Luke Davis

WRT 1020

Dr. Shea

Journal Entry #4

Animals are known to naturally develop pack mentalities, and no matter how much we
want to think of ourselves as some higher being in comparison to other species it is no secret
that we are primal beings. We separate ourselves by race, for example, as one pack. But in
reality, our race is just solely dependant on the environment in which our earliest developments
as humans occurred. Cut one person open of every race, we all bleed the same blood and are
composed of the same genetics. But regardless, our race can have a huge impact on culture
even more than that, race has its own culture in and around itself. Mainly because of the
environmental impact of each races ancestry, but again regardless each race has its own
culture. Social class also has a culture and pack mentality surrounding it, as well as gender. For
an example of races impact of a collective culture as Americans, lets explore president Barack
Obama. African Americans tend to be very united in their history of pain and struggle and
oppression, and president Obama is an embodiment of their beginning steps in overcoming
their past. Obama is an icon in American culture because of that, even though for white
Americans Obama doesnt hold the same significance as he would to an African American,
Obama is still held as an icon of sheer ability to prevail despite the odds. A soldier is an idol for
the working class, an aspiration for ones ability to be part of something bigger than them, which
is fed on by ones subconscious insecurity of not having independent significance. And within
the context of gender, there is an adherent culture as well due to embedded beliefs that men act
differently than women. This is partially moreso because of biological aspects, such as
hormones and testosterone, but regardless there is a culture behind it all as well. The question
is; are we subject to cultural influence, or do we influence culture? Or is it both? Or is culture
something bigger than us (even as a collective) that we are subject to, almost as if it is a
thinking entity in and of itself?