Critical Analysis #2 - Isabelle Wong

 This week we talked about stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, microaggressions, and family racial-ethnic socialization in class. 

I chose to read the article about racial socialization in Asian American families by Jennifer Young at Stanford University. 

1. Some of the messages that parents gave in the study were:

• "We didn't talk about it" 
• "Treat people equally." 
• Some parents warned their children that they would encounter racism
• Stereotypes would persist
• Some parents held views that contradicted their liberal views 

2. My parents didn't really talk about race very often. It was not the subject of "lessons" that I was given. I would tend to agree that my parents have mentioned the first 4 points from above. My parents definitely encouraged me to treat people equally always, regardless of their race, but were also careful in mentioning that some people in our world would always hold prejudice, and not to be too affected by it. Stereotypes were often brought up as a joke, such as knowing math answers quickly or driving jokes, but again, it was not a very serious conversation topic. 

3. The racial-ethnic socialization messages that my parents gave me were honestly not too specific but they were still different. My parents acknowledged that our family was different racially from many of my classmates, but they always encouraged me to not dwell on it too much because there were other things that defined me, such as my personality and the things I cared about. I think it was different because of my family's religious background and my parents are not people who like to bring up "difficult conversations" often, so these sorts of conversations would only be brought up when something had happened or if they felt like they had to talk about something like this.

4. I don't know if there is anything in particular that I would have wished for my parents to have done differently. I think having more conversations about potential prejudice and discrimination could have been helpful, but I haven't lived a life where I feel like I have been the target of racial discrimination either. We probably could have talked more about cultural differences, but that isn't quite the same as racial-ethnic conversations in my opinion. 

5. I think that it is important for parents to engage in racial-ethnic socialization with an open mind and not assume or generalize things for people. Everyone is going to have a different experience, and I feel like a collective race or ethnicity simply has too many differences for us to be able to understand every single belief or experience. I think it is good to talk about family backgrounds and how some families may do things differently than your own family, but I think it is also good to let kids experience things as they grow. I feel like telling them a lot of things could lead them to shape misconceptions or prior conceptions about certain ideas or groups, and that could also end up negative. I think exposing children to different cultures and traveling internationally could also be a really great learning experience.

6. I don't think parents of all racial backgrounds should give the same racial-ethnic socialization messages. I think they could give *similar* conversations or messages to their children, but everyone and every culture is different, so I think it is more important to tailor a conversation to where the need exists or is necessary. In South Africa, white people are the minority, so people in South Africa are going to have a very different conversation than people who live in Indiana, which is majority white. Regardless, I think it is good for parents to emphasize empathy, listening, and learning for their children.