Cultural Diversity Paper

Cultural Diversity

Kashata Warren

Communication/100

October 8,2011

Sherrie Madia

Cultural Diversity

According to Wiki “Cultural diversity is having a heart and a mind that acknowledges, accepts, values, and even celebrates the various ways that people live and interact in the world. It is the idea that cultural identities should not be discarded or ignored, but rather maintained and valued”. The foundation of this belief is that every culture and race has made a substantial contribution to American History. The appreciation of diversity is important in communication because it teaches us to be more open and accepting to things that are different from us and in that process makes us adjustable and open. That is why, intercultural communication is an important factor that accepting diversity brings along with it. According to Rujuta Borkar “diversity is important in today’s time because with the world becoming more and more global, one will obviously wonder is globalization good or bad. It is to be understood that no matter what, it will become more and more diverse and nothing is going to stop the world from becoming a melting pot of cultures and different diversities. So instead of it being a negative thing, diversity helps to bring a positive reform in society.

African-American is my cultural background and it begun with Africans who were captured and held as slaves in America. The slave owners sought to control the Africans by stripping them of their cultures. Though their freedom to practice their culture was greatly restricted, they managed to keep some traditions alive by blending them with the element of American culture. It was not until the emancipation did the African-Americans develop separately from mainstream American culture, thus marking the beginning of a distinctly unique culture.

Being a woman and part of the African- American culture, I have certain values, beliefs, concepts, and behaviors that I have learned as a child...