My Culture My Heritage
My
Culture My Heritage
Ethnicity and Race
The Hawkins family
consists of mostly individuals of the Caucasian race. Our ethnicity is a blend
of Blackfoot Native American, German, Irish and English. The Hawkins family
came to the United States prior to the Revolutionary War. Many generalizations
or stereotypes can be made from the ethnicities that make up the Hawkins
family. Many people perceive Germans as being cheap, unfriendly, and punctual.
Irish are seen as being alcoholics, redheads, and pale. English (British) are
perceived as having bad teeth, being rude, thin, and snobbish. Native Americans
are often seen as wanting money from the government, living on reservations, a
disappearing race, and have dark hair, high cheekbones, and dark skin. Our
family is a mixture of all of these ethnicities so it is possible that we carry
a few of the stereotypes. Speaking about my family in general, we are not
alcoholics, cheap, or unfriendly. Our teeth look pretty nice and we try our
best to never intentionally be rude. We do not live on a reservation and
getting money from the government has never been a goal of ours.
Generalizations we may carry include having a red hue in our hair (my hair),
many of us are thin, being shy and quiet is taken as snobbish, and some of us
have dark skin and hair.
Family
Family
roles in the Hawkins family have varied over the years. The family I grew up
with consisted of a dad, mom, sister, and brother. My dad worked and earned the
money for the family he is considered the bread winner. My mom was a stay at
home mom for most of my life and would be considered a homemaker. She raised
the children, took care of the house, and anything else that needed to be done.
My siblings and I had one goal and that was to go to school and do our best. Our
role was to be good students.
We believe in the
power of a family and its unity. We are always there for each other through
thick and thin. When one of us is struggling we all fight. Our family believes
in the power of prayer and faith. We value the importance of eating dinner
together every night as a family. This is our time to talk to each other about
our day which brings us closer together. We understand that we should all be
truthful. Telling the truth will always keep our family together as our family
is built on trust. When that trust is broken we still love one another and we
forgive and forget. The most important belief of the Hawkins family is having a
strong family unit.
Our family has
many traditions. Our main tradition is the celebration of Christmas. We
celebrate Christmas as the day that represents the birth of our Savior Jesus
Christ. He is the reason why we celebrate this day. Each year before we open up
gifts, our tradition is to read the story of Jesus’ birth so we are continually
reminded of the blessing God bestowed upon us many years ago and to remind us
that it is not about the tangible gifts, but it is about the gift of Jesus
Christ. Our second tradition is family time. Continually throughout the year we
make time to go on family outings or simply eat dinner together. This gives us
the opportunity to spend time together and bring our individual families
together.
Values
Our
religion is very important to us. We are Christian, but more specifically
Pentecostal. We believe that God sent his only son Jesus Christ into the world
to die on the cross to forgive us of our sins. We strive daily to live a Godly
life. We want our life to be an example of God’s love to others. We are all
actively involved in our church as we were called to be witnesses of God’s
word. Religious holidays we celebrate include, Christmas and Easter. During
Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus’ and during Easter, we celebrate
Jesus rising from the dead after dying to forgive us for our sins. For the
Hawkins family we believe in forgiveness and love, as this is the graciousness
God has lavished on us.
Work
ethic is very important to the Hawkins family. We strive to always make a good
impression and work our hardest at everything we do. When working we go above
and beyond what is asked of us and we respect those who are in authority over
us. We do not just do the bare minimum. If there is a way to improve ourselves
we do it. When working we accept any challenge set before us and are never
afraid to ask for help. Work ethic is of upmost importance as this is what
makes a lasting impression of who we are.
Education
is a must in our family. Education does not stop at high school. After high
school it is expected that we go to college. Our family’s goal is to continually
improve ourselves so that we can succeed in life. Grades are very important,
but as long as we try our best that is all that is necessary. All A’s are not what is expected, but we do
have to try our best in every class we take. No excuses. Our education is taken
very seriously and we take pride in that.
Assumptions and Stereotypes
Many
people may assume and stereotype that since our lives are so heavily influenced
by our religious beliefs that we are the type of Christians who judge or are
hateful. This stereotype of a Christian is most definitely not true for my
family. We do live our lives according to our beliefs, but we are like any
other person. We have faults, we sin, and we ask for forgiveness daily. It is
important to not let your assumption about a Christian family to be based off
of bad encounters. We are loving and caring and welcome anyone. We are human
just like anyone else and for that reason we are understanding and
compassionate toward others.
Other Information
The
Hawkins family culture is based off of the importance of family. Our family
culture is all about creating a close nit family who love each other
regardless. We will always be there for
each other no matter what. We do not focus on our ethnicity, so not much is
known about our past relatives and family. Even though this is the case, over
the years we have created a culture that is unique to our family and hopefully
it will be passed down through the generations. Our family values, religion,
and morals are what make us who we are and we celebrate that.
Family
Tree Explanation
My
family tree represents four generations of the Hawkins and Richards Family.
This includes myself, my parents, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents.
My mother’s side of the family is the Richards family. My mother, Gladys
Hawkins is a part time secretary at our church and a homemaker. She was born in
1966 to Lucille and David Oliver Richards. Lucille Richards was a homemaker and
David Oliver Richards worked for Kennesaw College (Kennesaw State University
before it became a university!). My mother’s father died when she was a senior
in high school and her mother Lucille is going to be celebrating her 90th
birthday this November. Lucille and
David Oliver had my mother when they were in their 40’s and 50’s. She was a
life changing event for them. My great-grandparents on my grandfather’s side
are David and Zadie Rose Richards. Not much is known about them except that
they were farmers. My great-grandparents on my grandmothers side is Mandy and
John Washington Phillips. Mandy Phillips died two years after my grandmothers
birth and her father was disabled so he did not work.
My
father is a maintenance worker for Cobb County Schools. He was born in 1963 to
Marylin Gallinmore and Tracy Hawkins. His mother was a homemaker and his father
built and worked on racecars. My father’s grandparents on his father’s side
were Samuel Raymond Hawkins and Thelma Hawkins. Samuel Raymond was a police
officer and Thelma Hawkins was a judge. Samuel Raymond Hawkins was half
Blackfoot Native American and his mother was full Blackfoot Native
American. My father’s grandparent on his
mother’s side was Florence Naomi Allen. Florence Allen was a nanny. My father
does not know who is grandfather is due to him passing away shortly after he
was born. Although I did not have the chance to meet many of the individuals
that make up my family tree, I do know that they have had a great influence on
who I am today and they are what make up my culture and heritage.
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