Posted: April 18th, 2023

Executive Summary, The research paper seeks to compare my personal cultural experiences and Jimmy Keen’s values and perceptions are important

Research Paper
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Executive Summary
The research paper seeks to compare my personal cultural experiences and Jimmy Keen’s values and perceptions are important. After completing the cultural interviews of Jimmy Keen, it is possible to comprehensively review the proper assessment of the people’s lives. It would also review the influence of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation on personal development as well as impact on the families. My family had arrived to the United States from Trinidad Tobago in an effort to seek for more opportunities. On the other hand, Jimmy Keen had arrived from the Ireland, United Kingdom. My family relied on the various ways to assimilate and survive in the United States. The process of assimilation was both an interesting and challenging one. Following the assimilation process, both my family and Keen’s family were able to gain some things and forgo somethings. The assessment of the assimilation process, it had a positive impact on our personal lives and our family too. Personal and family lives would benefit from the positive aspects associated with getting integrated into the American society. As a result, the review of the cultural experiences is critical in shaping the long-term cross-cultural development.

Research Paper
The understanding of the different cultural views and stances is critical helps to assimilate to the societal values and life effectively. In the society, people need to understand each other to enhance peaceful collaboration and coexistence in the communities. I have developed a positive attitude and perception about the strategy of creating strong interpersonal relationships and trying to develop connection with both the external and internal world. The traditional cultural values always have a significant impact on the people’s lives as well as shaping the family decisions (Shiraev, Shiraev, & Levy, 2016). The comparison of Jimmy Keen’s views on diverse cultures with my cultural perceptions will provide a good report to learn the nature of cultural experiences in the American society.
1. Racial Affiliation
Following the completion of the cultural interview of Jimmy Keen I was able to obtain intensive cultural understanding of his life. Jimmy Keen identifies himself as a white American who his both parents were born in America. In contrast, I am a strong young women aged 37 years old and I was born in the Islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Having descents from Trinidad and Tobago I am able to appreciate the potential and opportunities associated with living in the United States of America. As white American, Jimmy Keen might not realize the significance of being born in America. There are diversity of racial affiliation between me and Jimmy Keen.
I was born from a strong Christian family that had significant impact on my personal development. For example, my family educated me on how to respect and honor people. I was able to learn respect and accommodate people’s feelings. I also learned the need to protect others without taking advantage over their situations. People are usually expected to be loving and considerate in their actions. I was prohibited to be jealous of other people and anything they own.
The most essential concept that I was involved by the family members and has helped me to grow is having satisfaction with anything I get and avoid unnecessary life expectations that could affect my life concentration. While living in Tobago, significant political instances such as the overthrowing of the government educated me on life skills. Such political events also help to shape my life to inspire my development. Therefore, the external events have important impact on my personality growth and development.
2. Influence of Race, Gender, Ethnicity, Social, Religion and Sexual Orientation on Personal Development
The various life aspects including race, gender, ethnicity, social class, religion, and sexual orientation might have a significant impact on personal development. According to Ratts et al. (2016), the understanding of the key factors including sex, gender, and race affiliation might pose both a problem and opportunity in shaping their personal identity. These social dimensions and perspectives are critical in shaping the cultural understanding and personality development of the people. For example, the influence of gender relationships leads to the diverse impacts on people’s lives. An increase in the racial diversity in the society leads to an increase in the level of religious diversity. Diverse people are able to accommodate the different religious affiliations without any discrimination. Jimmy Keen was educated on the need to accommodate the varied religious people because each person has their religious beliefs and values.
Personally, the process of my adult personality was not influenced by sexual orientation, social class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Growing in Caribbean was not pushed and pressured by these factors. All my close family members also recorded that they were not affected by these factors. Unlike Jimmy Keen, I am older and such factors were not influential in my changing my personality. As children while growing up, we were not affected by the cultural differences, but we were able to play, attend school, and go to church together. On other hand, Jimmy Keen feels the pressure of race and ethnicity among other factors while growing up in the American society. Positive attitude and perception about the strategy of creating strong interpersonal relationships and trying to develop connection with both the external and internal world
Jimmy Keen explains that while growing as a white person, his race was significant and influential on this personality. He emphasizes that they were taught to be confident and self-driven in taking life opportunities. For example, white children had access to quality education programs compared to other children in the society (Ratts, & Pedersen, 2014). After migrating to the United States as a young teenager, I was able to discover different things that significantly affected by personality and growth. The change influenced my life in a significant way. In spite of all, I always try to maintain the values and cultures learned from the Caribbean. Growing from the elementary level to today in the Caribbean Islands, I was able to learn many things about the multiculturalism that involves gender and religion.
