{"id":36348,"date":"2024-03-05T11:30:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T19:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36348"},"modified":"2024-03-05T06:47:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T14:47:08","slug":"beyond-labels-redefining-identity-in-a-multicultural-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/beyond-labels-redefining-identity-in-a-multicultural-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Labels: Redefining Identity in a Multicultural World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mixed<\/a>

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\u201cWer bin ich? Der oder jener? Bin ich denn heute dieser und morgen ein andrer?<\/strong>\u201d[1]<\/a> \u2014\u2014Dietrich Bonhoeffer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who am I? This one or that one? Am I then this one today and tomorrow another?<\/em><\/p>\n

The Identity Trap by Yashca Mounk covers six concepts: identity politics, group identity vs. individual identity, social fragmentation, intersectionality, tyrannies of identity, and political consequences. Though all are important, I will focus on the damaging effects of labels from the lens of a multiracial Asian female living in the United States.<\/p>\n

No doubt, identities matter to people. The reason why is that having an identity gives people an understanding of how they fit in the world.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

In my case, my parents met during the Korean War when my father was assigned, by the State Department, to manage and run an agricultural attach\u00e9 in Seoul, Korea. It was the mid-1950s and interracial marriages were not only frowned upon but were illegal in the US.[3]<\/a> Although not illegal in Korea, they crossed a line of a long history of patriarchy and racial homogeneity.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

IDENTITY POLITICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once they had children, there was another issue to consider. Although views toward mixed-race people are changing in Korea, most are still viewed in derogatory terms or as I have heard, like trash<\/em>. Even more positive tones categorize us as not Korean, White, Latin, or Black enough, which is what I was reminded of when reading Mounk\u2019s statement,<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the fact that each person exists at the intersection of different identities came to imply that outsiders could, even if they carefully listened to their stories, never truly come to understand, say, a homosexual Latino or a Black woman.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When my father retired, our family moved to the United States. I was 14 years old. Up to that point, I attended American International schools where I was just another kid in a sea of other kids from different cultures, colors, and faiths.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

GROUP IDENTITY vs. INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY AND SOCIAL FRAGMENTATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

On my first day of school, I walked into a sea of white faces and was immediately \u201cothered\u201d through conversations, exclusion tactics, and other microaggressions. Suddenly, racism<\/em> became a new and prominent word in my vocabulary. \u201cMarkers of identity like race have often cleaved the world into in-group and out-group.\u201d[7]<\/a> Along with isolation came confusion, and depression.<\/p>\n

My solution: I began writing short stories and poetry. Soon, I became the President of the Quill & Scroll Society, always hoping to find a place where I would fit. I dreamed of becoming a journalist, but when I entered college, I remembered thinking I would not make money, so I chose Marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we make decisions, we often think of the goals we want to achieve and work backward to identify the means of achieving them.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My goal was to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, especially since my father had pulled me aside and said, \u201cYou have two strikes against you. You\u2019re female and a minority. You will need to work twice as hard.\u201d[9]<\/a> He was unknowingly describing white supremacy and was setting me up to become a victim of that system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prevalent coping mechanism for immigrants is their determined attitude: I have to work harder to bring myself and my family to the level that this society lives in because I have no other choice.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

TYRANNIES OF IDENTITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the years, my lens became more and more narrow as more people would stop me to ask where are you from? No, really \u2026 where are you from?<\/em> as if my answer of I\u2019m American was<\/em> not enough. The fact is, I don\u2019t identify with a geographical location because I grew up as a Third Culture Kid and my sense of belonging in the US tends to be very controlled and monitored.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur longing for community and purpose is so powerful that it can drive us into joining established groups, systems of belief, or even employments and relationships that, to our diminished or divided self, give the impression of belonging to something greater. But these places often have their own motives and hidden contracts. They grant us conditional membership, requiring us to cut parts of ourselves off in order to fit in.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

INTERSECTIONALITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Intersectionality has played many roles in my life: cultural, racial, gender, marital status, career, and passions.<\/p>\n