Cultural Values

When we are born, we are given characteristics that we cannot control which impact our social identity and how other people view and stereotype us in this world. As David Myers notes in his essay, Ingroup and Outgroup, “Once established, prejudice is maintained largely by its own social inertia. If prejudice is social... then people follow the path of least social resistance… conform to the social fashion… a need to be liked and accepted.” Prejudices influenced by a society heavily impacts a culture as it inhibits growth and progression. Suspicion and poor stereotypes are administered to social groups which are heavily ingrained and nearly impossible to release ourselves from that stereotype. That is the life a Hispanic must lead within the

America is a growing country with people and technological advancements. As the country grows, the population increases, which involves a mixture of cultures. Hispanic and Latino Americans now stand at 17% of the population, which is the smallest percentile. (Latino/Hispanic Culture in the U.S...Interchange) Even though Hispanics and Latinos are the smallest ethnic group, they have influenced America. Through traditions and cuisines, the culture is changing and adjusting to modern America, which changes the originality of the culture. The cultural changes have also occurred in their celebrations, superstitions, and family. Traditions that began generations ago are still evolving and prospering.

Hispanics or Latinos are defined as a people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking culture. This term “Hispanics” was created by the U.S. federal government in the early 1970’s to refer to Americans born in a Spanish speaking nation or with ancestry to Spanish territories. Hispanics people are vibrant, socializing, and fun loving people. Among various facts associated to this culture is that they have a deep sense of involvement in their family traditions and cultures.

There are many significant parts of my life that have had a huge impact on my personality, but there is one that has not only affected me, but has changed me for the better. My personal life changing experience was coming to America. For me, this bridge between my old life and new life is a shaky bridge that I attempted to cross and entered a whole new realm of life which changed everything. The decision about coming to America has taught me how to respect other people, be more responsible, and be more loving towards various friends and families. It has also helped me adapt to the new life that I’m about to begin. It was so unexpected. Out of nowhere my parents broke the news: “We’re going to America!” Living in a big town of Bhopal,

At first, I was resistant to change but now I am glad I became open-minded and adapted to the new way of life. It was not an easy transition for me, however, I have faced every obstacles head on such as learning a new language, graduating from high school, and attending college. I can honestly say my mom was right I have made new friends and have grown to love and appreciate my family members that I have met. I know there will be more awesome moments in my life that can have a major impact, but I truly believe they will never be as big as me coming to

It was always odd talking about my culture because we as Hispanics are very family oriented. As a kid, I hardly spent time with my friends outside of school. My cousins were my friends. For Lahiri, it was difficult to get along with her friends as well. She states, “In addition to my distinguishing name and looks, I did not attend Sunday school, did not know how to ice-skate, and disappeared to India for months at a time. Many if these friends proudly called themselves Irish- American or Italian- American” (Lahiri 98). I can relate to Lahiri because I understand where she’s coming from. I would visit el Salvador nearly every summer, and none of my friends would even know. Since my parents could barely communicate with my friends, it was hard to spend much

Hispanic heritage is an important concept that surrounds my entire life. I have lived in Puerto Rico during my whole childhood. This culture has been important in my life because it helps define who I am and how I view the world. Both of my biological parents are Dominican, but I lived with my mother and step-dad in Puerto Rico. It was not until I moved to the United States that I began to become more aware of different ethnic groups. The United States has been called the “melting pot” society. Newcomers to this country were expected to adapt their “old world” values and culture to fit the values and lifestyles of the “new world” (An Overview of Diversity Awareness, n.d.).

Many times, a person’s culture depicts their upbringing as a human being. The influences of family values, beliefs, traditions, expectations, etc., heavily influence how parents raise their children. In Hispanic culture, children are raised with strict rules as many parents value obedience, respect, authority and family. These values represent the interdependent yet strong minded individuals many parents hope to create.

I'm originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where there is an abundance of Hispanic culture. Hispanics are often defined as people from Spain or any country that is Spanish speaking in Latin America. In this essay, I will share with you some affects that Hispanic culture had on me and how it opened my eyes to better understand diversity. Among the United States, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics according to The U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics are estimated to be 48% of the total population of people living in New Mexico, which is the highest of any other state. Hispanicization is the process by which a place or a person absorbs characteristics of Hispanic society and culture.

Inclusion of other cultures is a result of marrying into another culture, children become independent from the family, language barriers between the parents and children, distant from family left behind in old country, etc. Virtually every ethnic group has planted its footprint into the history and daily life of the United States (Times – News, 2008). Due to the geographical proximity of Latin countries, Hispanics have played a vital historical role in the development of this country (Times – News, 2008). The way to ensure that the family retains and remember their culture is to maintain their cultural heritage through the knowledge of one’s cultural history and how the people in that culture dealt with struggles and how they handled difficulties in life to know how their source of strength is sustained. History informs us that societies are the result of collective contributions from the various social and ethnic groups (Times – News, 2008). The United States contains the most diverse combination of cultures in the Americas, due to the contributions made by all the native and foreign cultures embraced within this nation (Times – News,

Coming from a Hispanic culture background has taught me a lot of many different values. I was born and raised on a border town between Texas and Mexico. The culture of Mexican-American has impacted many people on both sides of the border.

The sibling culture I experience weighs more on the collectivist culture. This is because my relationship with my siblings is primarily grouped based. We value group cooperation and harmony rather than a competitive spirit or individual desire. Evidence of this is depicted as we work together to complete the task of finishing our chores. We constantly split chores and alternate. We also work together to help each other out, both academically and emotionally. As a middle child, I have experienced helping out my younger brother and receiving help from my two older sisters. Interdependence and mutual support is a big part of my collectivist culture. Whenever there are decisions to be made, as siblings, we always communicate with

Communication is one of the most important aspects of our lives. It is a process that ties us together and helps us to get most of our work done. Communication plays a big role in transmitting cultural values from one generation to the next. Communication can be categorized as two; verbal and non verbal. In a multiracial country such as Malaysia good communication can be considered as a savior to keep everyone united. Being a multiracial country, it shows the existence of cultural diversity in Malaysia. Cultural diversity often leads to society’s biggest challenge.

Every culture has different beliefs on certain issues such as death, gender, and spiritual practices. Cultural beliefs influence the way patients understand health concepts and how they take care of themselves. Therefore, knowing a patients’ background and culture is a helpful key to solving certain problems. The Hispanic culture is an old and very unique culture that has strong beliefs concerning death, dying, gender, family, and spiritual practices.

The knowledge produced by natural sciences, social sciences and humanities makes up the vast majority of knowledge in modern academic cultures. When the question about how the knowledge produced by these three cultures differs is raised, answers cover more than one aspects. Jerome Kagan stated that “the primary concerns, sources of evidence, and concepts remain the most important nodes of differences among them”(2). His viewpoint provides me a new sight to classify the knowledge I learned, am learning and will learn. When I start thinking about the disciplines I have learned, it is exciting that except both the differences Kagan proposed and other differences are transparent and worthwhile being compared systematically. In the following essay,