Perspectives on Diversity and Culture
This week I was asked to write to, or talk to at least three
friends’ three friends, family members, acquaintances or a colleague, and I am
expected to include at least one person who I believe is culturally different
from me. I was fortunate enough to ask a Canadian friend of mine, an Indian
friend of mine and a fellow Nigerian to give their various definitions of what
they think culture is and diversity too.
My Canadian friend who is called Jamie defined culture as a
collection of customs, how they celebrate, and their ideas as a group, their
religious beliefs and how they behave in general as a group.
According to Jamie, diversity brings another dimension to a
single culture; it adds another perspective and richness to society, many
different cultures as opposed to a single one.
An example of this society is her home country Canada, which is a multicultural
country that allows people to celebrate their diversity.
Another friend of mine Dhanushki an Indian, gave her own
definition of culture as a collection of values, beliefs and ethics that a
person is exposed to.
Dhanushki defined diversity as the differences of
individuals, related to age, sex, culture, religion or even personality.
Emeka a third friend of mine defined culture as the way a
group of people of people express their beliefs, dressing, talk or entertain,
it is the things that makes them unique and identifiable to others. He defines
diversity as the broadening of ideas and knowledge.
Going through the various definitions given by these three
different individuals from different race, background and beliefs I can see how
related their definitions are examples of this is how they all defined culture.
Thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and
diversity has influenced my own thinking about these topics because I feel
everyone is aware of these topics, and our understanding of these topics will
either make us or break us depending on how we use it to the benefit of us and
other individuals around us.
Patience,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your experiences with discussing culture with your friends was similar to mine. I realized that separately the definitions were lacking a little but if I included all of these definitions into one greater definition then it would be a more inclusive definition of the word. I learned that everyone views the term culture and it's meaning differently which is probably why our society has such a problem accepting others.