Cultural Diversity In The Hispanic Culture

Culture is understood in many ways to many different kind of people. Growing up, not much time nor effort was placed into grasping the full understanding of what it is to be cultured, how many other cultures you could possibly belong to, or why culture is important for our present and future society. Being able to reflect on one’s own individual cultural identity as well as respect the understanding of others’, can be an up most powerful feeling. First, we must understand that the definition of culture goes beyond the society’s stereotype of what is race and ethnicity and how that defines what culture you belong to. In lecture we discussed how, “culture is a set of values, beliefs, expectations, worldviews, symbols, and appropriate behaviors

Within my Hispanic lifestyle, we hold onto a strong sense of culture within our families. I would say that family is one of the most important components of being in the Hispanic culture. Admitting that there is still indeed major stereotypes that interplay with the Hispanic community, I’d like to believe they were not the sole contributors of the characteristics of how I view my family and culture. There is value in respecting your elders and believes that make divorce almost impossible, but expectations of the youths can be flexible. During my adolescent life my family moved into a suburb of a mainly white community. Fortunately I do not have any epic experiences of oppression that have greatly impacted my life, but more of internalized changes. Due to the fact that I wasn’t old enough to truly prosper in my Hispanic community, I closely defined myself right along with my white peers. The text would describe is as enculturation, “socialization process through which individual learn and acquire the cultural and psychological qualities of a particular cultural group” (Hays & Erford, 2013). Unknowingly, I was acquiring new knowledge of what it was to be Hispanic in a white community. This particular experience has groomed me into my comfort ability to feel at ease with others whom do not closely look like me. Along with many characteristics I picked up in my white community, I also learned the value in a piece of paper (or degree). This particular message I feel was more strongly enforced within this community, which is most evident in myself today. Going to college allowed me to leave my little community and venture out on my own. Moving to a city with the majority of the population being Hispanic or Mexican-American has made me get back to my roots of what it is to belong to the ‘brown’ culture. Motivation and discovery on my own part has allowed me to grown from the