In the article, Cultural Baggage, by Barbara Ehrenreich she highlights her struggles with never knowing much about her cultural background. She states that she always ate ethnic food and was surrounded by a lot of culture but never specifically knew about her ancestors. By being deprived of certain cultural aspects throughout her childhood and life, Barbara is unable to bring cultural relevance to her children. She states how she hoped marrying a man from Europe would strengthen her sense of culture, however it in fact did nothing to brighten her cultural knowledge. However, at the end of the article she seems to be at peace with herself in the sense that once her children were grown, they don't feel like they lack any cultural knowledge or blame their mother for not knowing much about their heritage.
I really enjoyed this article because I felt that it was easy to relate to. It reminded me of a movie I saw a could of years ago, called Roots. It was about a man who was taken from his home in Africa and how he became a victim of slavery. However, he was determined to tell his story for every generation of children that he was alive for. He wanted the all of his descendants to know where they came from, and not allow the white people of that time to erase all of their culture from their brains. Although most of the people were born and raised during slavery time, he was determined not to have his family only identify themselves in that manner. All of this being said I have realized that I myself don't know many things about what one may call "cultural baggage." Although I was born and raised here in the United States, I am fully aware that this is not where my ancestors originated. I am of the African American descent, and know that my family also was a victim of slavery. All of this being said I know nothing of my cultural background in Africa. Another interesting fact that I learned as a child is that most African Americans have some form of white descent in them. The truth is most slave owners raped their women, and some of those women had children. Therefore, a lot of us have some white inside of us. Me personally I was also informed that my great grand grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee native American. However, outside of that information I know nothing else. In the more recent times, African Americans are starting to relate our culture with the actions of most people in the poorer neighborhoods and forgetting the more important things of what are people have done. I hope that one day when I am retired and have time, I would like to trace my ancestors back to our times in Africa.
