My Family Culture

Since I was born, I have tried to learn much about my family, though I have yet to gather all the information. This is because I have not been able to meet most of my grandparents, and my parents had little time to divulge more information. My grandfather on my mother’s side is called Andrew, while my mother is called Yvette, and my father is called Donald. My grandmother on my mother’s side died before I knew her. On the other hand, I have never met my grandparents on my father’s side; I have never seen them, and my father was not all that close to me.

Nevertheless, I tried to seek information concerning my family from various sources, including my grandfather on my mother’s side. The scant information I have is that all my grandparents and my parents were born in South America, while we currently live in North America. Oftentimes, I had questions in my mind that I needed answered, and I would make inquiries to the closest relatives and neighbors in order to get my questions answered. The distant relationship between my father and I intimidated me to the point where I could not gather the courage to ask him any questions.

My mother, on the other hand, could tell those tales, but due to my determination, I managed to gather the relevant information about my family history and culture. This explained why my parents were not willing to disclose much information about our family history. Culture is influenced by numerous factors: social class, religion, racial and ethnic discrimination, degree of assimilation, and gender politics, none of which can be defined within the boundaries of race and ethnicity. Each factor inevitably influences culture and behaviors. Based on the information I gathered, my mother was born into a devoutly religious family, while my father’s was from the middle class. These two families were close friends, despite my father’s family having a higher social status than my mother’s family; nevertheless, both were very dedicated to religious beliefs and the importance of education.

In society, my grandfather, on my father’s side, was one of the most trusted individuals because he gave credit to people within their residential area with no stipulated repayment period. My grandmother, on my father’s side, also commanded reverence thanks to her composure. They both made a significant contribution to the community. The relationship between my grandparents was facilitated by an association formed by both of my grandfathers in their business dealings. My grandfather from my father’s side owned a hotel, while my grandfather from my mother’s side supplied cereals to the hotels and his potential customers. My mother and father were schoolmates and would visit each other for discussions, exchanging books, and tackling assignments given over the weekend. According to Americans, there are cultural beliefs that act as constructs influencing families. These constructs are based on family, religion, and spiritual beliefs. These targeted the four cultural groups in the United States of America: African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians, establishing the similarities and differences that exist between them. Most of the differences in these cultural groups involve the definition of the term ‘family’ and who the members of that family are. According to the European-American perception, the term family refers to the traditional nuclear unit, while for African Americans, family refers to a wider net consisting of a broad network of kin and community. Asians consider family as a chain of individuals born following a certain ancestral origin since the beginning of creation. These differences determined how individuals were treated in the region – from hospital treatment, to value placed on opinions, to who could act as a family spokesperson, to who was selected as a representative in matters pertaining to member treatment. African Americans and Asian Americans often included even the extended family.

Cultural beliefs at that time determined the services an individual could receive in society. In South America, many believe that Native Americans, specifically those of mixed race, are the source of all crimes in the region – including Italian Americans and Asian Americans. As my father’s ancestors were from Asia, they were often victimized in the event of any crime committed in the region. One day, an attack was made on a senior government official in the region. Due to the prevailing beliefs, many Asian Americans and Italian Americans were killed, including my paternal grandparents. My father and his sister were left in despair, relying solely on help from those closest to them – my maternal grandparents. My maternal grandparents decided to migrate from the region to find a safer place for their family, as well as for my father and his sister.

The strong friendship built by my grandparents from both sides, combined with the strong beliefs of my maternal grandparents, led them to seek a better place, away from the malicious behavior of some Americans who were intent on victimizing Asian Americans and Italian Americans. The death of my father’s parents deeply affected him, reducing his self-esteem and confidence greatly. Despite this incident, both he and his sister continued schooling. My father put more effort into his studies, despite a lack of confidence about his future prospects. My mother, on the other hand, remained optimistic. During their schooling, each harbored hidden dreams of a brighter future: my father aimed to become a top government official to end racism within society and promote equal treatment of all communities, regardless of their origin. My mother wanted to reduce the disparity between social classes since she was deeply affected by the way people were being treated by their teachers in school. Both of them managed to join public universities, and that is when they opened their hearts to each other. Their spiritual beliefs helped them deal with the adversity of the institution, gain enough experience to control pain and suffering, gather emotional support, and provide comfort to each other. As devout believers, my parents relied on the church’s guidance to refine their behavior and make decisions. Family practices depend mostly on attention given by parents to cultural differences.

The interaction of my parents with different cultural groups in higher learning institutions has influenced our family behavior compared to the practices I witness from other families. Some families randomly assign family responsibilities or emphasize collective responsibility, while others focus on individual accountability. From my mother, I learned that when they were young, they were assigned family responsibilities collectively. However, I’ve never seen her assign responsibilities in this manner. I was curious and decided to ask why this practice is not currently observed.

According to her, these changes resulted from the western system of education. In the past, teachers did not favor giving assignments to individual students, feeling it was tiresome and cumbersome. Instead, they preferred assigning work to a group of students. They later realized that this practice fostered laziness because some students did not participate in discussions or complete their assignments, relying instead on a few individuals. Consequently, they altered their assignment methodology, giving tasks to individual students. The same paradigm shift applied to family responsibilities.

Education has greatly impacted our family history. When my parents were young, their mothers did not handle any responsibilities; only their fathers provided for their needs, including clothes, food, and school fees. Their mothers took charge of meal preparation. Now, due to the education system encouraging gender equality, both my parents share responsibilities to ensure my well-being.

In conclusion, our family’s way of life has drastically changed from how our parents lived. These changes have been influenced by factors like education, the need for gender balance, and political issues such as racial discrimination. This implies that family history will continue evolving, leading to different historical events. The journey of understanding my family history has not only revealed the resilience and adaptability of my ancestors but also provided me with a deeper appreciation for the cultural and historical currents that continue to shape our lives. As I continue to uncover more layers of my family’s past, I remain committed to preserving and honoring their legacy, while also embracing the changes that future generations will inevitably bring.

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