Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture


The first person that I spoke with about culture and diversity was my sister. She stated that culture was who you are and the things you and your family does. She thought that diversity was how you are different from others. The second person that I spoke to was one of my coworkers that is Caucasian and a different culture. She believed that culture was the traditions, language, beliefs, and values that you have. She thought that diversity is the differences that you have with other people. The final person that I spoke to was my brother. He stated that culture was how you are brought up and diversity was differences that you have with other people.

 

The answers that I received from the three people were all very similar. All of them hit diversity on the head when they talked about the differences that there are among people. I believe this is the definition that we have been learning and we have also been learning how to accept and learn about these differences. I also think they all found culture to come from their families which is what we have been learning is where you get culture from. As stated in the video “Culture and Diversity” our family helps us learn our culture and if they don’t teach us we will learn about it elsewhere. I think none of them touched on how to work on the differences or that many cultures have similarities and differences.

 

I think learning and understanding what other people think about culture and diversity can be very insightful. When we know how other define both of these it helps us to know how other people think. When we know how other people think we can help to change their definition if it is incorrect and how to expand on it and help them learn more if that is the issue. Hearing the views of my family and friends help me to see that everyone thinks about culture and diversity differently and that’s why it is important to learn about people before making any judgments. 

 

Saturday, March 15, 2014

My Family Culture



One of the three items I would choose is my family photo album book. I have a large photo book that has pictures of from my husband’s and my childhood to adulthood. This photo book also has pictures of my children growing up and all of the things we have done together as a family. The second item I would take is a book I have about African Americans in History. This book shows lots of the individuals that allow me to be where I am today. The final thing I would bring is a necklace that I got from my mother that had been passed down. This necklace is a cross and shows the religious part of my life.

Each of these items have different meanings to my life. The photo album I think would be easy to show others the importance and significance that they have in my life.  People would be able to see my family and see the different holiday traditions that we have. The book would also be easy to explain since it shows how each person paved the road for equal rights which allows me the freedoms I have today. The final item is very sentimental and would be easy to talk about how family is the basis of my culture.

I would be very devastated if I was only allowed to keep one item. I think the item that I would have to keep though is the photo album since these memories I could never get back. I would not want to give up the necklace either but at least I would still have visual images of my family and be able to show people the significance of my family.  I think this exercise allowed me to see how important having traditions within your culture and family are. I am proud to have these items to show who I am and I think more things should be done so that my grandchildren down the road can have these things as well.