Sense of Self

America is country of diversity and even though we all come from different ethnicities and backgrounds, we have given this country so much, making us just as American as any white person in the US. Yet, when people are asked what they are? Or what they call themselves? They respond with, “I’m Dominican, I’m Chinese, or I’m Jamaican. “ They could’ve been born and raised here in America and never have set foot out of this country and yet many refrain from calling themselves American. In an essay Never African Again, Gerald Early mentions a “balance” between where you came from and what you are now. That balance for me being between my ancestors being Dominican and my being born here, making me American. I think it is right to reconnect with your roots but at the same time this reconnection overshadows our “Americanness. “ The stress on race here in America creates divisions between people; where many confine themselves to their own kind, and thus grow to identify themselves as that group and forget that we are all part of one nation. I call myself Dominican, Latina, or Hispanic when asked. The term American doesn’t come to mind when I think of whom I am. A balance doesn’t exist for me. I feel more Dominican than I do American so therefore I identify myself as such. I take pride in being different. America is so diversified that everyone is struggling to stay connected to their roots and their history so that they can attain a sense of self. This struggle is the reason why I choose to refer to myself as Dominican.