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Diversity and Race

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Diversity and Race in my Hometown

Multicultural Families (HESC 4473)

September 9, 2015

Introduction
When speaking of multicultural families, we need to understand what it really means. The term culture was first used by the English Anthropologist Edward B. Taylor in his book Primitive Culture in 1871. Culture, said Taylor, is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Culture is also a way of life in the eyes of a set group of people. It is beliefs, religion, experience, knowledge, and material things. It is influenced by the people who make up a particular society. Culture really has no one meaning in my opinion, but rather, a many definitions. The most basic definition is that culture is a system of collective ideas, behaviors, beliefs, values, and artifacts that makes up a society of people. It is a learned behavior.
How did the children of different ethnical/racial groups behave in your high school? Did they date interracially? Eat lunch together? Hang out together? In my hometown of West Memphis, AR we really didn’t experience a whole lot of open difference however, there was a lot of things going on behind the scenes or amongst the different set groups. I do not remember fighting amongst the different races and everyone seemed to get along just fine above the surface. It was actually during lunch that everyone seemed to scatter off to their “own kind” so to speak. But it was ok that way and no one seemed to be offended about it. However, it was also during this time that you could feel the tension of the voluntary segregation. Even though my school experienced some resistance, we still had a few who liked everyone. We had interracial couples although I don’t the parents were always in agreement although some parents were just happy as the couple.
If you had been born in a different ethnicity (social class, etc.) in your community, what differences, if any, would it have made in your life?
I am not really sure life would have been any different for me. My dad is a Pastor but also worked a full time job and made really good money. In my community, we were the “high society” family as people called us. However, had I been born in the financial class or neighborhood as some of my Caucasian friends, life probably then would have been a little different. I say this because it just seemed to be certain things that the Caucasian families had privileges or rights that were not entitled to others. Although I had a comfortable life, I would have had more, maybe a car sooner like graduation night or a college fund waiting, etc.
Do individuals from different ethnical/racial groups live together (same neighborhood)? Yes in my community there were a mixture of races and people of different lifestyles and social class. However, although there was a mixture, it wasn’t many of the high class people. My city was labeled “white folk side of town” and “black folk side of town”. But then there was North side which is where I lived and this area was closer to the black side of town, but the upper class Blacks lived in this neighborhood.
Do individuals from different ethnical/racial groups have the same type of jobs?
I guess it just depends on which jobs one is talking about. Again my father had and still has an above average job, so I would like to say yes. But I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that they were certain jobs that people of my race didn’t have. Many cops, doctors, lawyers, bankers, etc. were mostly Caucasian and with a few of other races. Most sanitation, coaches, retail managers, fast food, were mostly Blacks but again only a few of the other races. It is this time, like I mentioned above, that you noticed the difference or division in the community. But of all this information, I was raised by my parents to be one of those kids that got along with anyone. I never judged people by color, I let their character determine if I was interested in being friends.

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