Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this assignment, I interviewed 3 people with different cultural and educational background.  Two  people have a different culture than me.  Some of the similarities in their responses about culture are that culture refers to a group of people that shares customs and traditions including food, music, folklore and language.  Also, when they spoke about diversity, they all coincide that diversity is variety and options.  They all found that the question about diversity was more difficult to answer than the question about culture.  I noticed that when they spoke about culture they described what I learned is the “surface culture” and omitted the part of the culture that is known as “deep culture” which is what, people cannot easily tell unless they take the time to investigate and learn a culture. For diversity, no one mentioned that diversity made someone unique and was not associated with a group of choices ascribed or assumed by someone that makes his/her personal identity.

The way they define culture make me think of culture as a group of characteristics that identifies a certain group people, but also that they are there being  other options in the society that they can choose from, for example,  sports, religions, political parties, career, etc.

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.

   

1.  I would take a family picture where my mom, dad, son, siblings and nieces and nephew are present because I would like to remember always how they look.

2.  I will take my grandmother’s Virgin Mary image because represents the values and beliefs of the religion that was instilled to me.

3.  Also, I will take a silver plate with my mother’s image that my husband gave me when he proposed to me.  When I met my husband my mother had already died.  My husband knew how much she meant to me, and he always wished he met her.  In that important date, to make my mother present he gave me a silver plate with my mother’s image for my silver chain.

If I were told to give up two items, I would have feel devastated because the three items have the same sentimental value to me.  They represent the 3 most important things of my life my family, my values and beliefs and my marriage.

As I was reflecting doing this exercise, I realized how strong I feel about my family and my values.  In the everyday life sometimes we do not stop to think about what makes us happy and what is important to us.  It is not until we are presented with situations such a catastrophe that we think who we are and what we want.