Unlike Me, Jimmy Keen explained that his religious Christian beliefs and sexual orientation concerns impacted on his personality development. The Christianity values helped to create good personal ethics and moral values. Other factors that affected the growth of Jimmy Keen were sexual orientation that shaped his perceptions on life and thus making him a more confident person in life. In addition, my ethnicity and sexual orientation did not have a close connection with my growing up because such factors were not a huge concern in Caribbean. Based on this, the factors did not also affect my personal development and progression as an adult living in the United States. Jimmy Keen narrates that his ethnicity and gender were relevant in shaping his long-term development towards coming up with clear long-term career objectives to promote personality development.
My social status was not a major issue on my personal development as well. My life in Caribbean was less complex and there was a not major concern about social status as most of the families and children on the same social status eliminating any potential of affecting my personality. Social status is not critical for people as all were considered to be equal in Caribbean. While in America, social status seems an important element for personal development, but it does not affect me because I am an adult. On the other hand, Jimmy Keen’s personality was driven by his high social class. He determines that the high social class makes possible for him to gain confidence and have access to better life opportunities. Social status also impacted on his network of friends and colleges in the society, which is important.
3. Arrival Time of the Family in the U.S
Parents come to the United States in 1986 from Trinidad Tobago. My mother came to the U.S through JFK airport using B.W.I.A. Later, my brother was able to visit the United States in 1990. However, I still remain in Trinidad Tobago during the times my parent and sibling were moving to the U.S to complete my high school education. I was able to come to the U.S first in the 1997 after completing my high school education. Trinidad and Tobago is a small Island with simple government administration and less external cultural interference. Most of the residents of the Island were conservative and followed the cultural norms fully.
On the other hand, Jimmy Keen’s descendants come to the United States in the 1930s by a ship. His great grandfather came to the U.S from Ireland to look for economic opportunities in the United States. However, his grandfather was born and raised in the United States. Keen’s family was full of traders and explorers who identified America as a good place to expand their adventure and economic opportunities. Largely, my immediate family is American and has direct cultural connections with the American values and beliefs.
4. Place of Origin
My mother originated from Trinidad and Tobago before migrating to the United States. My maternal and paternal grandparents were Trinbagonians, but there is little personal information about their lives. My knowledge of my family is that my grandfather was from Tobago and my grandmother was from a nearby Caribbean Island known as St. Vincent. Based on the information, the place of origin of my parents is from Trinidad and Tobago. On the other hand, the family of Jimmy Keen originated from Ireland, United Kingdom in the early years of 1930s. The migration was considered beneficial as they were able to establish successful lives in America. Comparing the two place of origin, they are diverse and show some of the potential reasons for migration. However, both families seem to have common idea of getting new and better life opportunities in the U.S after migrating.
5. Ways of Assimilating in the U.S
My family relied on the various ways to assimilate and survive in the United States. The process of assimilation was both an interesting and challenging one. The assimilation process defines the ability of people to learn the cultural norms and values of a new region. For example, my parents struggled with assimilating to the cold weather situation in the United States. Having lived in Tobago for years, the cold weather in America was extreme and difficult for them during the winter, spring, and autumn seasons. In the Caribbean Island, there are only two seasons, the dry and rainy reasons (Ratts, et al., 2016). The high temperatures in the Island are enjoyable. Unlike the U.S, the climate in Tobago was appropriate for enjoying good times. My parents were able to learn new dressing to counter the cold weather seasons. The wearing of heavy clothes became a norm during the cold weather to assimilate to the American way of adapting to the adverse weather conditions. However, I been able to enjoy the American climate as I love the longer the nights in America with cool temperatures unlike hot and humid conditions in the Caribbean.
In addition, my parents had to assimilate to communicating with people from diverse countries of origin and cultural backgrounds. My family members have rich knowledge and experience in diverse communication backgrounds that makes communication possible. I had initially interacted with people from different races and cultural backgrounds during holiday celebrations and carnivals. However, I determined that the diverse races have different perceptions and expressions because of knowledge obtained from their childhood. We learned the different languages and cultural values in the U.S to ensure that all diverse racial expressions are understood.
On the other hand, Jimmy Keen explained that his family was able to use various approaches in learning the values and cultures in America. Assimilating in the United States was not different for them as they had common cultural values with the Americans. The ways used by Keen’s family included the learning of the different religions and working with people from different cultural backgrounds. Working explorers and traders, his great grandparents got an opportunity to interact with people from diverse cultural grounds and effectively learn the American societal values. In addition, they also lived in the different geographical regions in the U.S to make it possible to learn the different American values and perspectives. The diverse American values and perspectives helped to shape their assimilation and adaptation to the American cultures. I believe that I and Jimmy Keen have benefited significantly from the ability of our ancestors to assimilate and adapt well to the American cultures and values.
6. Gains and Losses in the Assimilation Process
In the assimilation, both my family and Keen’s family were able to gain some things and forgo somethings. Keen’s family lost their traditional beliefs and values that includes their proper mastery of their local language and life perceptions. They started focusing on the American English language that is diverse from the British English. In contrast, my family was able to hold onto their language and cultural values. My mother and siblings were too conservative to lose their traditional beliefs.
