Unity versus Diversity
In the past couple of weeks, I am starting to learn about these two ways of thinking. I have always grown up looking through the lens of unity. Mankind is one. We have different races, backgrounds and lifestyles yet we are the same. In the words of Michael Jackson, "If you want to be my brother, it don't matter if you are black or white". That is what I grew up thinking. In my high school experience, I had the majority of white students. I had a lot of friends who were white, but I had lots of friends who had different races and ethnicity. I never saw them through the lens of "this is my black friend". I never singled out someone based off their race. It didn't matter to me what race they were, the only thing that mattered is that we were human.
Growing up in the LDS religion, I had similar experiences. I grew up knowing that I am a daughter of God. My Heavenly Father loves me along with all of his other sons and daughters. As I grew up and interacted with others in my religion, we always shared this common belief. We all knew that our Heavenly Father loved us for who we were. We knew that God knew us individually and collectively. When I looked at others, I loved them because I knew that kindness was a important principle that I wanted to practice. You love your neighbor because God loves them and expects all of his children to love each other. It is a commandment to love everyone. I was taught by others that you love others simply because they are God's children. I was taught to look in this lens of unity in the sense that everyone is a child of God. When I first meet someone, I try to find the commonalities between us.
Entering this social work program has been eye opening to how I view others. I have never felt racist before until I started my Diversity class. We talked about the importance of cultures and understanding diversity. My textbook talked about how if we see all mankind as one, we are practicing racist behavior. We are neglecting someone's culture and not recognizing the fact that some races are oppressed. Races and cultures want to be acknowledged as different as their cultures are different. When we interact with another race, it was important to focus on the differences.
This contrasted the way I was born and raised to view everyone as similar. I had to combat the question if I was racist. Am I racist because I see everyone as God's children? Am I neglecting someone's culture by my religious beliefs? I struggled with this concept for a while. I have come to my own conclusion.
I understand how social workers must be culturally competent. I understand that cultures and races have different rituals and traditions they want to maintain. When you look at someone through one lens, I understand how some individuals may feel like their identity is undervalued. I think there is a problem when you only look for differences when you first meet someone though. When you focus only on differences, it creates a disparity. Some questions you might ask include, what makes me different than you based off our race? I no longer view them as someone I can relate to.
If we want to have peace in our society, I don't think that looking at others through differences will help. I think it will only perpetrate behavior that divides us. In my opinion, it will encourage segregation as the people who we get along with the most are the ones within our race. We can only relate to those who share our own circumstances, background, race and lifestyle. If we want to build a society based on acceptance and love, shouldn't we focus on how we are similar? Maybe I am getting this wrong and I am racist, I just find that taking this approach will create unwanted results.
Racism and inequality are loaded and difficult social issues that we still have to overcome. I don't know the answers. I wish I knew the answers that would make inequality wash away. I understand that all cultures and races have their own traditions and lifestyle. I think it is important to maintain one cultures and heritage. I just don't think separating cultures based on their differences will help cure the world of racism.
Entering this social work program has been eye opening to how I view others. I have never felt racist before until I started my Diversity class. We talked about the importance of cultures and understanding diversity. My textbook talked about how if we see all mankind as one, we are practicing racist behavior. We are neglecting someone's culture and not recognizing the fact that some races are oppressed. Races and cultures want to be acknowledged as different as their cultures are different. When we interact with another race, it was important to focus on the differences.
This contrasted the way I was born and raised to view everyone as similar. I had to combat the question if I was racist. Am I racist because I see everyone as God's children? Am I neglecting someone's culture by my religious beliefs? I struggled with this concept for a while. I have come to my own conclusion.
I understand how social workers must be culturally competent. I understand that cultures and races have different rituals and traditions they want to maintain. When you look at someone through one lens, I understand how some individuals may feel like their identity is undervalued. I think there is a problem when you only look for differences when you first meet someone though. When you focus only on differences, it creates a disparity. Some questions you might ask include, what makes me different than you based off our race? I no longer view them as someone I can relate to.
If we want to have peace in our society, I don't think that looking at others through differences will help. I think it will only perpetrate behavior that divides us. In my opinion, it will encourage segregation as the people who we get along with the most are the ones within our race. We can only relate to those who share our own circumstances, background, race and lifestyle. If we want to build a society based on acceptance and love, shouldn't we focus on how we are similar? Maybe I am getting this wrong and I am racist, I just find that taking this approach will create unwanted results.
Racism and inequality are loaded and difficult social issues that we still have to overcome. I don't know the answers. I wish I knew the answers that would make inequality wash away. I understand that all cultures and races have their own traditions and lifestyle. I think it is important to maintain one cultures and heritage. I just don't think separating cultures based on their differences will help cure the world of racism.
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