Living in a city like Houston, diversity is present in every corner. From different races and beliefs to different sexual orientation. However, having grown up in Miami, diversity was not present in most situations. Most of the people in my community were mostly Cuban or from Central and South America. All my friends knew how to speak Spanish and shared similar cultures.
Houston is very different from Miami. Houston has people from almost every continent. My parents are very stereotypical due to unfortunate events that have occurred in their lifetime. I didn't always agreed with their stereotypical opinions and sometimes argued with them. They are uncomfortable around people who aren't from American or European decent due to their different cultures and customs.
When we moved to Houston, we resided in a neighborhood in which the majority were African-Americans, very different than what we were accustomed to in Miami. Being a very shy person, communicating and making friends midway through the school year was a challenge. I usually wasn't the person
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who initiated the conversation. A person from Asian decent started to converse with me and we soon became friends. She introduced me to her friends who were mostly African-Americans. They were much different than what I expected. They were friendly, nice, and easy to converse with. I was surprised to know how they wanted to learn Spanish and had blended their culture with those of Hispanics. Outside from my school experiences, I encountered other people, particularly Mexicans. I had difficulty understanding them due to their accent and they had difficulty understanding mine. After days struggling to communicate, I realized how much faster I spoke. Having realized the flaws in my speaking, I have become more fluent in the Spanish language. After a month in Hasting High School, I transferred to Spring Woods High School.
The majority of the student population were Hispanic and Caucasian. Making friends was easier than in Hastings High School. I wasn't as timid and was initiating conversations. On my first day at Spring Woods High School, I became friends with two Caucasian girls. They explained to me the education system of the school and Texas. Race no longer played a role in who I communicated with. However, a month later, I encounter with a boy who claimed to be homosexual. I have never encountered someone who was homosexual and the idea disturbed me. Nonetheless, I gave him the same opportunity I was given. I helped him understand the school system and how to adjust to the new school. I have come to accept that everyone has the right to decide for themselves. They have a choice and no one should interfere with it or judge them for
it. As the year progressed, I have learned not to judge someone by the color of their skin, by their beliefs, or by their sexual orientation. Step by step, day after day, I have come to accept everyone for who they are. I no longer compare them and much less do I criticize them. These encounters helped me remove the stereotypical views of people and improved my communication skills. The amount of diversity found in Houston has helped construct my morals and become more accepting. I do not regret any of the occurrences that has happened nor do I regret my actions towards the situation.
Houston is the city that I used to live in on the outskirts of Houston; however, after I have blogged about Houston since day one I have learned a great deal in Houston and where it came from. Houston is a diverse city which is main up of all kinds of race, ethnic background, and religious. It is a great city to settle down and have a family in the suburban. It also a great city to start a career in the medical field, due to all the hospitals around the area. Houston is the “fourth most populous city in the nation” and “the largest in the southern U.S. and Texas.” Houston also has many places that you can go and explore and different attractions you can go to spend time with friends and family. Did you know Houston has “More than 90 languages
Greg Lewis in “An Open Letter to Diversity’s Victims” advocates against the need for many languages in school programs, in American. Greg describes that those who are after what they refer to as “diversity” have been insisting that the American schools should be taught both in English and Spanish. The so called liberals base their arguments on the fact that, teaching a single language would obsolete the cultural identity of the Hispanic people. Greg’s arguments, use of quotations, tone, and mood show the need as to why single language system should be continued.
The culture of Miami has various influences, but for the majority it is Latin. People from Latin America including places like Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico and many others have inhabited Miami for many of years now. While over half of the population were born in a foreign country it is common that people speak English just as much as Spanish. A key part to the Cuban community is called Little Havana, which gets its name from the Cuba’s capital city. This is a place fu...
During my junior year of high school, I was transferred from the Boces Program to East Meadow High School. This was an exciting time in my life! I was finally going to attend classes with "hearing" students. So many emotions filled my head. I was happy but, on the other hand, I was scared. I thought these kids would tease me and not accept me for who I am. When I went into the classroom, every student looked at me as if I were different, but they liked me anyway. Much to my surprise, within a couple of days I had made friends. I quickly realized that they didn't think of or treat me as I were different. They saw me for who I am on the inside, not a person with hearing aids on the outside.
From a cultural experience there is no state in the U.S. that has the diversity of people as Florida. It is comprised of Anglo and African Americans, Caribbean
Dental professionals have a commitment to respect diversity and create equity of access to dental care for everyone (GDC, 2014). Diversity describes any dimension that can be used to differentiate an individual from others. It requires understanding that each individual is unique and accepting and respecting these individual differences (QCC,2013). These differences could be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, age, socio-economic status or other ideologies (QCC, 2013). Understanding the impact that these differences may pose is vital in dealing professionally with people from diverse backgrounds and delivering equal treatment for all. Equality refers to identical treatment in dealings quantitates and values (Braveman, and Gruskin, 2003). Thus, creating equality for all might not mean that there are no disparities between different groups. Equity on the other hand refers to fairness and the equality of outcomes and involves recognizing aspects of a system that may disadvantage a certain group and correcting them (Braveman, and Gruskin, 2003). Therefore, in order to overcome potential pitfalls that may create inequity to access, there is a need to explore the different factors encountered in our diverse society that may create these issues. As an example, patients from different ethnic backgrounds may be faced with barriers accounting for the less frequent use of dental care (CQC. 2010). This group will be used as an example and some of the issues behind this inequity of access will be looked at further.
