Who Am I?
Ethics/125 Cultural Diversity
February 20, 2014
Tanesha Callahan Who Am I?
Introduction
This PowerPoint presentation explains discrimination in the United States from the past and the present. It will be exciting to discover that race mattered then and it matters today. The slides will delve into the following issues:
Race Does Matter
Identification
Ancestry
Unequal Treatment
Segregated Schools
Enduring Discrimination
Civil Rights Movement
I am sharing my journey from the 1960s to the present. Therefore most of what is written is in my own words

Slide number three; Race Does Matter. Summary
We see people around us—some of whom may look quite different from us. Do these differences matter? The simple answer is no, but because so many people have for so long acted as if difference in physical characteristics as well as geographic origin and shared culture do matter, Race has many meanings for many people. Often these meanings are inaccurate and based on theories discarded by scientists’ generations ago. Race is a socially constructed concept (Young, 2003). I am a multiracial (Diversity: Growing mixed-race population seeks recognition and a more inclusive way to define ourselves.) January 14, 1996 |Jane Gross | Times Urban Affairs Writer elderly female. I do identify with African-American because that is politically correct these days. I have been identified by others as Indian (Native American), colored, Black, and African-American, Hispanic and Creole.

Slide number four; Identification: During the time when we were considered colored I knew nothing else therefore it was not a problem. However as a young teenager living in the Southern United States during the early 60s things began to change. At that time I became aware of the derogatory name-calling that White people used to identify Black people. Such as men were called boys, Black girls were called gal, and other names that I will not repeat. Unfair treatment was given to sharecroppers by the land owners.
Riddle, W. (1995). The origins of black sharecropping. Mississippi Quarterly, 49(1), 53.

Slide number five: Ancestry.
My paternal grandmother was a product of her slave mother and Dutch slave owner. My maternal grandmother was Native American and African. My paternal grandfather was Cherokee Indian. My maternal grandfather was of West Indies descent. My paternal grandmother was in training to become her half-sister’s personal maid. Although she looked White she was still discriminated against. We were all considered colored. Odie Duckworth-Phillips (personal communication, June Day, 1963)

Slide number six: Discriminatory Opportunities:
In the 1960s in the southern United States African-Americans could not go into the burger joint and sit and eat. They had to go around back to a side window and order their food with no place to sit and eat. Teenagers could go to the movie theater only on Saturday afternoon but they had to go around to the side entrance and could only be seated in the balcony. In public places like the courthouse or train station the water fountains were labeled “Whites only” and “Colored”.

Slide number seven: Segregated Schools.
My parents moved from Michigan to Mississippi when I was 13 years old. This was the first time I had ever gone to a segregated school. I liked it because everyone was treated basically the same, there was no prejudice. I was raised in Michigan where swimming classes were mandatory and I was on the swim team. Upon moving to Mississippi I could only swim in the creek because “coloreds” were not allowed in the public swimming pool. Unfortunately this type discrimination was still practiced in the USA in 2009 (Lattanzio, 2009).

Slide number eight- Enduring Discrimination.
Discrimination was endured by ignoring some of the remarks made by the white people. However at other times when the name-calling, the disrespect and unfair treatment was unbearable we would