Cultural Identity

Alex Marti, Genna Salmon, Ashlei Cashen

What is Cultural Identity?

Cultural identity is the feeling of belonging to a certain group related to ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, or other distinct social group with its own culture.

("Demographics of Tulsa, Oklahoma", 2017)

Culture & Services

IronGate

While serving we saw a variety of different cultures represented. One thing we noticed was that the demographics of the people who came for food did not match the demographics of the city. From what we observed, there was a dominance in White Americans and African Americans with a small amount of other races present.

Kids Against Hunger

Latin and Fortified Rice-Soy Casserole are two different rice recipes provided to the children based on their location. Kids in domestic regions are provided latin-flavored rice, whereas children in international locations are provided a rice with no specialized flavor. Both recipes are equally nutritious and are easy to make by adding boiling water (M. Horn, personal communication, March 15 ,2018).

Food Bank

The Eastern Oklahoma Food Bank provides tons of food to surrounding areas of Tulsa. It typically serves those belonging to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in need of assistance to help avoid food insecurity. During our service, we helped sort food for events such as the teacher walk-outs, the backpack program, and the farmers market (K. Powell, personal communication, March 12, 2018).

Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame

For one of our cultural events, we visited the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. We were able to interact with many community members while dancing to the jazz music produced by the locals. According to the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, the building the event took place in happens to be one of the most historical landmarks in the city of Tulsa ("Corporate Events", 2018).

Blue Dome District

The name for the district rose from the building of the Blue Dome that once was a gas station off of Highway 66 that attracted tourists to stop and interact with the town because of its unique building. Today, many other attractions such as different wall murals and the center of the Universe can be found within the district (Warnick, 2013).

The Blue Dome District is the part of downtown where people of various backgrounds come together. The district consists of many restaurants, nightlife scenes, as well as an area where many cultural festivals such as Mardi Gras, Shalomfest, and St. Patricks Day are hosted (GuRuStu, 2018).

Philbrook Museum of Art

The Philbrook Museum of art is a former mansion that now holds many rooms of art work. The purpose of the museum is to capture the city's past history of Native Americans and Europeans with the addition of the bright future the city holds ("About Us", 2017).

Many pieces of work had deep impacts on the city's culture but the painting of The Last Thanksgiving had a greater meaning. An Indian woman is pictured with skeletons who are suppose to be part of her tribe. Processed foods such as the ones we sorted at the Food Bank were also pictured in the painting and showed the economic impact the Native Americans suffered.

The Impact of Cultural Identities

With this experience we learned how cultural identity is connected to service learning. We were able to reflect upon our own cultural identities to develop a better understanding of who we are.

Alex: I grew up in a rural, predominately white community and did not have a lot of exposure to other cultures and ways of life as a child. Having the chance to interact with a diverse group of people and travel as a college student has helped me realize that I have inherited many preconceived notions and biases from my community and giving me the opportunity to begin breaking them down. I also enjoy sharing my personal experiences with my seven younger siblings to help expose them to different cultures.

Our team had members from all different majors, ethnicities, ages, and cultures. However, our common passion to become active citizens brought us together on this amazing trip. This contributed to the several engaging and diverse conversations we had during our group discussions at the end of each day. It also helped broaden our perspective on food justice. Even though none of us shared the exact same cultural identity we were still able to come together and help serve with the community.

Genna: Being adopted from China by White Americans I have grown up identifying as a white female. However, coming to the University of Iowa and visiting new places I have come to realize that what I identify as is not obvious to the naked eye. With this in mind, I have been on the receiving line of several microaggressions. While serving meals at Iron Gate an individual asked me if I have ever been to China Town. Out of everyone he could have asked he only asked me. I want to help others become aware of their implicit biases and the impact their words can have.

Ashlei: Born to a Filipino mother and a White American Dad, I've always known I looked a little different. There have been plenty of times a stranger would assume I was either Hispanic or Native American and I would correct them. While serving in Tulsa, I've learned it's easy to categorize people based on their appearance and a lot of minorities such as my own are underrepresented. I hope to engage more with Pacific Islanders in the Iowa City community to get a better sense of who we are and why our culture is unique.

Overall, our service experiences offered immense insight into the cultural awareness that is necessary for meaningful and impactful service. We will be able to translate this knowledge to the diverse community at the University of Iowa and in Iowa City to enhance our community service work.

References

About Us. (2017). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://philbrook.org/about-us/

Corporate Events. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://www.okjazz.org/index.cfm?

id=227

Demographics of Tulsa, Oklahoma. (2018, February 17). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Tulsa,_OklahomaGuRuStu. (n.d.). About. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://bluedomedistrict.com/about/

Warnick, R. (2013, September 28). Blue Dome building in Tulsa has new owners. Retrieved March

25, 2018, from http://www.route66news.com/2013/09/28/blue-dome-building-tulsa-new-owners/

Google Sites

Report abuse