Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Merriam-Webster (2011) defines culture as "the customary beliefs, social forms and materials traits of a racial, religion or social groups; also the characteristic features of everyday existence (as a diversion or a way of life shared by people." Merriam-Webster (2011) defines diversity as "the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. The inclusion of different types of people in a group or organization." In this assignment, I discussed culture and diversity with member of my family and my husband's family to gain a better understanding of how others define culture and diversity. The people that I chose were from various racial backgrounds, cultural backgrounds and age groups for a better understanding of how others view culture and diversity.

Their definition of culture.

1. People that come from a background that is not American. ~84 year old African-American Grandmother
2. People that have different values and different beliefs. ~49 year old Italian sister-in-law
3. People that belong in a certain group because of their appearance and language. ~24 year old Caucasian brother-in-law

Their definition of diversity.

1.  People that look different and talk different from you. ~84 year old African-American Grandmother
2.  People that believe different ideas and beliefs. ~49 year old Italian sister-in-law
3.  People from different backgrounds that come together and accept the differences. ~24 year old Caucasian brother-in-law

Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course and included in the answers I received-what are some examples?

      This course has described culture as more than surface features like looks or traits mentioned by many of my family members above. Culture also includes religion, beliefs, values, language and how we function in society daily.

What aspects have been omitted-and by what are some examples of such omission?
     The aspects that were omitted from above were religion and daily existence in society. They touched on the surface objects like differences in appearances and languages.

In what ways has thinking about other people's definition of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?
    I can relate to their definitions because prior to taking this course, I only considered culture as things that I could identify on the surface such as appearances and birth countries. This course has expanded my knowledge base that culture encompasses so much more including beliefs,  religion, values and life in general. It also is important to respect a person and accept differences in order to create a world that is comfortable and diverse for everyone.

References

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online (2011). Retrieved on July 16, 2011 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

My Family Culture Exercise

The overall purpose of this assignment/exercise was to imagine that my country was devastated by a major catastrophe and the emergency management instructed everyone to evacuate to another area. My family and I are only allowed to carry three 3 small items in addition to one pair of clothes. The new country is completely different from the life that we are accustomed  and might serve as our permanent location. Follow me on this journey as I share my family culture, significance of the items and the feelings about this new transition.

The objects that I would carry with me on this new journey include: the heavy white family bible, the black  family album with pictures from the past and an extra notebook with paper. The family bible was chosen because it has birth dates and detailed family history that I can share with others about my family. The family album supports the information in the family bible and it can be used to store the new memories from the new area. The extra notebook would serve as a journal to document the new life and the new experiences in the new countries.

Life in the new country is a transition and learning the new ways is interesting until we received devastating news that we would have to let go of two personal items. We were slowing adapting but keeping close to our family traditions of meeting and spending time with each other. We tried to make the transition easier by reflecting on the past days and share our new daily experiences with each other. After much deliberation, we decided to part with the pictures and the empty notebook rather than the family bible. The reason that we decided not to part with the bible is because of the family history written in the book and the comfort that the Bible provides in times of distress.

This exercise solidified what I have already come to learn about myself, which is that my family history is very important to me. I would rather let go of all my materialistic belongings than to let go of the information about my family. My mother and grandmother raised me to be proud of the family history whether they were slaves or millionaires that each individual contributed to my family in some form or another. I tried to provide my children with the same experiences and share information about the family through pictures or stories so that they will learn have the same pride that I have about my family. The insights gained about my family culture is that we are unified and very accepting of any or all changes/ challenges that we encounter. The insights gained diversity and cultural differences is that "variety is truly the spice of life". We can learn from each other and enhance each others lives in so many ways because of our background and cultural experiences.