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.
