Valuing Culture: Beyond Surface Labels

I have witnessed moments of microaggression occurring to others and I have also experienced it as well. I have had people most recently say things to me about being a single mother and I know they aren’t trying to offend me when they say it, but it does bother me even when I try not to let it. I typically try to brush it off, but find myself replaying their words in my head often. I also have witnessed my friend,  who is Mexican, go through it when she was worried about her accent. She was worried that people couldn’t understand her and another person commented that her accent was pretty and it didn’t sound like she was from Mexico. I was amazed at what was said, but it wasn’t the first time I have seen this occur. Often times I am unsure if I should say something because I don’t want to upset or offend my friend any more, but sometimes I feel it is necessary to call the microaggressors out on it. After discussing this topic this week I found myself thinking a lot more about what I was saying to people before I actually said it. I also found myself paying attention more to what others were saying and actually witnessing microaggression more than I’ve noticed in the past

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I began a lengthy conversation with my friend regarding culture and diversity. I chose to speak with her about it because she is culturally different from me. She defined culture and diversity as an individual’s differences in terms of background, family, religion and morals. I asked her if she felt the culture and diversity are the same thing and she said she thought they were very similar except she thought that culture comes from the family. I had a brief conversation with my brother-in-law about the same topic and of course, he wasn’t as intrigued by the conversation, but he told me culture is about a group of people interested in similar things and that diversity is about ones differences. My sister thought that culture is a group of ideas, traditions, beliefs, customs and morals. She said that families can all have their own culture as well as certain social classes. She defined diversity as the differences among each person. Overall, I was impressed that everyone I spoke with felt that diversity is about ones differences and culture is about similarities. I was also pleasantly surprised that they understood that culture can come from the family. This is something I didn’t put much thought into prior to this course. I explained to my sister that what she described is what we are discussing in my class, she explained that she discussed the same topic in her master’s program a few years back.

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…

First of all, I would take my camera because it has pictures of special moment with all my loved ones on it and I can capture new memories at my new destination. The pictures on my camera would show a lot about my family culture as well.

Secondly, I would take my Kindle because I would be able to read all kinds of books, magazines and the bible to myself and my family, which is really something we enjoy and represents our family culture.  

Third, I would bring my son’s blanky because he has to sleep with it every night and because it’s the blanket he got when he was born. It has his name and birth date on it and it’s as special to me as it is to him.

I would explain the items to others just as I did above. I would also share the items with them. I would show them the pictures and tell them stories that go along with each one. I would also read to them as well.

If I had to choose just one of the 3 items mentioned above, I would be so devastated and torn. I would want to keep the blanky because it is special to my son, however the camera with all my pictures on it would be hard to give up.

When I first began to think about the personal items I would bring, I first thought of things like my laptop, my cell phone, my Ipod. These items I immediately thought of because they can offer so much more and be so very useful when we arrived to our new location. I think what I realized most from this assignment is that the culture of society is very dependent on technology. I was focusing on taking items to keep us busy because those are the items that we use each and every day. However, I recall life before so much technology, when things were a bit simpler and its sad to think my son will never know what that type of life is like.