Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I enjoyed talking with different people to get their thoughts on what is culture and diversity means to them. There were some similarities and there were differences in the responses I received from all three. The definition of culture all reflected what we have learned thus far in the course; live, their beliefs, what they eat, and their religious beliefs.

 One of the friends I talked with considers their family Jehovah Witnesses and they live and practice a different set of rules when it comes to celebrating holidays. They do not engage birthday celebrations, Easter or any other “normal “holiday. They are a very close net group of people that believe in working for their religious kingdom. They did not have any different set of rules when it came to what they eat such as different meats. But that was not so when I talked with a Muslin friend with several children attending public school.

 
Their culture clothing for everyday wears, inside and outside the house; and clothing required in specifically religious contexts. The attire was women and girls wore veils (hijab). The culture has strict rules on what they eat such no pork and some do not eat beef. The family studied the Qur'an (bible) and followed the guidance of the rules within the content of the Qur’an. The family celebrates two major religious observances each year, Ramadan and Hajj, and corresponding holidays connected with each one. During these celebrations the children are excused from school to participate in these events. The third friend I talked with was from Mexico and this was w very interesting conversation.

 I was familiar with the other two culture believes and family values but the beliefs of the Latino family gave me an insight on how to better serve the children from Mexico. I believed that people from Mexico shared the same culture “norms” and were all intertwined but this was far of being true.  My friend is from Mexico some of their culture values and traditions they stress the importance of close extended family relationships, the strict roles of males as respected providers and females as trustworthy abnegate mothers, and the need for children’s absolute obedience in exchange for parental love and protection. They are very religious beliefs are of the Catholic faith. They want their children to have the best education possible and learning English as a second language weighs heavily on the expectations of the children.

When I asked about their thoughts of diversity the answer were very similar they all believed people need to learning about the cultures of other people and respect the difference. They all really stressed the fact they want their children to be aware and respect the beliefs, values and traditions of others, but to never forget about their own families identity values and beliefs. The families understood the importance of knowing the culuture and divserty of other families provide children the richness and values of others. they also are lesrning about the people around them  as discussed in the video ""Culture Diversity".

I was pleased to learn I shared the same ideas the three groups of people I talked with. We need to hold on to our own cultural values and beliefs but be willing to embrace others for whom and what their families are so we can live a true diverse society.