Social Responsibility and Intercultural Competence

This student made 94/100 on this paper. This is not a “perfect” paper; there are some grammatical issues, but the student addressed most, if not all, of the elements required for this assignment. Use this as a guide, not as a resource. Social Responsibility and Intercultural Competence

Mountain View Community College

My culture is most commonly known as Hispanic or Latino. There is a vast variety of sub cultures with differences in traditions and display of rules within this general label and in my case, I was raised in a household that followed Mexican culture and its traditions. My first language growing up was Spanish and, in my culture, it is acceptable and encouraged for Latino children to learn Spanish as their first language. Latino families are generally close to immediate family and the definition of immediate family includes uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. Elders in Latino families are cared for at a family member’s home until death as they are the most respected figures in a family group. In my culture, eye contact while speaking to others is a sign of attentiveness and respect and gender roles vary in what is expected from them. By custom, men are expected to be the home provider while women are expected to take care of the children and maintain a household (by cleaning, cooking, and doing other chores).

There are numerous things I love about Latino culture besides the many dishes of delicious food. One value that the culture views as crucial for a healthy and prosperous life is working hard in order to obtain the rewards we want out of life. Another thing about my culture that I love is that we are resilient. My culture has shaped my identity because it has shown me to be a stronger individual for myself and my loved ones. As a kid, learning about artists such as Frida Kahlo helped me to develop a love for art, and books such as The House on Mango Street helped me to identify as a Latina. I feel confident about my place in the world and that is in part due to the things I’ve learned through my culture.

I’m pretty sure that other people feel a love for their own culture like I do, and after this experience I see that there are many misperceptions about many cultures that are simply wrong. The misconception that bothers me the most about my culture is that other people who have not been able to discover the satisfaction in interculturalism can have impressions that Latinos are ignorant, uneducated, and even criminals. It bothers me that Latinos have become the scapegoat to the current political climate full of confusion and misinformation.

Latin culture has made contributions to the community which can be seeing in the places where a combination of cultures both Mexican and Texan American have developed into what is known as “Tex-Mex.” I see the reflection of Latin culture through art murals on the streets and the type of businesses that continue to involve Latin culture in their business plans. The contribution that Latin culture brings to the country and which make a big impact in different fields of work which are vital for the economy and American life style include labor in construction and agriculture. A psychologist of Latin culture who has contributed to psychology, more specifically to the understanding of the differences and similarities among cultures and minorities in the last decades is clinical psychologist Lillian Comas-Diaz. Through her experience in the field she realized how experiencing different cultures helps to psychologically aid other people. She continues to influence the exploration of how gender roles and issues that affect minorities are connected.

My partner for this project is an African American single mother of a young boy, her name is Valery and we met at my place of work. The perception I had about her culture prior to discussing our cultures with her was that her culture is very expressive, very artsy, and a culture that is very inspiring. I also think that African American culture has experienced a very unfortunate past and continues to deal with the repercussion of the past. I asked Valery what she thought about her culture and she immediately said her culture is very enduring and full of motivation. Valery agreed that her culture is very expressive and said that her favorite way in which her culture expresses is through music and dance. She added that there is a special bond within her culture which is something she loves about being African American and that it is not strange to views other members in her culture as part of a big family. She loves that her culture is highly recognized for being talented and influential which makes her feel very proud.

Because she knows that her culture has so many great things to offer, the issues that keep haunting people who look like her are stereotyping and racism. As a mother of a little boy she worries about the stereotyping that many blacks experience when people assume that her culture is aggressive. She blames this misconception for tragedies which have occurred such as African American males being shot by police while unarmed. The African American culture has many contributions in our past accomplishments as society and continues to contribute in modern day. From contributions to different types of music through American History, to playing a vital role on accomplishments in places such as NASA, to inventing the light bulb, without a doubt the most influential contribution has been their long fight for equality. An influential African American psychologist was Kenneth Bancroft who played a key role in aiding to end segregation.

