Transcultural Interview Essay Bridging Culture: Dominican in America Anthony Pointer City College of New York ENGL 21002: Writing For Social Science C.Rodwell February 25h, 2025 Relative to the human rights practice in DR, Knowing my friend Yashua with his mother side being Dominican Republic while his dad side is Jamaican . I have interviewed him about his view of living in America his whole life. Being 19 years old, he grew up in Dyckman since he could remember his mother’s touch. His family lived in America for countless years, so growing up he primarily used English with his peers in order to converse with them. As well as, he struggles with actually talking with his family because his Spanish is butchered. Growing up in a bilingual world shaped his understanding of the difference of the world. Such diversity when growing up in New York allowed him to meet new people and understand different cultures. He was a student from City Tech in Jay Street. Having been out of college and school for around 3 Years now because, during his first attempt at college, I dropped out. His major at Bronx Community College is Radiology technology mainly because my sister suggested it. His family being a big part of his life, being a man living in America. He saw the effect of gender inequality while living in a Dominican household. Dealing with the indifference of being a man because he would get luxurious treatment making him uncomfortable. As he wouldn’t see men or women while making peers, instead he saw someone who could understand him. His sister was a motivational speaker for his college major, adolescent advice. He loved learning about distinctive cultures, especially the ones that are his own. Each side from his background brings something unique, from traditions and languages to food and history. Adapting to the ability to adjust to different languages and methods of communication while balancing his identity in informal settings since he was surrounded by a variety of groups. He saw how sexism affects the men and women within his own culture. Due to harsh amounts of discrimination/segregation living in america. Dominicans stereotypes are the result of America sexism. This is one issue for women while being a minority in America. Another is the linguistic/language barrier between Americans and Dominicans. Dominican as his grandmother was an immigrant later, so English was a foreign language for her. It was a strong link for her so he had to interpret words for both her and others. Through conducting this interview I got to understand and connect with him. He spoke about a holiday his family celebrates. On the 24th of December, his grandma makes a bunch of food for the family in order to come together and have a good time, laughter. So everyone has a good time just before Christmas. With the Dominican culture very in tune with including everyone even in their neighborhood. Everyone knows each other and he explains the beauty of his culture. Finally, the stereotype that is made about dominican having a severe impact on living in America. Due to the misconception of being in the Dominican republic with gangs and drugs. They face a lot of discrimination, For example Yashua Mother is Dominican and Father is Jamaican. Many could assume Yashua is Black or Dominican which can border their perception of how they see themselves. That emotionally disconnects him from his culture of being a proud Dominican. The Dominican culture is complex, breaking down and truly understanding it making it simpler to have interactions about the proudness of this culture. I wouldn’t want anyone to take is culture to assume it as a race or ethnicity it not either. I will be interviewing my friend Yashua who is from Dyckman from the Bronx at the age of 19. At the time of conducting this interview walking home from His College of Bronx Community college, basically shiver. Wearing a Black Nike Tech, washing repeatedly that same week. A1:How has being Dominican affected you growing up in America? Y1: It was affected positively, since it is such a nice culture, I was raised with more privileges. A2:
next question, how do you define being Dominican? Y2:Being Dominican is basically a family and alot of bonding. Being a closed off culture. A3:How does your Dominican heritage influence your daily life?
Y3:It affected me daily when going home because his Dominican grandmother treated me really well and made sure I ate at all because it’s kind of a sexist culture. I won’t lie. Oh, really?
So they care more about the men than the women. Yeah. How did this make you feel?? I felt indifferent because I was benefiting from it the most. My grandma would make sure I would cherish gifts under the christmas tree as well as food in my stomach. A4:Next question, what Dominican traditions are most important in your family? Y4:There is a holiday on the 24th. I forgot the name of it in my culture but My grandmother takes it very seriously and makes a lot of food on that day. you told me, right?.
And you guys celebrated specifically. Yeah. I see.
A5, how do you connect with Dominican culture while living outside of DR? Y5:The thing is that my neighborhood is full of Dominican people in general, so it’s not very hard.
It feels like you’re in the Dominican republic, but like a more advanced version. DR itself? What are the differences you’ve seen in your neighborhood from DR ?? DR is a broken down road and every cheap quality. The policing is brutal because they would terrorize the girls in the country no matter the age of it being 14 any age. A6:Yeah… What’s your favorite Dominican dish, and how does it reconnect you to DR while living in America? Y6:
My favorite dish is that you arvores compou, because the food, the Spanish food itself, is so good and so seasoned that it reminds me like that is really like levels to this. A7:Yeah, like, is it hard to like, um make the dish while living in America? Y7:Like far in the products and stuff?
huh? No, like supermarkets, specifically for arrangements like my neighborhood there’s a one called dance. uh, well, there’s a bunch of the Broms and stuff. A8:Okay.
Next question, How does your family celebrate important life events in a Dominican way? Y8::We don’t like it at all.
Not really celebrated. decided to see my second party. You guys say, um, your songs in Spanish sometimes? because mostly.
Oh, really? grandma. okay, okay, okay. Um, I feel like that’s common for like usually the grandma not to, like speak English, but I feel like they immigrate later. so, like, maybe that’s what, yeah. She came to the country at like 13 years old, so that makes sense. A9:
How have you ever experienced their stereotypes about being an American and how do you respond to them? Y9: Yes but personally, me . I don’t do anything..
Yeah, it’s just something like going to say to you. Yeah, yeah, I. A10:Last question, what aspects of Dominican culture do you wanna pass down to the future? Y10: Definitely the food and the family. A:okay. All right, Y: thank you for your time, The complexities of gender roles and cultural identity. While being very young, there were very significant moments of change in me . Seeing instances of sexism in my culture of being African-American. For example ,when my father declares the kitchen is a woman’s place in front of my mother. This happened at a very immature age, that made me view the female society differently. As such when I would get fed first by my grandmother or just randomly ask if I was alright. It became normal but seems abnormal because even though my sister would do one little thing she would get yelled at and reprimanded so harshly. However, I would do a lot but never receive much chastise from any adult lady in my family. The reason was me being the only boy, they felt they had to take so much care of me. Within this time, I understood the deeper implication this has on the effect on women. This connection made the conversation during the interview more inclusive, being it had me ponder on more questions after realizing how reflective this question is for similar upbringings as the two of us. It deepens our understanding of the impact women feeling with the neglect of males. This restructure of these gender norms, where male and women should be able to express themselves in whichever way they want. Another topic discussed that was very different for me was Language. English was my first language, so it came naturally for me. But I would be open to of course learning a new language such as Spanish to communicate with others such as his grandmother, who immigrated at a young age. Also, getting some food from his culture he recommends “ arvores compou”. I like his relaxationess where he essentially does care about what people actually say about his culture. Stereotypes are very dangerous even leading to death for some people. References Yashua, J.(2025 February 24th.) Bridging culture: Being Dominican In America( P. Anthony Interviewer) [P […] ” Transcultural Interview Essay “
