Rhea

2 – “The collective memory of a nation is that set of beliefs about the past which the nation’s citizens hold in common and publicly recognize as legitimate representations of their history.”

~ Nice quote.

2 – By emphasizing or making one’s background/history less valid is a way to belittle a group/culture

~ This happens quite often and leads to having identities with more salience than others. Those that are belittled are viewed as not as important.

36 – Have to be able to define self to make any lasting changes.

~ Isn’t this true of college students, too? Isn’t it true of everyone? Or do you really need to define yourself? What if others define you, does that count as being defined?

71 – Identifying with one group (Spanish Americans) so as not to receive the same negative connotation of other group (Mexican Americans)

~ How often do we do this, too? This is like the quote below, identity redistribution.

75 – Minority groups being influenced by other minority groups (Black/Red Power & Brown Berets)

~ Shows that identities influence all other identities, not just majority identities influencing others.

106 – If you don’t know your past heritage do you have an identity? Or is that just another aspect of your identity? (in reference to Malcolm X speech)

109-10 – Change in name changes meaning?

~ Like Custer’s Battlefield? Does it really changes though? Or does it just create a different association for the identity without actually changing the identity? Can identities be disassociated from one another? I think a disassociated identity would be what I would call identity redistribution.

Rhea, J. T. (1997). Race pride and the American identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.