Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

• Call, write to, or talk to at least three friends, family members, acquaintances, and/or colleagues. Include at least one person who you believe is in some ways culturally different from you (a different gender, race, class, religion, abilities, age, etc.).
• Ask each person to share:
• • Their definition of culture
  • Their definition of diversity
• Then reflect on the answers you received and ask yourself:
• Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?
• Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?
• In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

This was a fun assignment. My friends and I often have these types of discussions. I decided to ask a new co-worker who just started working at one of the other preschools owned by my boss,  then I asked my Japanese harmonica player friend, and finally I asked my step-father.

Shannon: Vietnamese female, age 28. 

"Culture to me means the way I was brought up. My parents are traditional but I am very Americanized. We have Vietnamese food all the time when I prefer American food and music."

"Diversity means all the different ways people are connected to each other. Diverse means varied. There is a variety of cultures in American and that is what I love. You can be from one ethnic family and have a completely different culture and a variety of friends and interests. I love America!"

Tetsuya: Japanese male, age 50-something.

"Culture is your family heritage and traditions. This is what you teach your children. Sometimes it changes when you change. American culture is very popular in Japan but it is only a certain part of American culture that is popular: the hip hop and the rock-a-billy cultures."

"Diversity means all the many types of people living somewhere. Japan is not very diverse. America is very diverse."

Charles: Black male, age 65.

"Culture is your family and your likes, everything about you. You can have a different culture than your family though. Like your son...he likes Korean culture and is probably more closely associated with that culture than the 'black' culture. Culture is your language and musical tastes, your food preferences, your religion."

"Diversity is just something political that is used to tell others how to think about others and to make others feel bad about how they treat each other. When I was a boy we just followed the rules of the Bible and treated others with respect no matter who they were or what they looked like. We followed Dr. King's advice and accepted and respected each other not because we were different, but because we were all the same... humans and men. Especially during the war."

The idea that culture makes us who we are was included in all of the answers. Each person clearly sees culture as being the tool we use to learn about ourselves through our family and other families.

The answers about diversity were more or less the same in that they reflected a knowledge about how every population or country has its own ways of being diverse and that America is the most diverse for these three people based on their own experiences.

My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

Blog about all of the following:

• A description of the three items you would choose
• How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you
• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you
• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise.

The first item I would bring with me would be my digital camera that I use to document everything that happens in my life.

The next item I would bring would be my 3TB portable hard drive that has everything important in my life on it. From all of my photos, family trees, digital scrapbooks, family recipes and stories, diaries, medical information, contact information, identification forms, translation books, etc. I can also tether it to my camera with an adapter.

Finally, I would bring my small bag of batteries, extra storage cards, and chargers.

I chose the above because to me, my culture is universal and I am a chameleon. I can adapt to my surroundings, learn quickly, and clothing, food, shelter, will come once I get to my destination. I do not hold any one thing as most important to remind me of who I am and where I came from other than photos. I tell stories with those. They show my life as it was, is and will be. As long as my immediate family is with me, my life is complete. I can make new friends, learn a new way of life and incorporate my way of being in the world into another way and create a while new way of being in the world.

If I had to give up two of the items I would give up the camera and small bag. I would keep the important information and photos and would be able to buy a camera and other accessories as time went on. I would not be able to replace the memories and important information on the portable hard drive.