Cultural Prescription (Repost)

Open Eyes and Open Ears

Hi, my name is Jessica Davis. I’m 21, I’m African American and I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. When some people meet me or talk to me, they have a hard time believing all of those statements. Most people say I don’t look my age; the average age I get is 17 or 18. Since sixth grade, I’ve been called a ‘white girl’ because of the way I talk, the music that I listen to, and the way I carry myself. I never took that affront seriously, because I’ve always had strong sense of who I am.

I believe I have a very open-minded type of cultural prescription. I site this to two things: my mom allowing me to engage in different things from a young age and in 5^th grade I left a predominately African American school life to a mixed, but mostly white, school. Changing environments like that at a young age could have been culture shock to some kids but overall it was a positive experience for me. My 5^th grade teacher placed me with “the smart girls” in the class, one was White, one was Vietnamese, and the other one was Indian. This was definitely different from my old school life, but I gained a best friend, Thuy (Vietnamese), and a good friend in Shweta (Indian), both of them have taught me a lot about their cultures.

Unfortunately, I had to change schools in the 6^th grade and it was very negative for me. Being a nerd and being shy, I was always picked on, but that year I was surprised at the level it was taken. The school I attended was racially divided and I didn’t fit in with just one race so I became an outcast. Also, it didn’t help that all my teachers doted on how studious I was. The last thing that really surprised me was that I was being out casted by my African American peers. They often pointed out my lack of knowledge on the latest rap music and the fashions they were into. I didn’t fully understand why they called me “white girl” and why they picked on me. Subsequently, I changed schools for 7^th and 8^th grade; I was with my old friends and my 5^{th grade} friends. I would like to say that people have stopped judging me or putting me into a box based on one aspect of my being, but that’s not true. Overall, I am thankful that I experienced some of the things that I did. From this, I know how it feels to be looked at as an outsider, but I have also gained the ability to look at and experience other cultures with open eyes and open ears.