Racial Identity Blog #5

Racial identity is a very important aspect of who you are and how you see yourself. I am very aware of my racial identity and I know who I am and how I compare to others. I always remember knowing my racial identity. However, I remember being in elementary school and taking my first standardized test. Before we began to take the test, we all had to fill in information about ourselves. Among the required information, your race was asked. There was a boy in the room who raised his hand and told the teacher that he did not know what race he was, as his parents had never talked about it with him. I remember being very surprised by that, I simply could not understand how this boy did not know anything about his race. After learning in class about racial identity, I was somewhat relieved to find that most people do know and can relay their racial identity to others. For example, according to Spring, pg. 111, "...more than 90% of  native-born African Americans and whites express a clear racial identity as black or white". This shows how many people are very aware of what their racial identity is. While there are many different races, it is very important for each person to know their racial identity. In order to obtain a great value and importance of your race, you must understand your personal background and become familiar with who you are.