Persepectives on Diveristy & Culture

 The four people I talked with this week about culture and diversity were of different ethnicity, race, class, religion, age, and gender. 
Below is a list of the people I spoke with and their definitions

Parker age 19 and male -
* Culture - the history, tradition, and overall way of life for a specific group of people
* Diversity - differences in physical appearances, and ethnicity
Pam - Pentecostal 
* Culture - What you are taught from your ancestors and not necessarily where your from (your environment)
* Diversity - all race, creed, color, religion
April - Black, Female
* Culture - any group of people's language, art, music, religious, belief, clothing (dress), & traditions/values
* Diversity - an understanding that society is made of various cultural, ehtnic, racial,  & religious groups that create one global community
Gwinn -  Native Americann
* Culture - Our native language, our food, our way of living, and our native regalia
* Diveristy - (no response)

Reflection

• The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in my class on diversity and culture that are included in these examples are that of culture comes from our experiences in life and our traditions not necessarily the environment in which we are raised or grow up.  Dr. Janet Gonzalez-Mena talks about culture and diversity being a set of unconscious rues that govern everything we do.  As Parker stated it's the overall way of life for a specific group of people.  Yet what Pam states is that it is what we are taught and not necessarily what is learned from our environment.   
• Through these definitions some aspects of culture and diversity were omitted such as that some children are not raised with their family as Dr. Gonzalez-Mena stated.  They are with caregivers outside of the home which may in turn allow them to develop the culture of someone else versus their own family culture.  Gwinn and April's definition of culture lend to the definition of "surface culture" more so than to culture from what where we are taught, experience, and how we are raised.  
• In thinking about these definitions listed above of culture and diversity they influenced my own thinking about these topics was challenged.  I have gained a great about of knowledge on what culture is just in the past two weeks.  I can see that culture is a complex make up of everything that we are and everything that we do.  Diversity is a benefit as Dr. Gonzalez-Mena points out to us.  Their definitions were very general in terms of what culture and diversity means.  They did not give specific examples of their own cultures and diversity but rather a general definitions.  

As I have mentioned before I live in such a diverse area with a wide variety of people.  The cultural differences of families really stand out around me.  I am sure mine does to them as well.  Our celebrations are different, our holidays, and even our daily lives of what we see as acceptable behavior is a challenge to us all.  It has especially become a challenge to children.