Cultural Identity

Ashton T. Camryn C.

Culture: the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively

Cultural Identity: is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is a part of a person's self-conception and self-perception and is associated with a person's gender, race, ethnicity, religion, values, history or social class.

Race

With roughly half of the St. Louis population identifying as African-American, there is a strong African-American presence that focuses on embracing the African-American culture. Equality and empowerment are common values that are present in multiple aspects of the St. Louis Community.

African American: 49.2%
White: 43.9% (non-Hispanic: 42.2%)
Asian: 2.9%
Native American and Alaska Native: 0.3%
Two or more races: 2.4%
Hispanic or Latino of any race: 3.5%

Black Lives Matter Movement - Ferguson, MO is 12 miles north of St. Louis, and is where Mike Brown was fatally shot by Darren Wilson. There are numerous “Black Lives Matter” lawn signs displayed across the city to bring awareness and support to the issues of racial inequality, racial profiling and police brutality.

Arts

Art can be used as a way for community members to express themselves and their ideas. Art encompasses values and ideas, and also has the power to bring individuals in a community together through shared common goals.

Contemporary Arts Museum- One of the exhibits was called ArtReach: Vashon High School and it featured work from students from Vashon High School. The musuem partnered with the high school to provide art courses.

SweetArts- Is a vegan/vegetarian bakery in the St. Louis area that is also home to pieces of art created by Cbabi Bayoc. All of the art created by Bayoc portrays positive images of African-American people.

History

St. Louis’ racial history is a big contributor to the present culture of the city. There has been a constant presence of racial tension due to extreme racial segregation and social injustice for over a hundred years. The current social climate of the city demonstrates an urgency for racial equality and aims to motivate the African-American community into making positive changes in their lives and to advocate for social justice.

Harriet and Dred Scott Statue- The Harriet and Dred Scott Statue can be seen on the east side of the Old Capitol in downtown St. Louis. This statue symbolizes courage and inspires everyone to stand up to racial injustice anywhere they may encounter it.

Black History Month- In all three of the schools we visited, there were displays showcasing the importance of Black History all around the buildings. Black History is important to teach to youth because it focuses on the contributions Black people have made throughout history while also making sure students are socially and culturally educated.

Culture in the schools

All three elementary schools that we visited had a strong culture of empowerment, inclusion, and social awareness. Students were encouraged to be independent and increase their technology skills through the use of iPads. Each of the schools also referred to the students as "friends" to instill the concepts of community and friendship in the classroom. The teachers would even refer to the students as her friends, which helped the kids to feel important.

Although the majority of the students were African-American, in Lafayette I noticed a lot of diversity and inclusion of other cultures. One girl I talked to told me about her religion, Islam, and another student who was Japanese spent part of art class teaching other students how to write in Japanese. All the students were very respectful and interested in each other's unique cultures which is something not found in a less diverse environment.

What we learned and What's Next...

Spending the week fully engulfed in the St. Louis culture, I was able to develop a sound understanding of the different aspects of the culture while also witnessing how different cultural values come together to shape a community as a whole. Empowerment is one of the core values that I noticed all throughout the St. Louis culture and it has inspired me to become a more active member of the communities I am apart of. I learned so much from the St. Louis culture that I hope in the future I have opportunities to learn from various cultures around the world because I think the only way to grow as a person and solidify your values is to experience as much as possible.

-Camryn

I learned so much about the culture of St. Louis from this trip. A lot of their culture is focused on growth and social change. Each of the schools that we went to really focused on the importance of being socially aware. Being in schools from lower income communities really showed me how important education equity is because the neighborhood that you are from shouldn't dictate your education or future opportunities. Going forward I want to experience the cultures of other cities like I have in St. Louis by volunteering wherever I can.

-Ashton

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