Week 2: Reflections on Family Culture

This is the first blog assignment for my class Perspectives on Diversity and Equity:

Imagine the following:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

Blog about all of the following:

A description of the three items you would choose 

How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you 

Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you 

Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise

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The first personal item I would include would be a book that my mother and aunts put together chronologically describing the lives and life experiences of my grandparents. I would bring this because it shows documentation and descriptions of many of my roots, which are significant to whom I am culturally. I would explain to others that where I come from and the people in my life have had a profound influence on who I am today as well as what I hope for the future, despite my geographical location.

A second personal item that I would choose would be one of the only gifts I have received from my parents that they collaborated on in giving me, which is a pendant of a Star of David and Silver cross  entwined. My parents came from two differing faiths and in raising me, they allowed my brother and I the freedom to make up our own minds about religion. I have always appreciated this and it is good to know that though their marriage did not last, their efforts in keeping cultural freedom and a respect for diversity present for my our well-being always has.

A third special item I would bring would probably be my I-Pod. Music has always been a significant part of my life. As a child, I remember that both of my parents had music playing all the time. I played instruments during school.  I find that now that I am on my own, I always have to have something playing in my house, when I drive, doing paperwork and schoolwork, etc. I like to keep up with different types of music, changes in trends, etc. I also think that music is a significant part of most cultures. Therefore, if I were evacuated to a foreign place, music may be a good way to assimilate to the new culture, but still represent myself as well.

If, upon arrival to this new country and culture, I was told that only one of these would be possible to bring. I would feel very confused and angry. I would hope I would have the chance to collaborate among my other family members chosen items so that some of everything would be represented for us.

I think this was a useful first blog assignment for this course on Perspectives of Diversity and Equity. Choosing these three personal items was not easy, but the ones I chose represent some very significant aspects of my cultural experiences. It puts diversity into perspective as I did think about the cultural possibilities of my hypothetical new location as well. This excercise reinforces how complex family culture can be and the importance of reflection on ones cultural experiences.