Multiple Ethnic, Racial, and Cultural Identities in Action: From Marginality to a New Cultural Capital in Modern Society

Abstract

Although the rapid immigration, migration waves, and population movements that are occurring at the beginning of this millennium are not a new phenomena, what is new are their magnitude and the adaptive strategies of immigrants and migrants. The position is that immigrants must possess a unique skill and flexibility to acquire and manage different identities so they can co-exist and function without conflicts in different contexts simultaneously. Latino immigrants, especially, used to be conceived as "handicapped" because of their experience of oppression and their low economic status. They were seen as lacking the necessary cultural capital to succeed at the level of mainstream populations. However, as demographics change, those individuals who can best function in a diverse society will have a large cultural capital and greater ability to function effectively. The mastery of different languages, the ability to cross racial and ethnic boundaries, and a general resiliency associated with the ability to endure hardships and overcome obstacles will clearly be recognized as a new cultural capital that will be crucial for success in a modern diversified society, not a handicap. The hypothesis is that oppression and abuse can also generate precisely the opposite-resiliency and cultural capital to succeed. Often, these create the psychological JOURNAL flexibility necessary to assume different identities in order to survive. That is, the mechanisms that marginalize certain persons of color may turn into a cultural capital in other settings.What does it imply to have more than one identity? Is there a cultural conflict, a conflict of values? Our identity as members of the human species should bring together diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural groups that may see each other as enemies, or even as subhuman, genetically inferior, and undesirable. Yet, our capacity to conceive and create new knowledge; to reflect, accumulate, and transfer information and experiences from one generation to the next (the quintessence of homo sapiens sapiens) separates human beings not only from each other, into opposite sociocultural groups, but also from other primates. Chimps, gorillas, and other primates and mammals can feel, recognize, and mimic symbolic codes taught by others, and even generate certain symbols. Yet, humans can create or overcome social barriers. The acquisition of human communicative competence with mastery of codes and concepts requires a clear understanding of one's own position in a given cultural setting (i.e., a clear definition of the self). A person's ability to define their identity in different ways in order to function effectively in different settings and cultural contexts is clearly related to their quest for survival and success. I want to argue here is that there is an intimate relation between people's capacity to endure hardships, challenges, and difficult situations in life (that is what we call resilience), and their ability to redefine themselves in order to function effectively in new social, cultural...

A Psychological Profile of Acculturation, Ethnic Identity and Teaching Efficacy among Latino In-service Teachers

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