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Greg Sarris Essay

420 Words2 Pages

Within Greg Sarris essay, he had to endure many things; the loss of his parents, binging in and out of home, unware and unable to find his true self. However, always feeling that he was, what he said he was, Indian. He faced quite a few stereotypes growing up, one of them is when he and a group of friends where mistakenly placed in the category of being Mexican (Sarris Pacifically a “White Beaner“) , because of their “dark hair and skin” – ( pg.106) when in fact the group he was with were Pomo-Indians. Another, even though he was raised in a Pomo - Indian family, because of his blonde hair and blue eyes, and unidentified background he was unable to say / be truly apart of the Indian roots that molded him. Being a stereotype. Within emptiness he was able search and find more about himself than he expected. Learning about his lost Spanish Father, his …show more content…

I find Sarris story quite similar to my own. At first glance you probably wouldn’t assume that I’m both African-American and Nicaraguan. Honestly, you’d probably see mostly African-American features but then look closer and notice the redness of my skin, narrowed nose, and unusually textured hair and place me in entirely different category: Asian, Pakistan, Hawaiian etc. Growing up I also had my fair share of being these races and endured both the stereotypes and discrimination being a called black-cian , although, before I was born my parents decided that I took to my mother’s name instead of my father’s, “Gonzales “ to prevent the discrimination that he’d faced , even held off Spanish until I was a bit older so I wouldn’t develop an accent , because of the stereotypes being placed on anyone who came from south of the boarder. Something that I’m both thankful for and sadden by because now I embrace both cultures whole heartedly and notice the beauty within them every day; and surprisingly so has the

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