Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

After talking with three people in my neighborhood, I gathered their perspectives on culture and diversity.


41 year old white male
Culture means belonging to a certain group of people. This group shares similarities in beliefs and the way they live life. Diversity relates to culture because diversity refers to these different groups (cultures) living in the same place or location. 


10 year old African American female
Culture means sharing the same language and ideas with other people, like your family. She wasn't quite sure what diversity meant so I talked to her a little about it. She then said it means that people are different but yet can live in the same place. For example, at my school, we have different types of people, but we all go to school together. 


65 year old grandmother from Bolivia 
Culture is sharing similar traditions and beliefs with other people that are important to you. Diversity means bringing these different cultures together and sharing and learning with each other. We sat and talked at the neighborhood park one afternoon. She was asking me how much time I got to spend off of work with my new baby. I told her that I got to spend several months off with her but that most American working women only get 6-12 weeks off. She told me that in Bolivia, mothers get the first two years off. It was difficult to talk with her because of her language barrier, but I would love to know if they get paid for this time off and if their professional position is held for them while they are off. It was interesting talking with her. She lives with her daughter's family who live on my street.


What I realized after talking with others about diversity and culture is that they understand the basics of what culture means. They referred to differences in language, beliefs, and traditions, but they did not refer to the deeper meaning of culture. No one referred to the day to day interactions with others or a person's thinking and perspectives about things as culture. The idea that culture is learned from those around you was not mentioned in our conversations. I think that most people see culture as Janet Gonzalez-Mena explained it. They see the tip of the iceberg. The cultural differences that are obvious, but they do not understand that there are much deeper aspects of culture that lie below the surface. I believe that if we all had a complete understanding of the meaning of culture and diversity then people would be more understanding of our culturally differences. 

My Family Culture

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.

I would bring:

1-My Bible- I will need spiritual guidance throughout this journey and the Bible will help my family and I get through this hardship. If the people of our new destination speak English, I will share a few of my favorite Bible verses. If not, I can only show them what it looks like. The Bible represents the faith of my family and gives us hope for the future. 

2- My family photo albums- These albums are my prize possessions. They are the one thing that I can not leave without. These albums hold all of my treasured memories of my wedding day, the births of my children, many family vacations and holidays, and  little moments and milestones. 


3- A collection of toy figures- This collection of figures I started when I was a young girl. I played with them and my children have played with them. Taking these with us would give my children something to play with and represent a keepsake that has been in my family for many years. 


My feelings if, upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items I brought with me:
I would be frustrated to know that I left many important things behind in my country and now have to give up two others. I would not want to leave any of them behind, but if I could only take one it would be my family photo albums. Taking my albums with me would help me keep my family culture alive as we adapt to the new culture around us. These are moments that I want to treasure forever and having the album to look at helps me to remember and visualize them. It will also help me to keep the family culture within my own children.


After thinking about experiencing a situation like this, I began thinking about immigrants who come to America not knowing our culture or language. I thought deeply about how frustrating and sad they must feel. It would be frustrating not being familiar with anything in the new country and sad to leave many of your family traditions behind. It gives me a new sensitivity for those people who struggle to learn the English language and adjust to American culture.