Document 17: "Cultural Heritage Questions," ca. 1981, personal files of Terry Wolverton. Photocopy in author's personal collection. 2 pp.



Introduction

   The white women's antiracism group (see Document 16) also explored their own white identities. Two members of the group devised a cultural heritage exercise that asked women to discuss their backgrounds in terms of family, community, religion, geographic region, and national origin.



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CULTURAL HERITAGE QUESTIONS

1. PERSONAL CULTURE

1) Write your full name.
2) Write one thing for each of the following:

A Food you like; an Activity you enjoy; a Ritual you perform regularly; an Object that is special to you; a Value you hold; an Attitude or Opinion that you feel strongly about; a Skill that you excell in.

2. FAMILY CULTURE (Past)

1) Write your family name.
2) Write one thing for each of the following:

A Food that you positively associate with your family; Do the same for Activity, Ritual, object, Value, Attitude or Opinion.

3) Something important that I learned from my family is…
4) Something special about my family is…..

3. COMMUNITY CULTURE

1. Past: Write the name of the community (neighborhood) that you associate with your growing up years.

2) Something special about my community (neighborhood) is…
3) Present: List the communities that you now feel a part of.
4) Write the name of the community that you feel closest to now.
5) Write a Food, Activity, Ritual, Object, Value, Attitude or Opinion that represents this community.
6) Something special about my community is….

4. RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING

1) Name the religion in which you were raised.
2) Write a Food, Activity, Ritual, Object, Value, Attitude or Opinion that represents this religion.
3) Something special about my religious upbringing is….

5. GEOGRAPHIC CULTURE (Region)

1) Name the region of the country that you feel closest to.
2) Write a Food, Activity, Ritual, Object, Value, Attitude or Opinion that represents this region.
3) Something special about my region of the country is….

6. NATIONAL CULTURE

1) Write the name of your country.
2) Write a Food, Activity, Ritual, Object, Value, Attitude or opinion that you posivitely identify with your country.
3) Something special about my country is….



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7. ANCESTRAL HERITAGE

1) Name your ancestral heritage.
2) How did you find this out? Who told you?
3) What kind of information do you know about your ancestral heritage?
4) Write a Food, Activity, Ritual, Object, Value, Attitude or Opinion that represents your ancestral heritage. (Pick one culture or a combination)
5) Something special about my ancestral heritage.

8. Something I learned from doing this is……

   



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