ETH/125
Dr. Henry Williams
Diversity
Since starting this course I was familiar with the topic of Diversity. I am in Law Enforcement and have taken courses in Ethics and Communicating Skills while in the Law Enforcement Academy. I do not want to say I did not learn anything from this course because I believe I learn something new every day. This course helped me remember my training when dealing with people. It is important to understand different cultures as this is an important to tool. The information that I learned about diversity in the United States has helped me understand and relate to others.
After researching I came to a website called Population Reference Bureau (PRB). There is an article dated back in February 2008 and it sates, “A new report from the Pew Research Center projects that immigration will propel the U.S. population total to 438 million by 2050, from 303 million today (see Figure 1). Along with this growth, the racial and ethnic profile of Americans will continue to shift—with non-Hispanic whites losing their majority status. The authors estimate that immigrants arriving after 2005, and their children and grandchildren, will account for 82 percent of the population growth between 2005 and 2050.”
I believe the United States faces many challenges in the future due to the amount of diverse people who continue to come here. I do not believe there is enough education about the different cultures in our world. If our children began to learn more about these cultures in school I believe they would be better prepared when they are sent out into the world to work. I believe there are many people who segregate themselves because they do not trust the people around them. They were never educated about the cultures surrounding them. I believe this is unfortunate because these uneducated people may enjoy their surrounding cultures. The more segregation the more people begin to recent their surroundings.
Diversity in society helps us to grow as individuals and open our minds to different ways of life. When you become exposed to different ways of life you see how other cultures live. This helps you in your own life as you begin to realize not everyone is the same. I married into a Hispanic family which I enjoy every moment of. I have always enjoyed the Hispanic culture and now that I am married to a Hispanic woman I appreciate it even more. My wife has learned a lot about the Italian culture because of me and she tells me she understands it now. Being in a relationship with a different culture has helped my children understand about the differences in people. We are all different in our own way; it is nice to be able to share your beliefs with other people. It is equally nice to learn about other people and their beliefs as well.
I believe American people are accepting to all kinds of cultures. After all there are so many different types of religions in our country already. I believe the American people continue to learn about other cultures every day. There are and will always be people who are afraid of different cultures. I believe this will never change but we can look past them because they are just a few. It is like racism, we will never conquer racism but we can learn how to deal with it. Throughout American history there have been groups that have expressed prejudice and intolerance toward newcomers of other religions and cultures. I have learned the differences in religions just recently in my life. I know now Catholics and Christians do not believe in the same values.
I was brought up Catholic and my wife was Christian. Although we are different religions we know we can live with each other. That is the point of learning about other people. Just because someone does not follow your beliefs does not mean they are a bad person. Taking the time to learn and understand each other is an important part of growing up. I teach my children to respect everyone