My years of growing up and though my age now, I have experienced many areas of diversity. This implement of diversity I use in the text of variations of cultures. During my past years I lived in the combinations of six different cities. That is a lot compared to most students who I have talked to at Oakland University, where I tend now. Every city was different; Canton is where my prime baby years were so I have to admit I do not have and culture scene here. Taylor, Dearborn Hts, and Dearborn where the highlights of my culture knowledge came from. These three cities are on the out skirts of Detroit. Dearborn Hts. and Taylor is where I spent most of my years and was always surrounded by diverse cultures from Whiteness, Jews, African American, Caledeans Muslim and so forth. I went to a private school in Taylor until the fifth grade. St. Alfred, the private school I went to, there were only "white" people and yes who all followed the same religion and beliefs. So wi...
The summer before I went to fifth grade, my family moved. I was taken out of my comfort zone with my friends I had since before kindergarten and moved to an unknown. My Mom and Dad wanted me to be in a better school and since my mother worked for the Board of Education, she knew the school system she wanted me to be in. The neighborhood we had just moved to had just begun to be segregated. That year I was called the “N” word for the first time and really the only time I could think of. I did find a friend before school started. This friend and my choice to remain her friend would begin to mold my life early on.
Growing up a black female in a black neighborhood. I went to school with not much diversity in my elementary, middle school nor high school.
When I hear diversity many things comes to mind covering a wide range of interests, backgrounds, experiences. Some of the different types of diversity in which I have taken the chance to be a leader in whether it is among groups of people and individuals on the topic of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender, exceptionalities, language, religion, sexual orientation diversity, etc. Diversity of experiences, viewpoints, backgrounds, and life experiences. Tolerance of thought, ideas, people with differing viewpoints, backgrounds, and life experiences. I have challenged myself to be a leader on issues of diversity by continue challenge for racial diversity and wrong racial ideology in the debate space.
Diversity has broad ranges of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their culture and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students do not only bring their cultures and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnics, talents, and skills. In addition, their age and gender are two other spectrums that are part of diversity. As the years go by, diversity becomes a controversial topic. The more students that are accepted into American schools from different countries, the more diverse and rich classrooms become.
The term racism means inequity or injustice based on race. It can also be the principle that talks about the differences in human personality or capacity and that a specific race is absolute to others. This can be as a result of language, traditions and customs, or any feature that the person possesses. The idea of racism has been in existence in the history of humans for a very long time. For the past years, racism of westerners towards those who are not from that region has had more impact than any other type of racism. The most well-known instance of racism that occurred in the West was enslaving Africans. One vital feature of racism, particularly concerning the
I felt uncomfortable and nervous (in all honesty, I still am) meeting strangers, consequently this did not help that fact in my first year. Seeing how I had no choice in the matter, I became cooperative and thoughtful of others; it was cause of this, I felt assured and at ease for my unaccustomed school year.
Going to school with many different cultures is exciting. I get to learn about cultures I have no clue about, such as Buddhism, Chinese, even Japanese. Going to a school that is very diverse makes me able to talk to others and learn about their cultures, and maybe even make friends with people I thought I would never make friends with. It also goes to show that everyone was not born the same, and no matter what a person’s differences are we should respect them and have no problem conversing with them. As with me, I consider myself a diverse person. My mom is Irish/American and my dad is Lebanese, so coming from a family where two cultures come together is really interesting. We celebrate Ramadan which is the fasting during the holy month for Islam, and we also celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ in Christianity. Getting the best of both worlds is really intriguing, because I can celebrate two totally different holidays from two different religions and now how to respect both. I know for a fact that I do bring diversity to University of Toledo because not most people know an American-Lebanese.
One particular experience that has truly opened my eyes to a culture that is diverse would be when I attended a church of all African Americans. As the church was very local to mine, I expected things would be similar, however my assumption was wrong. When I got there everything seemed normal as others greeted and talked with one another as they found their seats. Once the music cued to start worship all normality that I knew vanished. At my church we stand, sing, sit down, and quietly listen. At this church during worship they shouted, sang loudly, danced, clapped, and moved around. At this point I was confused and surprised at the same time as to what to do. I would look around trying to decide do I join in or do I just stand by. Although this experience of a different culture I thoroughly enjoyed their passion and fun that they incorporated into worship.