Diversity Interview By Integrating A Classmate Essay

As a child, I played with the quirky outcasts instead of the “normal” kids. My interest in anyone and anything remotely different became clear as my natural appreciation for diversity surfaced I am a minority by birth because of my Mexican heritage, but since I have always been surrounded by hispanic neighbors and peers, I have never felt it was a defining piece of my identity. Instead, I prefer to think my experiences make me who I am.

“But… what ARE you?” It was a question I encountered with discomfiting regularity. As a biracial child growing up in a working-class southern community, I was often the only non-white student in my classes. In this homogeneous town, my otherness stuck out like a sore thumb, and I learned from a young age that people can be unkind when they feel threatened by bucked conventions. Though I inhabited two cultures, I didn’t fit neatly in either. These experiences taught me the importance of inclusivity, and I developed a sensitivity for people deemed outsiders because of their differences. In college, these feelings became more acute when I learned that minority and multiracial patients often face specific medical challenges, and need culturally

Before I can delve into my students’ racial and cultural backgrounds, I must first look at my own. I am a white American, born and raised in Minnesota. My ancestors moved to America from France and Norway; however, in my family, our traditions are more Norwegian than French. For example, every Christmas we make lefse and krumkake, two traditional Norwegian foods, as a family. Growing up in Minnesota I have seen many fellow students and teachers who come from similar backgrounds, meaning of European decent. It was not until college that I met people from various locations around the world who have very different cultural backgrounds. It is my belief, that in order for me to be the best teacher I can be, that I need to be open to difference and willing to expand my horizons.

The client I chose for this diversity interview is 13 year old Willie Hazzard. Willie is the youngest son of Diane Hazzard. Willie is clearly effected by the many generations of poverty, his mother’s addiction, the neglect due to his mother’s addiction, and his exposure to the foster care system. Willie appears to lack trust, he is hostile, and he seems to be a little too familiar with living on the streets. His lack of trust can be attributed to his mother’s lack of parenting when he was little which caused him to be removed from the only home he had ever known and thrust into the child welfare system. He bounced around to a few different homes and was returned to his mother 6.5 years later so he was never able to plant

Growing up, I perceived myself as a minority in a predominantly Hispanic and to a lesser extent Asian area based solely on the restaurants in the area and how often I would see Spanish and an East or Southeast Asian script on the sign for a store. The latter is seen in the fact 55.9% of the population spoke Spanish or Spanish Creole and 87% of this group spoke English “less than well,” indicating it may be at least a second language for them. Asian and Pacific Island language speakers makeup 5.2% of the population, however, a greater degree of assimilation was seen in this group with only 64.4% of this group indicating they spoke English “less than well.” Another factor in this is that over 60 percent of the population (61.3%) is foreign born with the vast majority (90.8%) speaking Spanish or Spanish Creole at home. A quarter mile from my house there was an entire plaza of Southeast Asian stores and restaurants and a half mile away was another, larger plaza with mostly Mexican and other Central American businesses and spaces. In spite of this economic activity, the two thirds of residents rented rather than owned their homes and nearly 80% of the total population lived in these units. Additionally, 82.1% of the Spanish speaking population over the age of 25 have earned less than a highschool diploma. Such data are emblematic of the relationship between being a person of color in this country and the barriers to

For our families with Latino roots, we had four speakers; Jesse Farias, Elia Banuelos Padron, Kathleen Cifuents Nekumanesh, and Eduardo Fabian Paramo. Indeed, Jesse, Elia, and Eduardo mention how their parents including themselves had to migrate to the United State for a better life from Mexico, Elia and Kathleen mention how their religion was Catholic, and within Elia’s family they would exhibit male supremacy with strict gender role. I was easily identified with all speakers because I am also a Latina. My parents migrated from Mexico to the United Stated for a better life to obtain the American Dream. I was happy to hear from Jesse that his dad is from Michoacan because my dad and mom’s family are from the same state. Even though I was not

Although I lived in La Puente, I transferred into the Rowland Unified School District (RUSD) after I finished the 5th grade. Thereafter, I attended middle school and high school in Rowland Heights while living in La Puente. The city of La Puente is largely Hispanic/Latino, and therefore aligning well with my cultural background. Furthermore, considering much of my extended family lived within these bounds, and reared within the context of La Puente, it is apparent that these factors contributed to the centralization of my cultural experiences. For example, the majority of people in La Puente are Spanish-speakers and due to learning English and Spanish at home, I was able to understand

Since freshman year I have lived in Rosemead, Los Angeles. The residences are mostly Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese but without a caucasian in sight. This is totally different than what I expected of America, and definitely different than the little village of Pawling in upstate New York where I attend a lily white boarding school. However, I started to blend in; I played basketball. I rode bikes, and I hung out with other teens. We all were basically the same but just embraced different cultures. For instance, the Vietnamese insisted on entire families

“A diversity of views leads to a better discussion and greater understanding among students.”- Finkelman. This quotes clearly states why any colleges decide to give out scholarships to people from minority groups. They need to make sure different races attend their schools so the students may have better class discussions and a greater understanding of other cultures/backgrounds so they are prepared for various situations in life even after college.

I work in social services as a foster care licensing specialist and interact with children and families who are culturally diverse. My awareness of my identity enables me to make culturally responsive decisions. With various social identities comes different perspectives, values, and experiences. I am not color blind to race or its larger social implications, but I tend to categorize others less by race than gender. I have a multiracial extended family. My aunt is white and my uncle is black. Together they had three beautiful bi-racial daughters. Additionally, I have a cousin who is Chinese and was adopted at birth by her white, single mother. I dream of having a multiracial and multiethnic family myself and hope to celebrate race and ethnicity. However, I am more likely to notice the number of men and women in a room than differences in race. Perhaps this is due to my white privilege status versus my female oppressed status. Because white is considered the “norm,” I am less likely to identify the differences between races, and because male is considered the “norm,” I am more likely to recognize the disparities between gender. Moreover, there are times I identify with one identity over another. As a fan of the Women’s National Soccer team, I was proud to identify as an American female during the 2015 World Cup. I knew that being an American was a privilege that

Amanda and I were introduced through a common friend. I had expressed to this friend that I needed to interview someone of a different race, and culture. As it sounds, I did not place much consideration into specifically choosing a person. I simply wanted to interview someone that was different than I was. I made contact with Amanda over text, and we met at the local Starbucks. We met for an hour on the 6ht, 8th, and 13th of September. While beginning the process of gathering questions for the interview, I realized that over the years I have had many friends of different races. However, I have never taken the opportunity to ask my friends about their culture, or race overall. The conversations that I had with my friends mostly consisted of

In general, I learned that it is well established in the workplace that diversity is a good thing, but diversity for the sake of diversity does not affect anything. When we began the interview I pointed out the lack of non-Caucasian people working for the town which she agreed with. Then she something that I had her repeat multiple times so I could

Having attended Charles R. Drew High School, a predominantly African American high school, transferring to Rancho Dominguez, a predominantly Hispanic high school in Long Beach, California, would have proved a bit of a cultural shock if not for my previous acclimation to different cultures, which came from my earlier travels.

I used to live in Oakland, which has a broad spectrum of people from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds and not one person seems to be “different.” In an effort to offer me a safer environment and better education, I was uprooted from Oakland and was forced to relocate. When I was in junior high, I moved

This research paper addresses the importance of diversity training in the workplace. Having realized how pertinent workplace discrimination is globally, this paper will give a broad look into the various ways that diversity is displayed in the workplace. The diversity issues involving gender, sexuality, race, age, culture and religion will be explored,