Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

From asking one simple question “What is your definition of culture and diversity?” I received some really interesting answers from the people I asked. I chose people who differ from me in some aspects: age, ethnicity, religion, marital status, and class. Here are the answers that I received:

Elizabeth: “I think that culture is the traditions and customs of the people you are surrounded by do. For most people, that would mean the traditions and customs of their family but if you don’t grow up around your family then it would just be the people you are around. Diversity to me is the cultural differences between people, so it would be differences in traditions and customs.”

Bree: “Culture is the attitudes, customs, traditions, and beliefs that are widely held throughout a society or nation. Some things could be types of food, ways of dress, and common ideas. Diversity in regard to humanity would be when people from different cultures are grouped together in a single society. Instead of all members of a community or nation having the same culture, different cultures would live alongside one another.”

Allison: “I would say that culture is created by the shared experience of a group. The group could be connected to identity with a certain ethnicity, nationality, religion, social group, etc. Cultures usually center around certain traditions and values that all members of the group consider important. These may include symbols of unity through dress or common linguistic phrases. I would say that diversity is positive differences between people. These may come in the form of race, language, culture, ethnicity, nationality, religion, social class, gender, sexuality, background experience, and opinions.”

The people I asked included aspects of surface culture such as food, clothing, and customs and related their answers to family and society, leaving out some aspects of deep culture such as housing arrangements, intergenerational interactions, extended family relationships, roles, migration, and work . However, I was pleasantly surprised at the answers I received and I the people that I asked this question actually followed their responses with their thoughts on why diversity is important. Reflecting upon how others views diversity gave me some new insights into my understanding of culture and diversity as well, mainly that there are many ways to look at a single thing-everyone has his/her own unique perspectives based on their individual culture and experiences. Hearing different but similar answers for one question was a good illustration of diversity in itself; we are diverse in the ways that we think and the perspectives that we have, I liked how one of my respondents even included differences in opinion in her definition of diversity!