Conforming = Safety?
Being a color other than white in America has always been an issue, ever since the colonizers came to "The New Land" and took the livelihood away from the Natives who were already there. The mindset of America has always subconsciously been "if you're not white, you're not right". For many years people have conformed in order to stay safe and in the white mans good graces but not everyone felt that way, one of those people/ activists would be W.E.B DuBois which talks about the ideal of doing "Noblesse Oblige". The idea that W.E.B DuBois expresses is the act of conformity within your own restrictions, being "socially acceptable" while still maintaining your dignity and self respect.
Identifying with this subject is easy for me because I am a Latina and having the Mexican culture implanted on you and being an American is difficult to juggle because you are under the microscope with both sides. In order to fit in with both cultures with out being criticized you have to be more American than an American and more Mexican than a Mexican. In the United States people of color have always been seen as the inferior races, we're seen as criminals and lazy free loaders. In America you have to learn how to moderate your inner pride, as mad as the white man may get you, you have to remember to have humility and learn when to oblige. We as a minority are stuck with many stereotypes and stigmas, sometimes it's good to do "Noblesse Oblige" and maintain your humility in order to not enforce the stereotypes that have been imposed upon us.
Although some may argue that not fighting back is a sign of weakness or lack of your cultural pride, in this world you have to learn to bite your tongue on occasions where it's absolutely necessary in order to survive. Having humility and coming down from your high horse shouldn't be looked at as a sign of vulnerability but instead looked at as respectable because you decided to be "the bigger man" and admit your wrongs, or conformed in order to stay out of trouble. Some may argue that in order to make a change you can to speak hard words no matter the occasion but in order to become successful you have to have the slightest bit of humility in you.
Going back to the point I made about juggling both cultures and the stereotypes that are imposed upon minorities, I feel that we have the most humility because throughout history they were the ones who got the worst end of the bargain and in order to survive they had to conform in some way. Now a days it's hard with everything going on around us to bite our tongue and not fight back but in order to not be pin pointed with just our stereotypes we have to conform in some way or "play nice". We don't have to bow down to the white man but everything has its moderation and balance.
Identifying with this subject is easy for me because I am a Latina and having the Mexican culture implanted on you and being an American is difficult to juggle because you are under the microscope with both sides. In order to fit in with both cultures with out being criticized you have to be more American than an American and more Mexican than a Mexican. In the United States people of color have always been seen as the inferior races, we're seen as criminals and lazy free loaders. In America you have to learn how to moderate your inner pride, as mad as the white man may get you, you have to remember to have humility and learn when to oblige. We as a minority are stuck with many stereotypes and stigmas, sometimes it's good to do "Noblesse Oblige" and maintain your humility in order to not enforce the stereotypes that have been imposed upon us.
Although some may argue that not fighting back is a sign of weakness or lack of your cultural pride, in this world you have to learn to bite your tongue on occasions where it's absolutely necessary in order to survive. Having humility and coming down from your high horse shouldn't be looked at as a sign of vulnerability but instead looked at as respectable because you decided to be "the bigger man" and admit your wrongs, or conformed in order to stay out of trouble. Some may argue that in order to make a change you can to speak hard words no matter the occasion but in order to become successful you have to have the slightest bit of humility in you.
Going back to the point I made about juggling both cultures and the stereotypes that are imposed upon minorities, I feel that we have the most humility because throughout history they were the ones who got the worst end of the bargain and in order to survive they had to conform in some way. Now a days it's hard with everything going on around us to bite our tongue and not fight back but in order to not be pin pointed with just our stereotypes we have to conform in some way or "play nice". We don't have to bow down to the white man but everything has its moderation and balance.
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