Perspectives on Diversity and Culture
For this blog assignment I spoke to my mother over the phone (she is Colombian), a Colombian colleague from work, and a foreign colleague from Pennsylvania. My mother and my local colleague answer very similar to the questions about culture and diversity. When explaining their culture, they touched on most of the things that we have learned that would be considered surface culture. Both my mother and my Colombian colleague touched on food, music, customs, and holidays. My mother described diversity as the things that make us different from others. She related it back to culture and the differences we share with others. My Colombian colleague describes diversity as the different races and people we come in contact with. Even within the same country, in different cities are people from different parts of the country that have different customs and traditions.
My colleague from Pennsylvania was completely different from the other two people I interviewed. Her answers were a lot of more deep and varied from what the others answered. Now it might have been a difference in age and culture but either way I enjoyed her answers very much. This is how my colleague from Pennsylvania answered the question about culture and diversity:
CULTURE
Culture for me is most easily defined as the way people are raised to believe is the correct way to treat others and how they should act themselves. It has so many different aspects that are involved in its makeup that to only give attention to one of those elements would greatly diminish how everything is used and, for each culture, works completely cohesively. The way a community behaves is completely dependent on its culture. If people were to be born and mature on a secluded island how would they act? Would they act entirely as another known culture without having any influence? It is impossible to know how these people would come to behave but it allows us to reflect on the fact that cultures are at all times evolving. Cultures are also rooted in the history of a people. The idea of culture itself is represented in both the definition of the word and also the practice of it in everyday actions.
DIVERSITY
As an American, diversity is something my nation prides itself on having in all parts of the country. It is the thing that one person can experience in both a high school classroom and within a six block radius in a metropolitan area. Diversity is not made from having multiple ethnic groups enclosed in a small area but rather is defined from a mix of cultural upbringings. In the United States the most apparent diversity is exemplified through the multiple languages that are used all over the United States. It is true that English is our official language but it is almost a guarantee that every American has been in a setting where they were not able to clearly communicate with their countrymen because of a lack of a common tongue. This is merely one example of the height of diversity in the United States. Diversity is not something that can be based on physical appearance either. The socioeconomic component is also a major influence on diversity within a population. In the United States, where the largest group is the middle class, a foreigner will take great note of this and its effect on the nation’s people. The differences among the working, middle and upper class all play a major role in the diversity that defines the United States as a nation.
I believe my colleague touched on several aspects of surface as well as deep culture when she spoke about the language as well as values. Defining culture as being taught what is “right” and how to treat others was something I had not thought about. From the three people that I interviewed I feel like there was nothing really omitted but just maybe not deep enough for thought. Thinking about culture and diversity in this was made me think of it more as a social aspect, depending on the people around you, and not so much on where you are. I really enjoyed getting this different definitions of culture and diversity.
Teaching Cafeteritos 