Growing up African American

I
was born in a small Kentucky town named, Richmond. I had no concept of color
or cultural differences during the first four years of my life. The
one common background of African Americans is our Antebellum Slave heritage.
Antebellum Slavery replaced the culture of African people brought into the
system with a new aberrant slave culture. Remnants of this culture appear to
exist in the modern African American culture due to the continued isolation of
the culture during Jim Crow Segregation. I found these remnants were in me.

I
was subjected to many of the negative images of race during my early life in
Jim Crow Segregation. Initially my scope of our race, self perception, and
self-definition were affected by the molding of Jim Crow Segregation.

My
experience again demonstrated to me that self-determination is the best
possible scenario for success in life. We can prosper by embracing the
positives of the American culture and benefit from the American Dream.

I
survived the violence, social and psychological impacts of Jim Crow
Segregation. I resisted the social and psychological molding of Jim Crow
Segregation therefore; I am not the product of Jim Crow Segregation. I am not
perpetuating the legacy of Antebellum Slavery or Jim Crow Segregation in
everyday life. I am proud of my heritage. Genetically I am African, Welsh
English-Caucasian and Cherokee-Native American. I am an American.