !mericani+ation %as de,initely caused me to %ave a lac( o, understanding a$out my 8uropean cultural %eritage' Ho&ever4 my maternal grandparents did pass do&n some 8uropean $edtime stories4 recipes and music' 1y mot%er9s side o, t%e ,amily identi,ies strongly &it% t%eir Sout%ern Heritage' "%ey migrated to t%e nited States during t%e 1:;;s and &ere part o, t%e ,irst people to settle Georgia' 1any o, my ,amily mem$ers are apart o, t%e Colonial 2ames o, 8ngland4 &%ic% is a society ,or &omen &%o can trace t%eir %eritage $ac( to t%e ,ounding ,amilies o, !merica' "%ey also participate in events suc% as de$utante $alls also (no&n as <coming out9 parties4 daug%ters o, t%e Con,ederacy4 ,amily reunions at t%e ,is% camps4 revivals4 and many ot%er traditional Sout%ern activities' I c%oose not to identi,y &it% t%e Sout%ern aspect o, my %eritage $ecause muc% o, it can $e racist' !lso I %ad a di,,erent (ind o, <coming out9 process' 1uc% o, e*tended ,amily do not accept t%e ,act t%at my ,at%er is Je&is% and t%at I am a 3es$ian' "%e lac( o, acceptance ,rom t%e Sout%ern C%ristian part o, my ,amily compared to t%e radical acceptance ,rom t%e Je&is% side %as de,initely s%aped t%e &ay I identi,y mysel,'

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-amily Culture 1y et%nic ,amily $ac(ground is 8nglis%4 Iris% 7els%4 Scottis%4 Russian Je&4 and Polis% Je&' 1y level o, acculturation is very !mericani+ed in some aspects $ut not in ot%ers' Regionally I identi,y &it% Sout%ern culture and some in,luence o, )ort%ern culture' !ll o, t%e &omen in my ,amily due t%eir part to (eep t%ese previously stated cultures alive' "%e et%nic practices my ,amily o$serves are %olidays4 religious &ors%ip4 ,uneral traditions4 ,ood4 language4 and marriage traditions' Cultural >t%er !&areness Inventory I &as $orn January 1?4 1@@# in Raleig%4 )ort% Carolina to my parents Steve and Kim' 1y ,at%er9s et%nic ,amily $ac(ground is Russian Je&is% ,rom %is ,at%er9s side and Polis% Je&is% ,rom %is mot%er9s' Kim4 my mot%er4 %as an et%nic %eritage ,rom $ot% %er parents o, 7els%4 8nglis%4 Scottis%4 and Iris%' 1y ,at%er at t%e time &as &or(ing in a Pulp and Paper -actory and &e lived in a oneA$edroom apartment' !t t%at time &e &ere part o, t%e &or(ing poor' 7%en I &as si* mont%s old &e moved $ac( to !tlanta &%ere $ot% o, my parents &ere $orn and raised' !ll o, my aunts4 cousins4 grandparents4 and uncle lived in !tlanta at t%at time and still do' 7e constantly moved around !tlanta $ut I spent most o, my time around $lac( and &%ite people' Bot% sets o, my grandparents &ere %eavily in,luential on me' 1y Je&is% grandparents taug%t me a$out t%e tora% and Je&is% culture &%ile my Sout%ern Baptist grandparents taug%t me a$out t%e $i$le and t%e importance o, Sout%ern Heritage' 7%en my ,at%er got a promotion &e moved up to 1assac%usetts &%ere &e resided in a predominately Portuguese neig%$or%ood and lived in a t&oAstory %ouse' 1y sister &as $orn s%ortly $e,ore my si*t% $irt%day &%ile &e lived up nort%' !,ter a $rie, stint o, living in )e& Bor( &e moved $ac( do&n to !tlanta' !lt%oug% &e moved into a predominately &%ite neig%$or%ood I interacted &it% c%ildren o, many di,,erent races and et%nic $ac(grounds until I entered ,ort% grade' I &as diagnosed &it% !2H24 dysle*ia4 and a languageAprocessing pro$lem &%en I &as in ,irst grade' 7%en my parents reali+ed t%at I &as not receiving enoug% attention and %elp in sc%ool t%ey trans,erred me to a small private sc%ool ,or c%ildren &it% dysle*ia' 8ntering private sc%ool &as a culture s%oc( ,or me $ecause almost all o, t&enty c%ildren in my grade &ere &%ite e*cept ,or t&o Hispanic girls' !t t%is sc%ool I did not ma(e any ,riends and caused a prejudice &it%in me to ,orm o, groups consisting o, mostly &%ite people' I attended anot%er small private middle sc%ool t%at &as also predominately &%ite $ut %ad more diversity t%an my previous sc%ool' "%roug%out t%is time my ,at%er %ad $een clim$ing t%e corporate ladder and moved us t%e summer $e,ore my ,res%man year o, college to an a,,luent almost all &%ite part o, !tlanta' Hig% sc%ool &as a period o, gro&t% ,or me' I attended predominately &%ite private cat%olic sc%ool' "%is sc%ool also %ad a large Hispanic and $lac( population' I played on t%e soccer team and &as on student council' 1y ,riends &ere &%ite4 $lac(4 Hispanic and a couple o, !sians' 2uring my junior year my parents got a separation'

