Culture & Diversity from Three Perspectives

The first person I asked to give me a personal definition of culture and diversity stated that culture is a combination of ones family, beliefs, history, and race, and diversity is the differences that people bring together to make up our society. A second person I spoke with focused their definition of culture and diversity specifically toward ethnicity and racial differences between various groups of people, and traditional values that people portray within a set group. Another person mentioned that culture was largely made up of relationships and the social environment that a person is raised and lives. They summarized diversity as the social variety of the differences that individuals and families possess and share as a whole.
These three perspectives on culture and diversity have some similarities as well as some different viewpoints on the topic. The first and third definition provided a more broad definition of the words, listing multiple characteristics such as race, beliefs, history, relationships, etc, and how these characteristics make our society a diverse people. Many of these cultural characteristics were shared by Gonzelaz-Mena as the melting pot of life aspects that make up who we are as a person (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). I tend to agree with this idea that culture is so personal, so independent, but that's also what gives our society its diversity. The second definition was a bit more focused on the ethnic aspect of cultural identity and how our vast races make our society to diverse. After just having spoken with three individuals that I know, it's become more clear that culture and diversity is personal and is thought of very personally as well. Our opinions are defined by our own culture and experiences, which will in turn also affect how we view others. I feel that we should always be open minded about our neighbors and willing to learn more about the various cultures that make our world so diverse.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Culture and Diversity (2011) [DVD] Perspectives on Diversity and Equity. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond “culture clash”: Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into Practice, 47(1), 4–11.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.