Understanding Cultural Diversity in Today's Complex World - Assignment Example

Culture Diversity Culture is defined as a way of life of a specific faction of people. Culture broadly explains the arts, beliefs, morals, knowledge, customs and laws. It may also summarize the habits and capabilities gained by human beings. Culture is different from place to place, whereby the culture of a specific group may vary from another in terms of their food, clothes, dance, sports, music and language. Cultures which are prehistoric and cultures which are historic are said to be cultural universals. Cultures are derived from the norms, values and etiquette of a particular group of people (Leo 14). Cultural differences use education as a way of distinguishing ethnicity from race. Ethnicity in a culture will entail factors such as the religion, heritage, language or geographic origins of some people. Race is a social construct that divides people in groups based on color of the skin, socioeconomic needs and ancestral heritage. Culture shock happens when some things done in a certain culture are totally different from what other people practice. American culture is the main stream culture associated with the United States such as wearing jeans, jazz music, drinking coke, playing baseball or lighting bon-fire. A sub-culture is said to be a unique practice done by a group of people within a larger culture based on age, religion or gender (Leo 16). In this chapter the author tries to show the various definitions of culture. Various people understand culture differently. The author further exploits the factors that are considered when examining culture; these factors differentiate one culture from the other culture. These definitions are agreeable and meet the expectations of a reader (Leo 22). Diversity can be said to be a quality which makes someone or something different. Diversity aims at making people work together without conflicting. Understanding the cultural diversity of a certain group helps to avert conflicts and tragedies such as the US bombing where the government did not understand the diversity of Muslims. There are various types of diversity ranging from race which signifies physical characteristics derived from historic sources. Ethnicity also defines diversity since it defines the affiliation of some people. According to Leo, Sex is also part of diversity since it show s biological characteristics but does not show social construction (26). Gender is also considered in diversification since it refers to sex-based classifications. Gender is used to refer to cultural groupings. Geographic diversity is also considered since different places have different monuments, landmarks, locations, neighborhoods and landscapes. It is advisable to undergo diversity education to increase understanding and awareness, this helps to create respect and acceptance. People are also expected to celebrate and embrace diversity, this is brought out through the media which covers all boundaries and hence explores diversity (Leo 29). This chapter explores diversity widely by explaining its meaning, the aim of diversity and the importance of accepting diversity. The author explains how in the past, understanding diversity has been important to the United States in regard to the conflicts in Iraq and the 9/11 bombing. This chapter is agreeable since it dwells with the true concepts of diversity and hence a reader is satisfied (Leo 34). The term “melting pot” is a common term taught in schools and used by the media. The term is derived from the history of America and refers to the time when Anglo-Europeans came to American looking for opportunity. To understand this, the terms Euro-centrism and Afro-centrism are used to explain ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is a belief of knowingly or unknowingly privileging one ethnic group over another ethnic group. A product of melting pot is assimilation which refers to a process where a group which is minor adopts the attitudes and customs of a majority group (Leo 39). When dealing with melting pot, the term multiculturalism comes into play where various cultures came to America voluntarily or forcefully leading to implementation of various acts of parliament baring other cultures from coming to America. With time, Americans have come to accept and respect other cultures and ethnic groups due to use of democracy, justice and freedom. This explains the term multiculturalism as the process of respecting and acknowledging other religions, cultures, races and ethnicities. The reading by Leo explains acculturation which explains cultural modification of a group of people or an individual by borrowing certain traits from another culture (Leo 39). The issue of immigrants is under consideration, the perception of people towards the immigrants is under scrutiny. People perceive immigrants differently and an example is the Australian who wrote about Americans. Listening to the immigrants helps to understand them and hence being able to co-exist with the immigrants. Celebrating various cultures is vital as seen today in American where there are various cultures living peacefully and enculturation contributes to the peace (41). In this chapter, the Leo tries to take the reader back to the gold rush era where many cultures came to America in search of opportunities. Use of various terms is in play which helps the reader make a vivid picture of the melting pot era. The chapter comes to a close following the explanation of how various cultures came to coexist in America. The reading is easy to understand and is satisfactory to the reader (46). Work Cited Parvis, Leo. Understanding Cultural Diversity in Today's Complex World. Morrisville, NC: Lulu Press, 2007. Read More