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!,ter my parents got $ac( toget%er and I graduated %ig% sc%ool4 I &ent o,, to sc%ool in !la$ama at !u$urn niversity' "%at college &as predominantly &%ite &%ic% &as re,lected in t%e lac( o, diversity o, my ,riends' I got involved in t%e Baptist Campus 1inistries and %ad a great ,irst semester t%ere academically' n,ortunately !u$urn niversity is located in a small to&n and did not suit my desire ,or diversity and city li,e' I moved $ac( to !tlanta and started volunteering &%ic% turned into an interns%ip at a local recovery residence' In Spring #;1# I started college at Georgia State and %ave $een at sc%ool %ere since' 1ost o, my ,riends currently are 7%ite $ut I also %ave ,riends &%o are Blac(4 Hispanic4 !sian4 and 1iddle 8astern' Intersectionality Intersections &ere de,ined $y 1i(e C' Parent et al' as4 5a common t%read4 t%e recognition o, multiple interloc(ing identities t%at are de,ined in terms o, relative sociocultural po&er and privilege and s%ape people9s individual and collective identities6' ! list o, e*ternal intersections as de,ined $y 2oman 3um in Culturally Competent Practice are: age4 et%nicity4 language4 gender4 social class4 si+e4 and personal appearance' Currently I am a young adult at t%e age o, #1' 8t%nically I am Je&is% 8uropean !merican' I spea( 8nglis% ,luently4 my He$re& is alrig%t4 and I can understand Bidis%' Gender roles are very evident in society today $ut I do not al&ays con,orm to t%em' 1y social class is 7ealt%y4 &%ic% a,,ords me certain privileges' I am a taller &oman standing at ,ive ,eet eig%t and a %al, inc%es' 1y personal appearance is very inA style and I try to $e ,riendly to all people' Se*ual >rientation4 Culture4 and -ait% are t%e internal intersections t%at a,,ect me t%e most' I am a les$ian $ut most people cannot tell $ecause I do not ,it t%e stereotypical <$utc%9 mold' I %ave %eld onto my Je&is% and 8uropean culture as discussed in t%e previous sections' 1y ,ait% is spiritual and $rings me a lot o, com,ort' Conclusion I, I &as only allo&ed to use one &ord to descri$e mysel, I could not do it' "%ere is so muc% t%at goes into ma(ing up one person' 3oo(ing at t%e past4 present and ,uture is a good &ay to $egin t%is daunting tas('

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Re,erences B!B>R4 R' H' D#;;@E' !not%er 3oo( at F7%itenessF: "%e Persistence o, 8t%nicity in !merican 3i,e' Journal Of American Ethnic History4 29D1E4 1.A.;' Parent4 1'4 2eBlaere4 C'4 G 1oradi4 B' D#;1.E' !pproac%es to Researc% on Intersectionality: Perspectives on Gender4 3GB"4 and Racial08t%nic Identities' Sex Roles4 68D1101#E4 :.@A:=C' doi:1;'1;;?0s111@@A;1.A;#H.A#