Racism

Racism, unfortunately, is an ongoing issue and continues to affect everyone around the world. No matter what your ethnic background or skin color consist of, anyone can be a victim of racism.

My experience

 About two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went out to eat at a local restaurant where we often visit. The food is delicious and the restaurant owners and workers are always nice to everyone. We are usually the only blacks to come and sit in the restaurant. As we walked passed a Caucasian male and female's table to pay our dinner, I heard the man say quickly, "move your purse, you know they like to steal," she instantly moved it. I was shocked and offended by the comment. The comments were intentional and invalidated my identity based on my skin color. The hidden message to me was that the people of my race are criminals. I was a little angry but saddened when I realized I was a target. I noticed several other people walked by their table and she never once grabbed her purse at those times. 

After experiencing this, I felt marginalized and became aware of the fact that discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes can affect anyone. I am also beginning to feel that I do not desire to return to the restaurant but I'm sure I will eventually. I have found that this can leave an individual or group feeling belittled and not worthy. I believe that it is unfair and unnecessary to stereotype and discriminate anyone. 

To my Colleagues;

Would you have confronted the customer about the comments or just walked away from it like I did? Does confronting someone or explaining to someone about the hurt they have caused resolves anything?

Perspectives on Culture and Diversity

How do others define culture and diversity?

Three of my friends shared their definitions of diversity and culture.

1. Mr. Lopez defines culture as a family's lifestyle and diversity is the different ethnic backgrounds in families.

2. Jason stated that culture is something that everyone is born into and is accustomed to. Diversity consist of people who have different ideas and cultures.

3. Leroy defines culture as a family's way of living. Cultures have their own belief system and what they believe should be valued in life. Diversity can be identified when you are surrounded by people or groups who are different from you.

 The aspects of culture being a lifestyle and diversity is identified by being around others who are different from you is what I have learned thus far in this course. For instance, family's culture can be identified by their clothing styles, housing arrangements, and the types of food they eat. One example that comes to mind about diversity is when a disabled child is among peers who do not have a disability.

One thing my friends omitted is that people's thoughts about what is "right" and what is "wrong" is influenced by their cultures. For instance, some people believe worshiping God is wrong while others may think that this is the right thing to do. One aspect of diversity that was forgotten by my friends is that diversity can be found in family's languages. Thinking about other people's definitions about culture and diversity has indeed influenced my own thinking about these topics. It's amazing to me how my friend's definitions were worded differently but are actually the same. Also, communicating with my friends made me realize that culture and diversity is not a topic that we often discuss with each other or our families. I wonder how often do people converse with others about diversity and culture?

Colleagues, what are your thoughts?

Culture

"No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive" - Mahatma Gandhi

As an African American woman, culture is a big deal in my community. Thus, if a catastrophe occurred and my family and I were forced to leave the country, there are three small items that I would bring with me:

Hair is very important in the black community. We take pride in it because it is so difficult to manage and must be cared for daily. Going into another country, I may not have access to the type of comb that is needed for my particular hair. Wide tooth combs are the best choice for my coarse, thick hair.




Music is love in the black community. Rhythm and blues, hip hop, gospel, and contemporary are just a few of the categories that sparks our interest. During a cook out, you can guarantee that music and dancing will be the highlight of the day. Music is relaxing and eases stress.





Life is spiritual. In a black church, it is usually lively, as individuals will stand up and shout to praise God. Bringing this along with me will remind me of my culture and how it has influenced my life.

I would explain to others that each of these play a major role in my daily life. I listen to music and thank God each day for his many blessings. Also, I care for my hair daily because it is a part of my appearance and represents my ethnicity. In fact, I would be very depressed if I was told upon arrival that I could only bring one item. Having to relocate and losing majority of my items would be stressful enough. I would be devastated if I couldn't bring a few items that were important to me.

What I have learned from this exercise is that things we do in our daily lives represents our culture. For a long period of time, I wasn't aware that these things were considered cultural. Because I incorporate these items on a day to day basis, I assumed that everyone else did the same as well.