Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

During this past week, I was in Virginia taking care of my daughter recovering from surgery. My granddaughter happened to be there. Throughout the week, I was working on home work. She asked what I was doing. Before I read this assignment, we had discussions about culture and diversity. She is nine years old. We discussed culture, diversity and acceptance. In thinking about her situation, many children of divorce add another chapter to culture and diversity. She has rules at her mom's house and her dad's. Each household celebrates different family traditions.  On top of that, both of her parents remarried adding an addition piece to their family culture. She is a military child she has moved once from Oklahoma to Virginia. I feel that the military has its own culture having to move and adapt to new places and people. Part of this military family she has very close friends that are Native American Indian and Mexican. In talking to her, she sees no differences they are like brothers to her.  I think how you are raised acceptance comes much more easily for children in this type of family.

 

I talked with my son, he is twenty-two and a staff person, she is a mid-fifties African American women. Both defined culture as ethnicity, holidays and traditions. Even with differences the general definition was the same. Both work in education, my son is going to school for secondary education. My staff person has worked in Head Start for many years.  I feel that with their education and trainings they shared similar thoughts with each other and with what my thoughts were until I started this course.

I look forward to teaching others about “deep” culture and help others to understand it is not the surface things we see.