Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week we have been asked to speak with friends, family members, acquaintances and/or colleagues and ascertain their definitions of culture and diversity. Here are the answers I recieved:

1) From a female friend who was born and raised in Portugal before moving to England and later to the United States" I would say culture is your background, not just where you were born but how you were raised in terms of your religious beliefs and lifestyle. It's very broad for me. It's how you live your life based on your beliefs. It's not specific because everyone has different cultures and backgrounds. For me diversity is not necessarily about someone's color, its more about their culture, background and beliefs. Someone who is different from who you are and doesn't have the same views as you do. It's broader than the standard definition in terms of religion or color.  We have to take into account ethnicity, where you grew up and your family's beliefs."

2) From a female friend who moved to the United States as a young teenager from Italy in the late 1970s- "Culture is the customs or beliefs that make your nationality different and special. Diversity is different ethnicities of people coming together in peace no matter what their differences are."

3) A combined statement made by a married Jewish couple (she is in her 50s, he is in his 60s) that are dear family friends- "Culture is the combination of ethnicity, religion and nationality that you grow up in and the traditions that come with those things. It also has to do with the time period you grow up in and where you grow up.  Culture can change if you move from one place to another, say even from a  rural area to the city and vice versa. Culture is the things that bring people together as a group. Diversity means that everyone has differences due to culture and ethnicity. It means people accepting each other for  their differences in race, religion, skin color, sexual orientation, political positions, and so on. Diversity can be present within a culture. For example, even with Judaism there are subsets of culture, all with different beliefs and ways of life. Diversity is the things that make people different.

4) From my sister in law who moved to the U.S. from Argentina when she was about 11 years old- "Culture to me is like Raul and I are from Argentina so we have a different type of culture than what's over here. For example we don't celebrate Thanksgiving the way you do. The country you come from has certain things that are unique to that country. To me that's culture. Diversity is all kinds of people coming together."

Based on these responses, I can say that based on what we have learned in this course so far most people define culture based on aspects of race, ethnicity, religion and nationality. Everyone described culture (using slightly different wording) as the ways you live your life based on your beliefs. Two people identified the location of where your grow up and now reside as having influences on culture. Only one person identified culture being based on your sexual orientation or political affiliation/position. One person also identified the time period in which you grow up as having influence on your values and beliefs. I was surprised that no one identified gender roles, language or expectations adults have for children as being a part of culture.

The one area that has influenced my own thinking about these topics based on the definitions provided by my family and friends is the definition that introduces the time period and location you grow up in as having an influence on your culture. Now that I think about it, I realize how true it is. Someone growing up during the Great Depression would have very different values and beliefs than someone growing up in a period where wealth was abundant and jobs were plentiful. Situations like this truly influence your values and beliefs. For example, I know people in my parent's age group that worked for the same employer for forty or even fifty years before retiring. Today, while you still have some people who are that loyal to one employer, many have the belief that if an employer isn't catering to them, it's time to leave and find somewhere better. Another idea that was brought up by the same person talked about how there is diversity even within a culture. Looking at my own family, I see examples of that every day. There are marked differences in values and beliefs between my sister and I, despite being raised in the same household, by the same parents, and generally at the same time (we are almost 3 years apart). For example, we have conflicting views on religion, politics, education, child rearing, and even etiquette! I could go on, but I think you get the picture. This is an example of diversity within a family culture. I particularly liked the definition of diversity as people coming together despite their differences. I hope humans can learn to respect each other's differences and learn to work together to share the planet we call home.