Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

To find out about others perspectives on diversity and culture I interviewed three people.  I interviewed a seventeen year old African American boy, a 41 year old African American man and a 35 year old African American and Pilipino woman.  I spoke with three people that I thought were a little different than myself.  When I asked all three about what culture meant to them they provided similar definitions. The teenager named Mo, defined culture as “the stuff people did and lived by like traditions” (personal communication, March 20, 2015). The 41 year old man, Dominic defined culture as “the environment or surroundings that your parents grew up with then pass on to their children such as traditions” (personal communication, March 20, 2015).  Lastly, the 35 year old woman, Dariah defined culture as “peoples beliefs or backgrounds such as religion and traditions” (personal communication, March, 20, 2015).  All three had similar definitions of culture which included traditions.  In the multimedia segment, Family cultures: Dynamic interactions, according to Louis Derman-Sparks, “family culture are their beliefs, goals for their children and parenting (Laureate Education, 2011).

            I also asked for their definition of diversity.  Mo, defined diversity as “being excepting of different cultures, religions, and ethnicity” (personal communication, March, 20, 2015). Dominic, defined diversity as “an accumulation of people and cultures existing in one environment” (personal communication, March, 20, 2015).  Lastly, Dariah defined diversity as “a mixture of different cultures, beliefs, genders and nationalities” (personal communication, March 20, 2015).  All three believed that diversity included many cultures.  Two believed that diversity included different beliefs including nationality or ethnicity.  According to Harris (2008) … “one could identify diverse families via categories of race or ethnicity, region or nationality, class, sexual orientation, or religion” (p. 1411).

            In the multimedia segment, Family cultures: Dynamic interactions, Louise Derman-Sparks defined culture in two categories to include family and dominate culture.  She defined dominate culture as a cultural group where political and economics help determine the way of the world.  Dominate culture decides who has the power based on areas such as class and ethnicity (Laureate Education, 2011).  The individuals I interviewed mentioned family cultures however, dominate culture was omitted from their definition.  When I interviewed Dariah she provided the most diverse examples of growing up in two cultures due to being both African American and Pilipino.  She shared how growing up in Pilipino with a catholic background prevented her to date.  This changed however, when she moved to America at age sixteen.  She was in “culture shock” when she saw boys and girls dancing close to one another at a school dance.  This was not allowed in the Philippines. 

Dariah shared that she was raised by her grandmother in the Philippines following the Pilipino culture.  When she came to America to live with her mother at sixteen she wanted to learn more about African Americans.  Dariah said this was important to her because she felt disconnected from her African American culture.  She chose to go to a predominately black college in order to learn more about African Americans.  Dariah had entered a dominate culture of predominately African American students.  She shared a story about her roommate who had really long hair and one day she saw her remove her hair and was shocked.  Her roommate shared that she was wearing “tracks”, hair extensions.  Dariah stated that she thought her roommate would be offended by her response, however, she entertained Dariah by providing an explanation about African American hair.  Dariah shared that even though she went to a school that was predominately black she felt like she never really fit in (personal conversation, March 20, 2015).  According to Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) “children experience cultural discontinuity, especially if the program considers its way “right” and others’ “wrong” (p. 59).  From my conversation with Dariah I realized that she experienced cultural discontinuity between her African American ethnic group.  She realized she was different because she was half Pilipino and African American, however, longed to also fit in with African Americans.  She was aware that her upbringing in the Philippines was very different than what she was experiencing in American.   

            In conclusion, I learned that everyone has their own definition of what culture and diversity mean to them.  I saw how even thought their definition may have been a little different they still shared some commonalities.  I was reminded how even in our own culture we can sometimes be seen as outsiders.  Sometimes our experiences mold how we feel about what words mean.  The teenager Mo, also reminded me that it is never too early to teach the younger generation about the importance of acceptance of others no matter their beliefs or definition of culture and diversity.