Ethnic and social identities should be more clearly defined for the success of individuals in those groups, said Kwame Anthony Appiah in a lecture entitled “On Being Oneself” on Monday.
“I think it’s very suitable to discuss soul-making here, beneath all these Jesuit names,” commented Appiah upon taking the podium in Gaston Hall.
A prominent scholar in the field of personal and political identity, Appiah argued that the process of identifying with a group, or soul-making, is important.
“Without identity, there is no freedom,” Appiah said.
Gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation and physical form affect how one perceives oneself and how society behaves towards individuals who associate with various identities, he said.
These identities can create constraints that determine the life one leads, Appiah said.
Different groups can be included or excluded from official recognition from society, said Appiah, who used the example of the lack of same-sex marriage legislation.
“To the extent that we are all equal, the state should owe us the same rights. A government should care equally for the lives of all its citizens,” Appiah said.
Current ethnic and social identities should be made more coherent, giving the individuals who associate with various groups a better chance for a successful life, Appiah said. The process of making gender, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, religious and physical identities less ambiguous also advances society and humanity, he said.
Reactions to the lecture were mixed.
“You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are,” asserted graduate student Mikoom Yemaam, who said that she disagreed with the idea of self-discovery through group identity.
Other students claimed not to strongly identify with ethnic or social groups.
“I don’t identify with black culture. At Georgetown I was forced to do that, although in a way I didn’t. Identities are socially constructed and incoherent. I am an American,” commented Keren Jones (CAS ‘03), who was raised in a middle-class, military, African-American home.
Georgetown Professor Joseph Palacias brought his Latino Sociology class to the lecture.
Palacias said that he felt that Appiah’s speech provided an opportunity to reflect on identity.
“Slow down to think about the importance of identity. Soul-making makes us better Americans. Protecting minorities is good for the country because in doing so it makes us all better people,” Palacias said.
Appiah’s perspectives on race, identity and society are controversial, as was his move this year from Harvard University to Princeton University. The African-American studies department at Harvard has experienced something of an exodus of professors this year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education., due to concerns that Harvard’s new president is not fully committed to affirmative action and to the strength of the department.
Appiah is a native of Ghana and studied at Cambridge University.
