Every day people struggle with how to identify   themselves when it comes to race or ethnicity.

Living in the El Paso community, I have heard many people as well as students ask the vital question, am I Chicano(a), or Latino(a)? Some identify as Mexican-American or Hispanic.

The terms Hispanic was derived by the U.S. government in the 1970 census to refer to “a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.”

It is said that Hispanic is not a race, but just an ethnic distinction.

When you begin to truly love yourself, self-distinction is something that comes automatically because you truly know yourself.

When I think of self-identification, I think that a person knows who they are from their favorite color or what makes them angry.

Being within a group is the reason why people are particular about how they identify themselves.

Being who you really are in a group of common people is a tough task in this world to handle because many people have their own opinion on matters that don’t even concern them.

The struggle for everyone from day to day is to know—who are they?

I am a black woman in a predominantly brown community; these questions interest me as well because I honestly didn’t know that there was a separation between different groups within similar cultures.

Everyone was taught growing up that you should be proud of who you are, but how can someone be proud when they don’t know who they really are?

Being a woman in today’s world is tough due to the fact that many people still feel that a man is a better fit to run a company or the world.

But to be black in this world is scary because some people still feel that black people don’t belong in this world, although in the past, we kept the world running because we were the hired help.

I am a woman, a black woman that plans to have children one day, but it scares me as a woman and future mother to have a child and wonder if they will return home, or will I get news that they have been killed for nonsense.

When a person knows who they are, they began to love others as they would want to be loved.

The world is full of light covered in darkness and love overpowered by hate, but when everyone sees that we are all connected by the same or similar roots that have made us all exists in this world.

Roots are what make a tree stand tall and grow strong, the same way with knowing the roots of a person’s family’s heritage.

They make the person believe who they are, which makes them stand tall and strong.

It took me a long time to finally know who I am, to stand tall and strong within myself.

Whether you identify as Hispanic, Latino(a) or Chicano(a), stand tall within yourself, so that others will know who you are.

When a person finds out how to love and accept himself or herself for who they are, then that’s when they will find the answer as to who they are.

Shericka Lawrence may be reached at [email protected].