Cross Cultural Interview: Interview of an African-American Woman

Culture is a behavior that consists of several critical elements, such as language, religion, race and ethnicity, clothing and politics. Culture is what one does in his/her daily life. In order to understand others, we must first keep in mind that every culture carries its own set of values and assumptions. Culture is an evolving, ever changing civilization, which includes several different groups people. For immigrants, America is a land of opportunity; for others it is just the best country in the world because of its economic success and/or its democratic political system. Americans usually value independence a lot, believe in equal opportunity, and have a direct communication style. In exploring the

Culture plays a significant role in defining our identity and worldview. For newcomers, culture is the primary frame that shapes their interaction with other newcomers and with established residents in their new community. This interaction can occur anywhere and

My life experiences with different cultures began in my hometown, when Prairie Island Tribal Council members educated students about their culture through lectures, dance, and band performances. This allowed me to appreciate my Mdewakanton classmates’ culture. My exposure to different cultures expanded during an internship at a medical examiner’s office, because death is universal. I learned being culturally respectful and sensitive begins by listening to their stories and experiences before answering their questions honestly and reassuring them the deceased would be treated with respect. As I traveled to rural Honduras on a medical brigade and as a student studying abroad in Italy and Germany, I realized by listening and observing without judgement, I began to understand the cultures. In addition, I discovered generalizations of a culture give an incomplete view and I cannot assume I understand a culture. Instead, individuals are unique based on experiences as well as their culture.

Despite its inception some 400 odd years ago, slavery continues to impact families of African descent. Al though forcibly taken to American shores with shack les and chains draped around them like garments, Africans retained some sense of family both mentally and spiritually. The familial bond which was present those 400 years ago still exists today. It is the tradi tional African family structure that is the baseline for the past, present and future black American family. It is therefore imperative that we examine this tradi tional structure.

A person can learn a tremendous amount about an individual by exploring their culture. Culture is the doorway to the foundation of a person’s make-up. An individual can obtain a broader perspective on obvious concepts by gaining knowledge. Recently there have been a tremendous amount of publicity because of racial indifference, justice, and knowledge.

Malcolm X said, “Elijah Mohamed doesn’t condemn on the victims, he goes to work on the victims.”

Essentially, every culture has a specific basis, native language, religion and custom that reflects its history, values and beliefs. These conceptual constructs represents the total reality of life within the community of which is commonly known as “Culture”. Culture is not only a race, but is a way of life. In the United States, there are many different races that integrate with the American race and culture. However, these individuals often times may have difficulties adjusting, adapting or maintaining their heritage. How well they acculturate and adapt to the process can have an impact on how well the individual is able to integrate or engage to one or another culture.

Berline J is of Haitian and French Descent. She is from a culture called Folkloric. She is a brown skin little woman with such a wonderful personality. When she speaks, you can hear her strong haitian accent and her silly laugh. Her paralingustics show she is happy to share her culture with me. Her nonverbal communication, her not looking me in my eye says that she is and respecting me by her culture’s standards. This woman gave me the pleasure of interviewing her. During this experience I have found many things about her culture that I have never knew. For example, the name of her culture is folkloric I assumed that she was only Haitian and that was also the name. Another example would be the traditions they practice

An individual’s cultural framework influences his or her thoughts, actions, and decisions (Witkin, 2012). It is imperative that during the interview process, the social worker is cognizant of both the details provided by the client and, the client’s cultural background. This knowledge can then be incorporated by the social worker into the helping process (Murphy & Dillon, 2011a). This paper will examine cultural worldviews discussed during an interview with Jamie, a fellow University of Washington BASW cohort member. This will be accomplished by addressing the information Jamie offered about herself during a 45-minute recorded interview in which her early cultural experiences and worldview were discussed. Secondly, my internal and external reactions to Jamie’s cultural experience shared during the interview will be analyzed. Similarities and differences between Jamie and myself will be identified, and finally a discussion of my cultural awareness, pre- and post-interview, in regards to Jamie’s upbringing will be examined.

Stanhope defines culture as a set of beliefs, values, and assumptions about life that is widely held among a group of people that is transmitted across generations (Stanhope 2014). These ideas influence populations greatly in terms of food they eat, the people they associate with, how they associate with others, what they wear, and how they care for their body and mind. I was born in a South American country called Guyana. The people there are known as Guyanese but more specifically my people are known as Indo-Caribbean people or West Indies or West Indian. The West Indies people are generations of children that came people who migrated from India to Guyana many years ago.

Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. It includes ideas, values, and artifacts of groups of people (Schaefer, 2006). Understanding culture can be tricky, ever ask “why do people act the way they do?”, “what made me do that”, “what was I thinking?” Physical abilities, educational background, and social background of how I was raised are important aspects of my life. The environment in which I was raised is very important aspect of my life.

     The black family is centered around the African ethos, a common guiding principle that filled African peoples lives. The African ethos, broken down into two categories, is the survival of the tribe and the oneness of being. “The knowledge of one’s tribal or family genealogy not only reflected and showed the importance of the interconnectedness of all elements of the family (tribe), it also was thought to impart the sense of sacred obligation to extend and continue one’s genealogical line.” In other words, existence is dependent not only on those alive, but those dead as well. Therefore in practice, the structure of traditional African families is based on union. African-based family systems can be thought of as a “Continual Flexibility in Circularity”. It is based on the continuity and union of people. African culture must be the basis for understanding black families. “African roots of black culture is the retention of an African attitude, an attitude based on a belief system which understood everything in the universe to be endowed with the Supreme Force.” In

The concept of culture is something that defines many aspects of one’s life. From physical objects to different ways of thinking, culture adds significance to human life and makes groups of people distinct from one another. Culture is essentially a group of people who come together with similar interests and points of view. According to the Center for Advanced Language Acquisition of the University of Minnesota, “culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.” From a more sociological perspective, culture is a way in which people come together in order to fulfill their needs. These shared patterns and ideas identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.” Culture is one of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Not that the rest of the world is not cultural, but the circumstance here is different. Many people of different cultural backroads come to this country in search of a better life. As a consequence, the United States has become a place where many cultures merge together like a colossal pot soup.

Focusing on the formation of the family in these two conceptions, the contrasting attitudes regarding collectivity in particular are highlighted. Marriage in the African context is understood as the “marriage

The union of man and woman is universally and socially acknowledged by the institution of marriage. It is one of the oldest rituals to be practiced even today in every parts of the world. Marriage is an important part of the traditional African society and is one of the largely reflected issues in African literature. According to Lauretta Ngcobo, in her essay entitled “African Motherhood-Myth and Reality” which appeared in Criticism and Ideology: Second African Writers’ Conference, Stockholm 1986 edited by Kirsten H. Petersen, the concept of marriage in African context is similar with any other community: