Perspectives on Diversity and Culture
By Lisa Martin
I asked
several friends and relatives for their definition of culture and diversity and
received a variety of responses. I chose a few responses from people of
different age groups and cultures, and in some ways their answers reflected
what I am being taught, and some made me think further about culture. Almost everyone
saw diversity as the differences among people and groups, and part of what
makes this country great. Here are a few samples of the responses I received.
C.S. says “customs and beliefs held
by a group”
H.A, says “Culture is the
capabilities and habits acquired by people as a member of society.”
J.D. “Knowing your heritage and all
that this includes, and not allowing others to destroy it”
A. G. “Culture is defined as the
understanding of who a person is via music, ethnicity, social beliefs, values.
For example, I am of Southern and West Indian descent, so my combined cultures
center on food, family, education, faith, and hard work.”
C. F. “Culture to me is when a group
of people share in a common interest or background and participate in very
similar behaviors because of that common interest.”
My
Italian-American friend J.D. gave a rather long answer and I did not include
his entire response above, but his main concern was the importance of knowing your
culture and history. He also warned how easy it is for your culture to be portrayed
falsely and turned into something it is not. He sighted television shows like
The Sopranos and The Jersey shore as denigrating the Italian culture. Knowing
the culture and age of the people that provided the answers, made it easier for
me to understand exactly what the person wanted to convey. C.F. was the youngest
respondent and his response made me think about the cultures we often fail to
recognize as such, like the culture of disability or the hip hop culture. These
are cultures that do not require us to be of a certain ethnic group or faith.
When I tied this answer in with the offering from the eldest respondent it all
made sense. Culture is much more than music and art or food, it is about habits
and shared attitudes. It is a topic worthy of much thought ad consideration, as
we attempt to know each other better and create a more peaceful existence.
On the
whole, the answers definitely reflect the idea of surface and deep culture, and
the focus seemed to be more so on deep culture as most of the responses
referred to values and beliefs. Very few of the respondents looked at their culture
in relation to the dominant culture, and I began to wonder how often we really
think of our personal culture in terms of the dominant culture. The more I
thought about the many definitions of culture I received, the more I thought
about the possibilities of what a culture could be, and the immeasurability of
diversity.
We should not allow others destroy our culture, or make us conform to their idea of who we should be. Culture indeed means different things to different people and diversity is immeasurable as you've noted.
ReplyDeleteDear Lisa,
ReplyDeleteit was a great experience isn't when we were talk and inquiring people's answer about culture? It reveals not only their knowledge about culture but also their personal background actually.
I love your detail observation about the age, that actually could give the different view toward culture, because I am sure nowadays the culture of the youngster can very different one of the example because of the invention of internet and social media that influence how the youngster communicate, exposed and see the world-the thing that never existed long time ago.
Great post!
Evita Kartikasari
Evita
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteYou spoke about some interesting things that I never thought to mention when talking about culture and diversity. I believe that we definitely see hip-hop as a culture because its not just part of the African American culture anymore. Culture is definitely different for our younger generation.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteAll of these answers are great. One simple thing can cause others to look at a culture in a negative way.