Figueroa 1

David Figueroa
Professor McCreary
Race & Ethnicity
10 February 2016
Reflective Self-Assessment
To begin this paper I would like to start by saying that we are all
the same species but we are divided into different races and groups
but we should start looking at the division as another way we are
similar to each other. Everyone is different in there own way and where
they came from is one of the many factors that connect us as a species
and different racial groups. For starters I was born in America which
would make me American, but most importantly because my parents
are both from Peru that would also make me Peruvian. So many would
say I am Latino or Peruvian or White American even though my skin
color says otherwise. I personally identify myself as Peruvian. I rarely
say I am American or Peruvian American or Latino. The reason I
identify myself as Peruvian is because I personally feel more Peruvian
than American. My whole life I grew up with the language, culture, food
and people of Peru. The only language I speak at home is Spanish. My
very first language was Spanish. All I eat at home are Peruvian meals.
My whole lifestyle revolves around the culture and customs of Peru. I
am very proud to be Peruvian because my lifestyle is very happy, joyful
and festive compared to how Americans live their lives. My family is

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very big and very united as one. Whenever we celebrate birthdays or
simply get together on a weekend it is filled with laughter, jokes,
dancing and love. Peruvians are very loving people and I love to
identify myself as one simply because of the great things that Peru
stands for. My heritage completes my identity because without my
heritage I would not be who I am now. I celebrate Perus Independence
Day with way more emotion and love compared to the USs
Independence Day. In Peru there independence day is on July 28th but it
lasts 3 days in Peru filled with different festive events happening every
day.
A big important factor of who I am is due to my family and their
love and lessons that they have showed me. Without my family my
Peruvian heritage and ethnicity would not exist and I would be a
completely different person. My family shows me that we are all from
the same place and we are all here for the same reason of living a
better life. My family that lives here in the US is only 10% of my whole
entire actual family. My grandparents from my fathers side had 12 kids
and my grandparents from my moms side had 4 kids. All of those kids
are my uncles and aunts now and they all have many kids now who are
my cousins. Peru and USA have completely different ideas of what
family is. In the US your family only goes to your first cousins and they
are considered just your cousins. In Peru, family is such an important
thing that my first cousins arent even considered my cousins. They are

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considered my brothers and sister. My relationship with my uncles and
aunts are very close and I consider each and everyone of them as my
parents and I am even closer with my cousins, so close that I call them
my brothers and sisters. In the US I barely here my friends tell me
about times with there families and I always wondered that. I believe
that the ideology of family in Peru is completely different compared to
the ideology of family in the US. In Peru family is a very important
thing and I believe that my familys struggles and accomplishments
and love that they show me have shaped me into the person who I am
today. Now that I have the ability to work and save up my own money I
try to travel to Peru the most often as possible because my real family
and life is over there in Peru. My family has shaped me to be a very
loving, friendly, sharing, giving, thankful and wise person.
But to be completely fair to say that my family is the only thing
that has shaped me as the person who I am today would be a total lie.
My friends that I went to elementary school and high school with are
also a big part of who I am. In school I learned how different I am to
everyone else and also how similar I am to everyone else. I learned
about the different cultures and those American customs rubbed off on
me and also formed a part of who I am today. In Peru its all about unity
and being together with your family but in the US its all about
individualism and being your own person and being different from
everyone else and focusing only on what you want no matter what

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everyone else has to say. That type of mentality has also formed my
identity and has forced me to isolate myself from my family for a bit to
focus on myself and who I am. Everyone is very independent in
America and I have learned through failures and accomplishments that
I too can be independent and live my life how I want to live it. So I
combined both cultures both American and Peruvian to become the
best version of myself who is a family man loving and sharing but also
a strong independent adult who can defend himself and do the right
things when they need to be done to create success in my life.
Now I want to talk about class and I realized that the lower class
and the middle class are actually indeed different lifestyles and create
different people. I first used to live in Union City in the 90s and during
those times that place was very ghetto. I saw images I wish I never
saw and I remember several of terrible events that shaped to be less
greedy and more humble, to be more loving and less hateful. When I
moved to a nice town in Bergen County I saw the major difference in
people and how they live when they are well off. I lived with more
white people and it was definitely a different environment. There was
more freedom but also more disrespect due to the rebellious acts of
young children towards their parents. I witnessed kids speak to their
parents in a tone I never thought was allowed or at least not in my
house. I witnessed a change in my environment and I too fell amongst
the crowd of selfish and rebellious kids that were surrounding me. But

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later on after high school I realized how much I changed and how far I
have truly distanced myself form my roots and my family and my
heritage, and just recently about 1 year and a half ago I have
discovered who I truly am thanks to my family and the country of Peru.
Today I stand and proudly say that I have seen both spectrums of the
world and that my family and friends have molded me into the human
being who I am today. I am David Figueroa. I am Peruvian. I am Latino.
But I am also American. We are all different in our own ways but we are
also similar in our own ways as well.