Identity Spotlight

Identity Spotlight is a new weekly feature that will be posted every Thursday on Racial Profiling Weekly. 

One's cultural identity is becoming harder and harder to define for everyone inside – and even outside – of America these days: acculturation, assimilation, marginalization, cultural identity crisis are all words that could describe many situations that we can observe in this country regarding cultural identity. 

Each week, we will ask someone to tell us about their cultural identity. African-American, Asian-American, Latino-American... After all, couldn't we simply call ourselves American? Is it important to keep parts of our original culture as well as being an integrant part of our new one? 

These are all questions that we will ask our fellow Americans to see how one's definition and importance of their own cultural identity can differ from others'. 

Feel free to share your thoughts on cultural identity in the comment box below.

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SPOTLIGHT ON...

Nahal Hosseini, 20 Y.O.

CSUSB Student

Q. What is your cultural identity?

A. The first thing I would probably answer to someone asking me “where I’m from” would be that I am Iranian. However, I am also American, since my family moved to America when I was still a child.

Q. Would you say that you are equally Iranian and American?

A. I consider myself both, but wouldn’t know whether I am more American or more Iranian. I speak English like any other American (I have the Southern accent because I lived in Kentucky most of my life), I celebrate the typical American holidays, I listen to pop, R&B, rap and country music, but I also speak Farsi and have Iranian family traditions that I would never want to get rid of and that I will probably pass along to my children.

Q. The term biculturalism means being able to cope comfortably in both home and new culture. Do you consider yourself bicultural?

A. Yes. I think that I have managed to integrate well in the American culture – which I didn’t mind at all because I love this culture – while keeping some of my original Iranian cultural values and traditions.

Q. Did you ever experience a cultural identity crisis?

A. I don’t think I did. It came naturally to me, but I know it can be really hard for many immigrants to identify themselves to a new culture in addition to their original one(s) and cope with the differences. I think I chose the best of both cultures to make my own, which made it very easy.

Q. What is your point of view on labeling Americans regarding their culture? Do you think we should all be Americans or should we keep using the words Latino, African-American, and so on?

A. I think that one of the greatest things about being American is the fact that we can be so much more! Americans all have different cultural backgrounds and this is what makes our country beautiful. As far as I’m concerned, the labels never bother me when they are used in the correct way, not in a negative or discriminating manner. Americans should be proud of all the cultures they identify themselves with, and this is how I feel: I am proud of who I am.