Valuing
diversity does not come easy at all. Diversity is something that needs to be
experienced in order to understand and appreciate it. Like Harris and Sherblom
said, people are born into this world with certain presumptions because that
was the way they were raised. Meaning, people believe what others around them
say if they are nurturing and care for them. Babies for instance, believe what
their mother and father teach them because that is all they know and parents
tend to care for their child. If people do not experience different cultures
and places where the people are diverse, the tend to have assumptions of what
the people are like due to a lack of knowledge. For example, an all girl's
school may think that all boys schools have cooties. Of course, that is not
true. The only way for them to find that out is to go visit the boys school
themselves. The only suggestion I can think of beside being open minded when
interacting with a diverse group is experiencing what ever the diversity may be
for one's self. This is the most beneficial way for a group to enhance its'
ability to value diversity.
In my experience, it is as you wrote, “Babies for instance, believe what their mother and father teach them…” My grandma was very prejudiced, as were so many in her generation. Even though she had been senile for years and completely out of it, when I introduced my Filipino husband-to-be to her, I’ll never forget her reaction. She sat straight up in bed, and in a moment of lucidity, said, “No, Lee!” I still chuckle about it today.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was brought up by her parents, and she is prejudiced, but not as obviously as her mother. I think times are changing slowly as the years go by and people are becoming more open to realizing that holding onto prejudices is wrong. My siblings and I are very much more open to accepting people of diverse culture and lifestyles. I can’t see prejudice in my kids at all, and I know they value their diverse friends and acquaintances. So even though how a person is brought up affects their beliefs and values, I believe that outside influences such as the experiences we have here in Silicon Valley with people from so many cultures and lifestyles also influences us and makes us appreciate and welcome diversity.
Hey!
ReplyDeleteI like how you said, “diversity is something that needs to be experienced in order to understand and appreciate it.” I totally agree with this statement because I realized that a lot of people who are not exposed to diversity does not really understand and appreciate it. For me I grew up in a very diverse area so I never really thought of anyone as to being “weird” or whatnot. I appreciated all types of cultures and I embraced it because it is what I grew up with. I do not make any assumptions about people and I have grown up to be very accepting of a lot of different people. Good job on your posts this week!