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Tavrionna Spencer
03/30/16 ENG 114A
Project space revised essay
Altered Identities

Identity and space are so tightly mushes together that it is hard to

separate them. We are born into this world and expected to automatically
adjust to the social norms of society even if we dont agree with them. The
world around us influences how we look upon it. Race, gender equality and
our community are all influenced by our surroundings in a negative way. With
racial discrimination still being an issue, and gender inequality being a
current debate, coming together as a community is out of the question.
Although the decisions we make are performative, we conform to what is told
to us because it is what we are taught. Whether our perspective on the
space we live is a negative one or not, it still has a big part in our daily lives.
Society has completely dehumanized the African American community.
Most white women and men would go to any means necessary to avoid to
confrontation with a black person. Why? Because of what we see all over the
news, the violence occurrence within the black community on our social
media sites and the statistics posted on the web for the whole world to see.
Society conforms based off of what we are told.Information presented on the
Huffington Post states that Black people make up 13% of the U.S population
and white people make up 64%. While white people make up 39% of the
people incarcerated in prison, black serve 40%. The fact that black people

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are incarcerated 5 times as frequent as white people does not mean black
people commit 5 times as many crimes.(The Huffington Post) Society
ignores this statement and see us angry and violent people when that is not
the case. The fact of the matter is that Black people are heavily profiled by
police because of the probability of living in a more rural area. Because these
rural areas are more visited by police, it easier to get caught in the action of
crime. Black people are also convicted more than white people are. Judges
are less willing to let a black man off with a warning or less exaggerated
sentencing. When black people are convicted of a crime, they are more likely
to be sentenced compared to white people who commit the same crime. All
decisions are up to the judges discretion to give less severe consequences
such as community service or probation and since they dont, racial
discriminations can be argued. All of this supports my point that black men
and women have to alter themselves to seem less frightening. And on lateevenings constitutionals I employ what has proved to be an excellent
tension-reducing measure: I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi
and the more popular classical composers, says Brent Staples (Norton

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Reader p.190).
(http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-racial-quotas-effective-tools-for-reducing-racialdiscrimination)

Some could argue that gender or sexuality is a choice and not a

development. Initially, it is a choice because of the societal views and antihomosexual communities. Men and women are hesitant to come out when
they reside in an uncomfortable environment. Homosexuals feel they need to
hide behind this fake persona and pretend to be someone they arent just to

fit in.

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(https://moanti.wordpress.com/tag/same-sex-attraction/feed/) Depending on
your religion, it is also a disgrace to be a homosexual. This can be an act of
being performative and conformity because we choose to be who we are
ultimately, but we conform to hate the homosexual community because
someone told us to. We conform because the bible says it is a sin to be gay
so we just do what that social norm says without any questioning. In What is
a Homosexual, Sullivan expresses the actions taken in order to avoid
dealing with who he was becoming. He forced himself to engage in his
studies while others tired engaging in sports to gain respect. So I threw
myself into my schoolwork, into plays, into creative e writing, into science
fiction. Other homosexualsPeriodically threw themselves into sports, outjocking the jocks, gaining ever greater proximity, seeking respect, while
knowing all the time they were doomed to rejection.(Norton Reader p.130)
The community also plays a key role in how you introduce your
identity. I know from personally experiences that it is sometimes necessary
to act a certain way in a different environment. I guarantee you are not the
same person you are at work or at school, when you go home. It all goes
back to stereotypes. When we visit a white neighborhood, we feel we have to
be on our upmost behavior and talk as if I am on an interview because of the
stereotype that all other races other than white, cant behave themselves.
Or, if we visited a more rural and ethnically diverse area, we put our guard
up and act hard to fit in because we feel since these people have been
through a lot, they have nothing to lose. In this case, we use conformity to

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avoid being seen as dangerous. We portray ourselves based off of what we

learned growing up on proper etiquette. All of these stereotypes are
introduced as negative actions on ethnic races which discredits their
capabilities to do more.
Conforming to society can mean a numerous of things. We conform to
laws set in place; dont do illegal drugs, dont go over the speed limit
however, this can also mean changing the clothes you wear and how you act
in such way that is deemed appropriate for your community. Obviously, you
are expected to be quiet in church, wear a fancy dress to a fancy restaurant,
or not to speak out loud when indoors. Ultimately, it is up to us whether or
not we want to conform to these social norms making our decisions more
performative than conformed.

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Works Cited
Farbota, Kim. Black Crime Rates: What Happens When Numbers Aren't
Neutral. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Sept. 2015. Web.
16 Mar. 2016.
Staples, Brent. Black Men and Public Spaces. The Norton Reader. 13th
ed. Linda Peterson. W.W. Norton & Company, inc., 500 fifth Avenue, New
York, NY
Sullivan, Andrew What is a Homosexual? The Norton Reader. 13th ed.
Linda Peterson. W.W. Norton & Company, inc., 500 fifth Avenue, New York, NY