PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY AND CULTURE

I asked three co workers about their thoughts on the definitions of diversity and culture. Friend#1 is a 42 year old male from the Dominican Republic. His definition of culture was the attitudes and behavior of a particular group. His definition of diversity was that people from different backgrounds that live in the same area or town. Participant #2 was a 44 year old Puerto Rican woman. She said to her culture meant background, heritage, and cultures. Her definition of diversity was whether you are Black or White, where your family is from, the education you have received, your neighborhood and social class. The third participant was a 45 year old woman from Colombia. She felt that culture was values , experiences, ways of cooking shared by a group of people. Diversity to her was people from different countries with different religions, co-existing with others from other countries. I discovered that no matter who you ask..no two definitions are going to be the same. In this course we have read about how children of all cultures should be able to receive a great education regardless of background. We have learned how important for children to learn about each other and also learn about how similar and how they have differences too.(Derman-Sparks). In this class we have also read about how some people identify all Asian ethnic groups as Chinese. (Ngo). Despite the way we look alike, each culture is unique and different. African Americans, African and Caribbeans all look alike. That is our similarity. Our cultures are different. It is important to accept others for who they are not for what they are.