However, Jimmy Keen indicated that they were able to gain new things including positive perception about economy and family as well as getting strong cultural values such as commitment and hardworking values. These are some of the American values that make the United States great and valuable globally. His family was able to gain significant American values about scanning for opportunities and taking on the chances effectively. Unlike Jimmy Keen’s family, my family was able to achieve significant gains that include learning how to communicate with people from different countries. In the U.S, there are people from the different nationalities including Jews, Italians, West Indians, and Russians among others with different cultural and religious values. My parent was lucky to get learn on how to handle the diverse people and working them while respecting their traditions and cultures. Such learning aspects helped to improve my adult personality in life today.
Moreover, child play expectations have played a significant role in shaping my personality development as well as developing expansive image and reputation. I think that the varied cultural backgrounds are relevant in enhancing personality development even as an adult. There are varied aspects of life issues that include my cultural values including customs, celebrations, and dressing forms influencing the facilities. While considering the various forms of customs in the family members, it is clear that customs are relevant in shaping cultural progress and expansion. The cultural life is often an important process that involves engage people on their values and real life issues. For example, our family is often focused with family celebrations that forms core element of our culture including weddings, and birthdays among others.
7. Impact of Assimilation Process on Personal and Family Lives
Reflecting on the assimilation process, it had a positive impact on our personal lives and our family too. Personal and family lives would benefit from the positive aspects associated with getting integrated into the American society. When people migrate to a new country, they are often pushed into integrating into their cultural ways including mode of communication, education systems, and interactions among others. Both families were able to understand about the American cultural values of prosperity and hard work (Dillon, et al., 2016). Both of our families have been able to work hard and get significant economic prosperity in the United States. Jimmy was able to use the opportunities accessible in the U.S to promote his positive perception on life and understand the need to put efforts in overcoming life challenges. However, the assimilation process adversely affected our family values and beliefs. For example, the different mode of dressing, celebrations and traditional values that were part of our family traditions were at risk of being forgotten after assimilating to the American values and cultures.
I know that my family will not react anyhow to these issues because they have taught me that people should love each other and do not judge someone based on the color of their skin or their religion or sexual preference. Moreover, it will not be very difficult for me because I am convinced that we will be able to decide together which position is appropriate for each of us. We will work in the atmosphere of understanding and tolerance instead of permanent offensive practices. People should try to live in unity, uplift one another and accept each other for what they are. However, I know that it’ is an impossible job because of the inbred negativity that many of these people have been exposed to from since early childhood and the different amount of injustices that have been meted out to people of different race.
8. Racism Existed
I first realized that racism and sexism existed when I visited New York City and I saw two men holding holds while shopping and they were being followed in the store on suspicion that they wanted to steal in the supermarket. The wrong perception about theft shows that the racism and sexism was a real thing in America. I think people living in the city are always observing these issues. However, these characteristics might impact on the attitude relating to the people and there are various negative emotions towards the people. In contrast, Jimmy Keen first learned about the phenomenon of racism while in Middle East at the 7th grade. In his class, there was a black boy who did not have friends in the school due to the lack of proper racial affiliation and color. I learned that the white children were not ready to interact with him. He often interacted with black students in the school. Both instances are relevant in understanding the emergence and existence of racism in the society.
9. Story of Discrimination
After going to the United States, I have several stories whereby I faced discrimination. For instance, when I brought a friend home, they would get a special attention depending on their sexual orientation and ethnicity. My family does not seem to accept all people. It is relevant to develop proper perceptions about diverse people in the society. I also witnessed a friend who was seeking to marry a person from a different race from their family’s race and his parents were reluctance in supporting his decision. On the other hand, Jimmy Keen as a white American never faced significant challenge of discrimination. However, he narrated a story of how close friends in the U.S started making fun of him because he understood his British accent from Ireland. It was challenging for him because they felt unwanted. It was a challenging situation as the close friends were not committed in dealing with discrimination. The assessment of the assimilation process, it had a positive impact on our personal lives and our family too.
10. Emotional Response
Both I and Jimmy Keen expressed significant emotional reactions to the discrimination cases. I was sad that my family did not value people from diverse cultures. For days, it was difficult for me to talk to my parents and siblings about the situation. In contrast, Jimmy Keen was emotional, crying, and was not able to interact with the close friends effectively. Keen also talked to his parents about the situation and usually felt so alone. The emotional response of Jimmy Keen indicates that it was deeply hurt relating to the racial activities and actions.

References
Dillon, F. R., Odera, L., Fons-Scheyd, A., Sheu, H. B., Ebersole, R. C., & Spanierman, L. B. (2016). A dyadic study of multicultural counseling competence. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 57.
Ratts, M. J., & Pedersen, P. B. (2014). Counseling for multiculturalism and social justice: Integration, theory, and application. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Ratts, M. J., Singh, A. A., Nassar‐McMillan, S., Butler, S. K., & McCullough, J. R. (2016). Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies: Guidelines for the counseling profession. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 44(1), 28-48.
Shiraev, E. B., Shiraev, E. B., & Levy, D. A. (2016). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications. London, UK: Taylor & Francis.

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