Reflective Essay: I Am Dominican And Italy

I am Dominican and Italian. Growing up, people have jumped to conclusions about my background. Because of my skin color, I may appear as solely European or white; however, the truth is that there is more to me than others perceive. In my Junior year there were many applications that I had to fill out for tests. Of course, one of the questions was regarding my background or ethnicity. There was never a mixed option. Applications usually have a section for race or ethnicity, but that’s a hard decision because if I can’t pick two; I feel as if I am choosing between my mother and my father. The closest option to being mixed is “other”, which I am definitely not. My ethnicity is on there. I just can’t click both. I classify as a mixed child, however, there aren’t always categories for mixed children.

In my neighborhood there is a high concentration of Europeans, especially Italians. I would visit my Dominican grandmother a lot in Washington Heights, but it was my Italian grandmother that lived in the area
It wasn’t until my mother moved me to a school in Manhattan for my last two years of elementary school that I really embraced my Hispanic culture. In this school, there was a diverse population where everyone was encouraged to accept their differences. There were a lot of other mixed children as well. There were events and concerts that celebrate important historical figures of our cultures and days devoted to learning about the history of different cultures. For example, there were family nights, events where you would bring in your family and interact with the different people around you to really get to know your peers and the backgrounds that they come from. This was very important to me because it opened me up and exposed me to the diversity in the world. This foundation allowed me to express the different aspects of my culture; it doesn’t matter who is around me, but who I am on the