Valery’s culture and mine are different in many aspects, an example of this can be found in wedding traditions. In her culture it is a custom for the bride and groom to jump over a broom to symbolize new beginnings and sweeping away the past before the commitment. In my culture the bride must remove the groom’s shoes and socks after the ceremony to symbolize that she is ready to care for her husband. The traditional attire is also visually different. She described long colorful dress robes and I described flowy dresses and ribbons. Even though our cultures have differences, they also have much in common. Throughout history both my and Valery’s cultures have struggled for equality and fair treatment among genders. Both of our cultures believe that spiritual guidance is very real and that family values are very important. Our cultures must fight twice as hard to obtain access to higher education and must overcome misconceptions that are made against our culture in order to reach opportunities for better living.

As I was learning about Valery’s culture, I felt an emotion of empathy. My perception specially about the culture being one of strong attitudes didn’t change but I was able to learn that her culture’s strong attitude stems from having to fight to be equal and having to make their voices heard as humans. For a very long time her culture lived being the out-group and encountered decades of mistreatment and violation of their human rights. The strong attitude that her culture holds symbolizes the reassurance that her culture is stronger now than it had ever been allowed to be.

In order to successfully interact with my partner, I adjusted my heart set in order to be able to learn more about her culture with an open mentality. Doing so helped me to identify an issue that women in both of our cultures struggle with which is gender and racial inequality. We realized that as women of darker complexion, we suffer the consequences of the current state of inequality at an even greater scale. After discussing that women receive a smaller paycheck than a man for doing the same job and that Anglo men are most likely to be hired over a woman of color, we saw that there are similar issues that affect both cultures. I believe these issues are due to the realistic conflict theory described in the text book. As Horowitz explained, the need to obtain a job, landing a position of power or simply buying a house places people in a position where everything about who we are matters (Horowitz, 1985; Taylor & Moghaddam, date?). Unfortunately, time and time again, men seem to be considered a better option over women, especially women of color.

There is a responsibility to address this issue and it is based on the need for equality in order to continue to progress as society. It is important to stop the perception that only men can take over large loads of responsibility such as becoming president. It is important that cultures begin to expect women and young girls to be as smart and as capable as men. One can participate in civic engagement to address this issue by supporting other women who take on large roles in a community. Personally, involving my self to make a difference could benefit me in learning ways to help other people who continue to experience inequality themselves. To interact with others, especially those who are from different backgrounds is one way of addressing the issues and it can help in the attempts to raise awareness of how connected gender and racial inequality are. As Holm explained, “a person with good moral character and good intercultural competence can fight against different forms of discrimination, prejudice, and injustice” (Holm, 2009, pg. 190). I believe that education among minority groups and by sparking conversations with other people to help them understanding why equality among genders and cultures an important step is to take in order to become a person of good morals and good intercultural competence.

There are social and cultural barriers which get in the way of interaction among cultures and this may be due to the social identity theory. We categorize each other by how we look, identify with others who look like us and we compare against others and fail to notice the similarities among each other. We sometimes do this unconsciously, but we must recognize that in the end, all humans just want to live out their dreams and pursue happiness just as everyone else regardless of cultures and skin complexions. Every individual I’ve met from different backgrounds and cultures appreciate being treated fairly, equally and with respect and the only way to learn about other cultures is to take down the cultural barriers that we develop and engage with others with the purpose of learning and encouraging one another.

List of references

Comas-Díaz, L. (2005). Becoming a multicultural psychotherapist: The confluence of culture, ethnicity, and gender. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(8), 973–981. https://doi-org.dcccd.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/jclp.20170

Holm, K., Nokelainen, P., & Tirri K. (2009). Relationship of gender and academic achievement to Finish students’ intercultural sensitivity. High Ability Studies, 20(2) 187-200. https://doi-oig.dccd.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/1359813093358543Ciccarelli, Saundra K.White, J. Noland. (2013) Psychology :an exploration Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson.