Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

With everything that I have learned so far in this course about culture and diversity, I was very curious to hear what others would have to say about these topics. Honestly, before I took this course this is something that would take me a minute to talk about so I could gather my thoughts. I think culture and diversity is something we come in contact with on a daily basis but not topics we tend to talk about all the time. Or maybe I should say they are topics that hit us in the face but not something we think deeply about. Each one of the people I contacted was different in their age, religion, and ethnicity. One of my friends I had to email and when I received her response I really enjoyed reading it and how she viewed culture and diversity. I wanted to share the email and her response to everyone. Here it is:

“When I think of "culture" I visualize different races, their customs and beliefs.  My family is of Italian descent and examples of our culture are large Sunday family dinners consisting of macaroni and gravy, loud conversations that may appear to others as arguing, and a lot of affection and love.  I live in a neighborhood which is primarily occupied by those of Indian descent.  I enjoy observing their culture.  I see women who are attentive mothers and wives. Women who seem to be more passive than American women and men who work hard to provide for their families. Their dress, their cooking, religion and their language are all part of their culture. “

“Diversity is the differences in our cultures.  Diversity, in the recent years, has become a word synonymous with "tolerance for differences in people."  I am a strong proponent of loving people for who they are, and not judging on cultural differences.  I believe that you can learn from, teach and love people from all walks of life.”

I love the example she gave of her loud conversations with her family and how it could be seen by others as arguing. Without knowing her family and her culture it is impossible to know that is normal conversation to them and nothing is wrong. This is why I feel it is so important to take the time to get to know others that are different, inquire about their culture and ask questions. We will never know anything unless questions are asked. Someone could go their whole life thinking this family hated one another because they assumed what they heard was arguing.

The other two people involved in this assignment gave an answer about culture and diversity that were very similar. They defined culture as the traditions people hold, how they celebrate holidays and which ones they do, where they come from, meaning race and ethnicity and the language they speak. They spoke about diversity as the differences between people and how we come together and accept everyone. I received the old saying “we all put our pants on one leg at a time” which I think fits pretty well. They both also said they wouldn’t live their lives as certain people chose to, but they respect them and accept them for who they are.  

I got the impression that we still think a lot about surface culture when asked how you define culture. We instantly think about the holidays people celebrate and the language they speak, as did two of the people I spoke to instantly said. We don’t tend to see deep culture because we don’t take the time to see that far into people’s lives and families.  I agree with the last sentence written by my friend in her email, “I believe that you can learn from, teach and love people from all walks of life”. I just don’t think we take the time to learn from others and dig deeper into the lives of others to expand our knowledge of the diversity and cultures around us.