Growing Up In America

Diversity is said to make us unique and beautiful, yet too often it creates the ugliest conflicts. History will tell us more often than not that fundamental components of human life (race, religion, politics, culture, etc) are the root of many conflicts. Yet, people seem to make our discrepancies seem praiseworthy, and that we must accept them wholeheartedly. Although acceptance is crucial in forming a more empathetic society, it is important to recognize that one’s willingness to accept others is shaped by their past experiences and upbringing.

Someone can live in a multicultural society and fit very well. Ethnocentrism entails being centered or considering your own culture as right, and negatively evaluating other people’s cultural practices. One can avoid being ethnocentric by striking a balance between cultures and tolerating other groups with their cultures without judging them based on their practices. Civilization and education systems have contributed a lot in impacting knowledge of cultural relativism to the young generations. This has been a vital tool to fight ethnocentrism, for instance, being an immigrant in the United States, where there are different cultures, it can be challenging. I have encountered a lot of cultural shock in the process of adjusting. There is a lot of difference between my culture, and the American culture. I have had to adapt some values, and just tolerate other norms so I can fit in the American society, and live in harmony with

It can be very challenging to move away from the country you grew up in. Recalling all those moments of laughter, excitement, and adventure can only make one more and more depressed. I was born in Port-Au -Prince, which is the capital of Haiti and raised in Gonaives. I spend most of my early childhood in Haiti. I only knew my native language, food, music, and history. I was only familiar with my native holidays and celebration. Therefore, the day my mother came to me and told me I had been awarded my resident card, and we had to move to America. My life changed forever.

As an international student, it is often very hard for people from different culture to fit into another culture and get adapted to how the new culture works. Something that I have significantly

To begin with, as a person, I always feel it is very challenging for me to go out and work with different groups of people who speak different languages, who practice different religions, whose beliefs and ideology are different from mine. It is my biggest fear that I may be unable to fit in with a group, and not be liked by them, because they are different from me. On the other hand, it’s also exciting that I am learning and getting exposed to these new cultures, and these new people, and these new languages, which helps me to grow and be the person I want to be in my life.

To be a part of two different cultures at the same time seems almost impossible. A wise man once said, “you cannot serve two masters, you either hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other”. Now those wise words weren’t talking about cultures and communities, but rather

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

Accepting the differences of others by expanding your own level of understanding begins with the awareness that your own culture

After reading through the chapter on the DMIS stages (denial, defense, minimization, acceptance, adaptation, and integration), I would say that personally, I fall under the “acceptance” stage. “This stage represents an individual’s ability to recognize and appreciate cultural difference in terms of both people’s values and their behavior” (Cushner, McClelland, Safford, Pg. 152). As it states, the individual experiencing acceptance is “beginning to demonstrate the ability to interpret phenomena within a cultural context”, I believe that this is a fitting sentence for myself. Being that I am from a rural prairie town in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma, and the only people where I lived were other Senecas like my family and friends, I did not experience a cultural shock until I was in the sixth grade and had moved to Florida. In this town in Oklahoma, it was rare to even see someone described as “white”, as racial prejudice is still rampant throughout Oklahoma against Natives and basically, everybody who isn’t. I was taught to be accepting and welcoming throughout my life, and I believe that made the transition into a new cultural system much easier.

We can foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism by treating one another with respect and being open minded. We all need to take time out of our lives and actually realize what we are showing the next generation. The youth is what are future is and what is holds, and if we cant even show one another respect for each other, that can you imagine what this place we call home will look like in a couple of years or even further down the road.

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

Pg. 43 When you find yourself in a cultural environment outside of your own, how do you know when to adjust and when to resist?

Growing up, I was surrounded by a juxtaposition of numerous cultures due to the fact that my dad is from Bangladesh, my mom is from India, my family is in the Middle East, and my childhood is rooted in a diverse area where I am surrounded by no one like myself. My family would joke about how I was culturally confusing, as I shifted my perspective and filtered my communication almost effortlessly in order to adapt to my environment, however, to me, analyzing those discrepancies between cultures and traditions dazzled me rather than dizzying me.

Many things are important to us, one of these is being accepted by our society. We all hate to be the outsider or the new kid, because we feel alone and secluded . In “Who Am I This Time?';, Helene Shaw’s job kept her moving to a different town every eight weeks. She became very cold to her

The developmental model that I will be using is Bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity (DMIS). Bennett’s model “…provides a framework for understanding individual development and awareness along a continuum from high ethnocentric to highly ethnorelative, and this framework can help us better understand some of the dynamics that might occur” (Bennett, 135). According to the model, there are two groups ethnocentric, which has three sub stages, and ethnorelative, which also has three sub stages. In the first category, ethnocentric, the three sub stages are denial, defense and minimization, while, the second category, ethnorelative, the three sub stages are acceptance, adaption and integration. “Denial is the inability to see cultural differences and is evident when individuals isolate or separate themselves in homogenous groups” (Bennett, 135). Defense is similar to denial; however, they are able to recognize cultural differences but have a negative outlook about other’s cultures (Bennett, 137). The last one in the ethnocentric category is minimization which when people can recognize and accept superficial cultural differences; however, they still view everyone as the same (Bennett, 138). The first one in the ethnorelative category is acceptance, which is when the individual is able to identify and appreciate one’s cultural differences such as values and behaviors (Bennett, 140). The next stage is adaption which is when individuals start to see “cultural