Culture and Diversity - Definition

The question is simple enough, defining culture and diversity.  I had not realized it would be as challenging as it was and I had to push to get responses.  The individuals I spoke with wondered what I was really looking for and I had to remind all three of them not to give me the answer they thought I was hoping to hear.  I also wanted to see what responses I would illicit from individuals from different generations.  I first asked my husband, 50 years old, who by definition would describe himself as conservative and raised Irish Catholic for.  He hesitated with his response but defined culture as the means by which he gets through the day to day, the routine of the day.  He went on to define diversity as different cultures, people of different nationalities, races, Greeks, Latinos living amongst each other.  My 17-year-old son was next in line; he would define himself as a liberal socialist who intends to be vote in the 2012 election.  Based on how he describes himself as well as the very different social circles he interacts with, I thought he would have been more at ease at giving a response.  Culture for him means, different customs people have, how people act as well as their art and music.  Diversity he felt was simply being different and being around different cultures.  Lastly, I asked one of the teachers in my program who is a 31-year-old African American.  She felt culture is what you feel, who you are and what your people do.  She added culture is also traditions and where you come from.  Diversity is the mixing of people with different beliefs, mixed races living among each other. 

What was most interesting about their responses is the similarities regarding culture.  All the individuals questioned responded that culture is how one acts in their everyday life.  Experiences such as routines, and schedules are part of one’s culture.  What I did not hear was any expression of values and beliefs that are commonly shared among people of the same culture.  I thought each of the participants would have mentioned language in their description as we are surrounded by different mechanism such as phone prompts that ask us to choose in either English or in Spanish.  There was no single attribute; gender, age, social/economic class, other than race mentioned in any of the definitions.  I was surprised that none of the answers included any religious based descriptions, as faith gives meaning to many of the beliefs and values held by a cultural group.  As far as diversity, the answers were once again similar, different people mixing and living among each other.  I think had I probed a little bit, I would have perhaps heard descriptions of groups of people not mixing well together or particular stereotypes that exist among people of difference.  I do feel the fact that living in the D.C. area that we experience culture and diversity every day. Our communities are very mixed, but I do not think the mixing of cultures and living among each other is necessarily by choice but is rather out of economic necessity.  Many people of culture are still closed off to strangers and they tend to interact with people of the same cultural and linguistic background. 

We all know so little about each other and we also lack the desire to get to know one another beyond peripheral definitions.  I think we are so caught up in the fact that our own individual lives and culture are the right way to do things that we ignore the fact that others have ways of doing things that work for them.  To celebrate difference, we have to engage in conversation that involves asking questions and sharing opinions without fear of ridicule.