Valuing diversity often does not come easily. Our values and how we define and understand the world are formed from very early in childhood. We are most comfortable with people who are similar to us because we feel we can best predict their behavior and know how to respond to them. In addition, whether a person admits it or not, he or she tends to use his or her own looks, manner of speaking and behavior as a yardstick against which to measure and value other people. So people who are different than oneself are looked upon as the “other” people. From early childhood we start to categorize these “other people” and develop assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices about them so that, in our own minds, we are more comfortable dealing with “them.” All of this leads to difficulty valuing diversity. It’s so much easier to value ourselves and people like us rather than “others,” who are different.
One of my suggestions for enhancing a group’s ability to value diversity would be to have a potluck for which everyone brings a dish from their culture. People who eat together tend to be more relaxed with each other, and conversations about food are easy ones that lead to questions about the different food, which in turn may very well lead to additional conversation about other cultural topics and people will discover differences as well as similarities.
An additional suggestion for enhancing a group’s ability to value diversity is to take some time to share stories about family traditions with each other. This often leads to questions that delve into each other’s cultures.
Hi Lee! I really enjoyed reading your post on valuing diversity in small groups. One of your suggestions really caught my eye. You suggested that in order to enhance a group's ability to value diversity, there should be some sort of a potluck where everyone brings a dish from their culture/background. This really sparked an interest to me as I was reading your post because that's the exact way I was exposed to my own personal culture. I am full korean and so is the rest of my family, but as I was growing up, I had no Asian friends nor did I speak the language. I guess you can say I was considered "white-washed". I was always surrounded by caucasian people, caucasian food, music, etc. I was never exposed to the Korean culture until I was a lot older. It's funny to mention this because we talk about diversity in class and how we should accept others to value the meaning of diversity. However, in my case, I needed to adapt my own culture! I wanted to share my personal experience with you because food is actually what got me interested in the Korean culture as well as being more open minded to other people's culture. Food is a great way to bring people together, everyone has an appetite which is why it's the perfect way to interact with different cultures through potlucks. Valuing diversity really isn't easy, but the simplest tasks and events that "secretly" expose us to new cultures are definitely helping us value diversities without even knowing it (like what happened to me!). I'm glad you suggested and brought up potlucks because I came to the realization that that was what got me into valuing diversity.
ReplyDeleteHello Lee! I love your post! The route in which you took to explain/defend your position on the value of diversity if very unique. I found myself agreeing with you a lot. It also opened my eyes up to another perspective of valuing diversity to be difficult. Like you, I also said that valuing diversity is hard to come by. The stance I took was that people need to experience it to truly value it. Until one encounters a diverse group, culture or place one cannot really understand or know it. And I think this falls into line with what you were saying about "others", which is the precise meaning of diversity, that is, different. The other thing I really like about your post is the detail of your suggestion. You suggest what a group should do like a potluck or share stories, both very great ideas.
ReplyDeleteHi Lee,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your post. Your response was very thorough and fully answered the prompt. I really liked your analogy of people using their beliefs as a “yardstick” to which they measure and value the beliefs of other people. It is indeed true that we tend to associate more closely with people who are similar to us; however, there is much to be learned through diversity and sharing experiences with people of different backgrounds and cultures. As you said, through conversing with people we believe to be different, we may come to realize we have more in common than we think.