The Cultural Identity Dilemma of Minority Groups
With the development of economic globalization and cross-cultural communication, there has been an increasing number of people that could no longer equate nationality with cultural identity, especially the descendants of immigrants, residents where the regime has changed, and mixed-race people. Their self-cognition is forming, integrating and colliding among different cultures. Hence it is difficult for them to understand the new environment with their past spatial cognition (including their parents’ experience), but they cannot get rid of their past knowledge to perceive the new spatial presentation. Social Identity Theory divided identity into personal identity and social identity. The identity constructed according to individual’s unique quality is defined as personal identity, whereas the identity constructed according to community membership is called social identity. In daily life, people will automatically classify others into outside groups and inside groups, the individual identity would increase boundaries among groups. Individuals would think the inside group is better than other groups and prefer to their own group, seeking positive social approval and self-esteem.
This theory can explain the phenomenon that weak connection based on interest has gradually become the mainstream social mode as social networking gradually matures. The rapid information transmission in the Internet era has greatly enhanced the frequency and speed of group gathering and dispersion, and greatly changed the subject, basis and motive force of identity, resulting in corresponding differentiations and conflicts.
The Identity and Social Integration of The Second Generation of Immigrants
Ethnic borders topic has been one of the main issues of discussions. According to scholars in this field, such as Benedict Anderson, these boundaries are both real and imagined, instrumental and symbolic, ambiguous and dynamic, and therefore always subject to negotiation and reconstruction.
However, most studies on Chinese immigration define this boundary as a homogenous, simplistic, and unified identity, tending to view the issue from a static perspective while ignoring its dynamic nature and diversity. Actually, the abstract concept of Chinese identity is made up of many subgroups. For example, in the 2011 Irish census, nearly 18,000 respondents chose ‘Chinese origin or cultural background’, and nearly 11,000 of them identified themselves as Chinese citizens. Obviously, for the Chinese from Malaysia, Singapore and other countries and regions, their ethnic identity is not defined by nationality alone, but rather by cultural traits such as language, diet, customs, values and religious beliefs.
The second generation of immigrants born and brought up in their adopted country may experience more confusion and struggle on identity than their parents. Some second-generation immigrants consider themselves as ‘marginal people’ without their native culture, so they feel confused about their identity and even embarrassed in social circles. In fact, the second generation of immigrants should take advantage of the unique home environment of being bilingual or even familiar with both cultures. They have the potential to better integrate different cultures and become global and diverse talents, and these balance points are where their cultural identity and sense of belonging lie.
The National Identity of Youth in Hong Kong and Macao
Teenagers in Hong Kong and Macao are affected by the change of regime. As for their group identification, the values of these youth group are significantly divided. Growing up in a public housing estate or in a poor single-parent family does not share the same sense of nationhood as Hong Kong’s affluent middle class or multi-nationality youths. However, the common trouble of most people is the vague identity and cultural identity. For example, it could be confused for them to introduce themselves with the identity as Hong Kong local, Cantonese or Chinese, since it is not clear that whether these identities have clear boundaries and whether knowing more than one language equates to sharing all these identities.
The coexistence of English, Cantonese and Mandarin is a unique phenomenon in Hong Kong and Macao. As a carrier of communication and culture, language is an important basis and expression of identity. Due to the special historical and geographical reasons, the law of Hong Kong and Macao clearly stipulates that besides Chinese, English and Portuguese are also the official languages. Due to the improper handling of the relationship among different languages, there have been many disputes in reality. Explicit priority of language could assist teenagers to understand the culture of their first language and clear their own cultural identity. At the same time, historical and cultural education can also deepen their understanding of their ancestors. If students can understand both ancient and modern development process of China, they will have insight into the economic relationship between the development of Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, which is conducive to in-depth exploration of economic or social development regulations. From the long-term perspective, language education and history teaching can actually help teenagers define their national cultural identity without confusion.
Mixed Race and Ethnic Affiliation
There has been a long-standing premise in social science that race is the product of history and social dynamics, which can be redefined through politics. There is a significant link between social identity and race, but little is known about the impacts of social identity on people’s choice of a particular racial label. In the United States, racial labeling has traditionally been considered an innate trait, with group members either lacking choice or being pushed around by laws and social norms. In particular, groups of strictly African descent are often identified as black. However, the 2000 U.S. Census made a change and added a multiracial classification section, showing that racial labels were no longer a concept disconnected from American politics and culture.
Due to historical reasons, economic prosperity has resulted in a significant tendency of whiteness to the racial self-identity of the mixed-race group. On one hand, for white parents, education may lead to a sense of racial liberalism that made them to develop minority or multiracial patterns of identity in their children. On the other hand, for Latino or black parents, their education background had no effect on their children’s racial identity. The reason may be that both groups suffer higher levels of prejudice than Asians and Whites. In other words, Latinos and Blacks may be overly vigilant about racial prejudice and discrimination.
Religion is one of the most critical factors. Other things being equal, people of mixed-race ethnicity and religion are more likely to identify with a racial minority than those who do not. This represents a cultural overlap between certain religious identities and racial or ethnic backgrounds that reinforces their identification with racial minorities, such as Baptists for blacks, Catholics for Latinos, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims for Asians.
In terms of other influencing factors, place of residence and community are important for cultural identity. Asian whites and Latino whites living in the Western Pacific or the Northeast tend to choose multiracial labels, while group members living in the Midwest are more likely to choose nonwhite or multiracial identities. In addition, the demographic composition and affluence of a community would affect the racial identity of the mixed-race group in the community. Finally, Asian white and Latino native English speakers are more likely to choose the white racial label than non-native English speakers, suggesting that a shared language background can reinforce a shared racial identity from cultural and educational perspectives.
By Xin Wang
