These categories often include our race, class, gender, income, and education level. Most often we are generalized by the category to which we belong. However, these categories are what society views us with, but they are not what defines us as a person. “A friend argues that Americans are fighting between the ‘historical self’ and the ‘myself’” (Rankine 104). We can say that our “historical self” is what people perceive us to be. Not only is it the category we fall into, but they are also the stereotypes that have managed to travel through time and stay with us, even if we didn't live in the era in which they were originally created . Our “historical self” is how we are perceived by people who don’t know us. On the other hand, our “self” is the person we initially are. This is the person our family and close friends know us as. It’s our personality, our attitude and who we really are as a person. However, our “self” does not have the power to protect us from what we are truly perceived to be. “However, sometimes your historical self, its white self and your black self, or your white self and its black self, come with the full force of your American positioning.” (Rankine 104). We can say that society is not what defines us, but there will be times when you realize that people only see you as the label that society gives you.