My understanding of the definition of comfort zone is that it is a space shared by a group of people who are at ease with one another. They may not have to know each other but all of them share something in common, most commonly race, which allow them to blend in. This is often a way of self-segregation and psychologizing “other,” race, and ethnicity.
It is thus common to assume that comfort zones, those that are based on race at least, are between people of the same race. But is that really the case? If you take an African American middle-class girl, who has gone to an all white school and lived in an all white neighborhood all her life, for example, she probably would feel really uncomfortable if you stuck her in a group of all black students. While she may appears to be blending in physically to an outsider because of her skin color, through her own eyes that have always seen only white people, she would feel like the only goose in a group of ducks. And yet, if she is in a group of white students, those white students who don’t know her would think she is sticking out like a sore thumb. So where is this girl comfort zone? Does she not have a racially based comfort zone then?
I speak of this through my own experience. Growing up in America, I never really see a large group of Vietnamese congregating at one place. So when I was little, whenever I go with my parents to some Vietnamese event, I never felt really comfortable b/c the scene was not familiar to me. I was more comfortable with a crowd of white and black people b/c those are people who I see at school, never mind the fact that would probably be the only Asian in the crowd. Even cultural and social clubs that I join, my comfort zones, are filled with people of diverse background so I never really have a racialized comfort zone.
If I really have to choose, I would say that being in a racially diverse group/place makes me feel most comfortable, like I am blending in. So what do you guys think? Does racialized comfort zone have to be one w/ people of the same race? If it is not, then does that make it a racialized comfort zone? If the answer is yes for the first question, then where does that leave people like that girl in my hypothetical scenario and myself?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would have to agree with you. I don't believe that comfort zones should be exclusively based on race. And I don't think they necessarily are all the time.
ReplyDeleteI often find myself in your situation. After immigrating, I have always been around multi-ethnic and multi-racial populations. Somewhere in there, I seem to have lost my own cultural understandings and whenever my parents would take me to Armenian or Bulgarian gatherings, I too felt uncomfortable like you. Perhaps because I was never so involved, but also because I never truly understood my customs since I wasn't around enough to learn them.
I have since then felt most comfortable around those whom I interact with on a daily basis. Most of the people I see and hang out on a daily basis are brown. I rarely find myself being the only white person, I just never see it that way. But what's more, is that it's not really pointed out either unless there is a social context in which there are people that do not know me.
So to answer your question, a comfort zone does not have to be racialized, although many times it is. I also don;t think you blend in physically, but certainly you feel most comfortable around those sharing similar views as you.
I really like this interpretation of the comfort zone. I feel that this is a more accurate depiction of comfort zones. Yes, I do think that there are some racialized comfort zones, but I feel like these comfort zones bring people together through the common interest of their respective culture rather than color. When I look around campus and in my own life, I find that comfort zones are more often defined by interests than by skin color.
ReplyDeleteEvery year SLU sets up dozens of tables in the quad to facilitate students’ ability to explore the various organizations and clubs on campus. When you look at any one table, there are a multitude of races. People of all races join any one club (which most usually leads to the formation of friends and eventually your comfort zone), not because of their race but because they are interested in the subject matter of the club. The most obvious ones to me are the political organizations. Students of all races join these clubs because they share common political ideologies. Another big one is intramural sports. These individuals form a comfort zone based on their shared common interest of playing sports.
However, as I reread what I just wrote, I wonder if I am negating the existence of racialized comfort zones?