Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week, we were asked to interview three people and ask about their personal definitions for culture and diversity. Below are my participants' responses:

• BB (European American female and colleague): "Culture to me is this: I am from a rural area, mostly white population, grew up as a Methodist so attending church was important. I have one sibling, many cousins, family traditions (Christmas & Easter with the whole family on my Father's side). So, I believe culture to be who you are and how you grew up based on where you are from and the family values. So, it is customs, things and values. Diversity is based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, differences (kind of like we are a box of crayons). But, I also think you cannot think about diversity without including culture as part of the definition (example - where you are from could be included in this as Amish, Gay/Lesbian communities, German, French, Italian, etc.)".
• NN (African-native, American citizen female and parent of former student): "Culture - As an African, our culture dictates the way in which we live our lives. Culture is the tradition, beliefs, customs, clothing, food and language of a specific group of people that binds them together. For example, African tribal languages and food that are specific to a culture. Diversity - The act of bringing together a group of individuals who come from different backgrounds, cultures, nationalities, and races".
• LF (European American female and relative): "Culture is the way of life that has been passed on to me from my parents and grandparents. Diversity is a group of different people or beliefs that make up an area, such as a neighborhood, school, or business".

When reviewing the answers that were given to me, I realized that they all had an understanding of culture similar to my understanding at the beginning of the course. They all defined culture by naming characteristics that are attributed to a person's surface culture. BB described her culture by listing things that other people may attribute to her culture based on her appearance. All three described culture by attributing it to how they were raised. Their answers for diversity were similar as well. They all described diversity as being based on groups of people who share (or do not share) various attributes related to culture.

All of my participants failed to acknowledge their deep culture, or those attributes that truly make us unique and define how and why we are who we are. For example, I am a morning person and am a lot friendlier early in the day. I have more motivation to get things done in the morning than I do as the day goes on. The fact that I am a morning person is a vital part of my culture, but it is not often visible on the surface.

I think that it is so difficult for people to reveal their "inner being" because they may not truly understand it themselves. Some attributes contribute to a person's life, but that person may simply accept it as being there without fully understanding its purpose. This could be why my participants did not acknowledge their deep culture. They may not realize that the simple, everyday routines are an integral part of their culture and contribute to diversity in society.