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• 1 2021-01-24T22:29:03+00:00 Life in Brooklyn, New York 15 Jackie's life and upbringing plain 2021-03-30T18:08:50+00:00 A major part of Jackie’s cultural identity stems from her time with her grandparents. However, growing up she spent much of her time with her cousins who lived relatively close in a somewhat contained Syrian community of Brooklyn. In the below clip, Jackie describes her experiences growing up in Bay Ridge. She expresses the differences she felt as an Arab American amongst the varied ethnic groups. These differences are interesting for this project as they highlight the family status as other, despite their concerted efforts to Americanise the younger generations. The close relationship Jackie had with her family and cousins growing up is shown the be a response to her early years where those at school did not understand her and saw her as outside the mould of the traditional Irish or Scandinavian American.
  Jackie and her sisters' schooling experiences were very different from their brothers. Whilst Jackie and her sisters were sent to the local public school her brothers were placed in private schools so they could focus more heavily on their academics. This gendered dynamic prevailed throughout their college years when her brothers went to the University of Pennsylvania (where her father had also gone) and despite good grades, Jackie went to the local city college. The below clip shows Jackie's reflection on these differing experiences, where she expands on the cultural reasoning behind it. The second clip explores the family priority to Americanise through both their business and education practices. The clip expands on the push to Americanise, with Jackie reflecting on her father's life and the implications it had on her own. The final clip explores the ramifications of Americanisation, with Jackie describing how it pushed her to hide her Syrian heritage for the fear of being vilified by those around her.