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Embracing Diversity: How Cultural Awareness can Combat Racial Discrimination

I remember the day that I heard about it on the news. Scared, disturbed, and worried. So

many emotions coursing through my body. Thinking about scenarios of death, danger, and

hatred. The date was March 16, 2021. A very normal day, relaxing at home with my parents. The

news station, ABC news to be exact, pops on the television screen reading, “8 dead in

Atlanta-area spa shootings, suspect arrested.” As the news goes on, it talks about how all the

deaths were race related and they were all Asian.

As an Asian-American with my father being white and my mother being Asian, many

many issues revolving around race in the United States have piqued my interest. Seeing so many

different controversies take place in the United States, I get scared for my Mom and my Mom’s

side of the family. For as long as I can remember our country has been facing racism issues like

hate speech, discrimination, and as seen in the news, physical hate. Now, more than ever,

discrimination is prominent in every part of the country which is so horrible to even think about.

All these issues really had me thinking, what could I do to fix this? I started talking to people

and doing research on the topic to better understand, to what extent this issue goes. I learned

many new things and got determined to make my senior project on this topic. I have been

planning on it for about a year. This topic is incredibly important and also broad so learning

about every aspect of it was very important to me.

As the senior year started and the senior project rolled around, I got right into the midst of

hardcore research and analysis on this topic which led me to come up with the question: how

does learning about different cultures help minimize ethnic and racial divisions?

When thinking of different cultures and minimizing the divisions, understanding diversity

is what comes to mind first. Diversity: “The diversity definition refers to the existence of

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variations of different characteristics in a group of people. These characteristics could be

everything that makes us unique, such as our cognitive skills and personality traits, along with

the things that shape our identity (e.g. race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, cultural

background)” (Pavlou). The new coming generation of people will not be able to learn diversity

if they are constantly around one certain group of people of one certain culture. “In our

increasingly diverse and multicultural society, it’s more important than ever for teachers to

incorporate culturally responsive instruction in the classroom -- whether teaching elementary

school, middle school or high school students. This increase of diversity doesn’t only relate to

race and ethnicity; it can include people of different religion, economic status, sexual orientation,

gender identity, and language background” (“The Importance of Multicultural Education”).

Again, all of this ties back to the diversity of our country and how important expressing this

diversity really is. One who may only live one way of life may treat others differently than one

who is open to many interpretations and styles of life. The understanding of diversity can make

our country come together to accept one another, and even smaller communities all around the

globe can take the time to inform themselves about all the different diverse people, everywhere

that you look.

Let’s start with the topic of culture. It is a very broad topic that covers a lot of things, but

being able to start with cultural knowledge, can open a person up to things, such as language and

religion. From a young age, being conditioned to learn one’s cultural values as well as diversity

is extremely important for parents to put in the lives of their kids. As Lesadmin states, “(w)hen

your children learn about people and their different cultures, they’ll be less likely to classify

them depending on stereotypes” (Lesadmin). Stereotypes are often formed and expressed by

people who have been brought up under parent’s influence, or the people that they are

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surrounded by. Again, if kids are put in an environment where multiple ways of life are accepted

and everything is not so straight forward and narrow, there will be less stereotyping. Being

around or possibly spending time with people from other cultures growing up is important for

children. It is so even for adults. Stereotyping can cause issues in workplaces. Minority groups

have been an important part of our workforce. Making the workplace in the United States more

inclusive of minority populations would be a step towards the right direction, “...adapting

personnel policy to create a comfortable and welcoming workplace for minority group members”

(Brach and Fraser). Comfortability is important because for workers in general, not having to

worry about things other than working on the task at hand will give them that space to excel and

put in their best work. This is especially true for minority workers who may be new to the

country, not knowing much about interactions, the people, and how things work. If non-minority

workers are able to give that comfortability by being helpful and understanding, such people may

even be able to learn other ways of living and be able to step out of their comfort zones. The

book The Culture Map by Evan Meyer gave a really good grasp on all things culture and how

people react to certain things. He states, “The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers

who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting

their work” (Meyer 22). Understandably, the management role of a company is one that is very

important and an intense job to take. The best managers are made by being open to differences.

Being able to grasp the power that these differences hold on people helps more than people think.

The need for understanding culture is so incredibly important in the business field.

Racial divide is another aspect of poor understanding of cultural diversity that leads to

racial inequality. Again, not fully grasping the importance of cultural differences and how each

person does things in different ways is the cause of inequality amongst us. Things like being

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treated differently, being seen as something that you are not, are just some of the examples of this

inequality. Racial equality is important for all people no matter the race, ethnic background, or

the culture where “Culture refers to a group or community which shares common experiences

that shape the way its members understand the world” (“Understanding Culture and

Diversity…”). Even if you do not have those common experiences, being able to accept

everyone for who they are will not even make someone break a sweat, and maybe even the

person will want to learn more. Racial equality really goes hand in hand with social equality, that

is, when people are discriminatory in a social setting it may be due to one's race. I was always

taught at a young age, “treat others the way you would want to be treated.” If you do not want

someone calling you names for how you look or just flat out being rude to you, do not do those

things to other people. Same exact concept with racial equality except the only issue is that

darker-skinned people with certain racial physical attributes may be susceptible to this

discrimination more than others due to the segregation in our country's history. Everyone has

their own insecurities so being called out on those insecurities can hurt, but when it comes to

race, let's say for example a white person may not take offense to being called a slur as opposed

to any minority group being called a slur, the reaction would completely differ. Again, this is due

to history and how people have been brought up. As Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally

Adeyemo emphasized in his September 2021 blog post, ‘The exclusion of communities of color

from the ladder of economic opportunity holds back economic growth for the entire country.

Pursuing racial equity is a vital opportunity to drive innovation and boost growth across the U.S.

economy.’ When people gain access to the resources they need to build their economic future

and withstand financial shocks, it is not just good for individuals and their families, but it also

benefits the communities where they live, work, and invest, with beneficial spillovers to the

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economy as a whole” (“Racial Inequality in the United States”). The United States economy is

already in shambles and this racial divide makes it worse. The fix may take a long time.

However, friends, teachers, or anyone, put efforts to educate others on diverse cultures, an effect

larger than anyone would ever imagine can be achieved.

From a young age, I was never really the type of person to call people out on their wrong

doings. I mostly let people say what they want and do what they want because conflict to me was

a scary thing to face. As I grew older and understood the effects that my inactions can have on

me and my relationship with my friends, I was able to crawl out of that shell and hold people

accountable for the things that they say. In an interview I conducted with Nagisa Hayashi, a

Japanese school teacher who is heavily involved in culture she said, “We found a spot, and we

were about to get in there when another car just dipped by us, in front of us, and it was driven by

a high school girl from that area, and she yelled something at us, and I didn't get it. And I go and

look at my husband.This is just yelling. Oh, he hesitated because he didn't want me to know

those words. She called us chinks”. This was the answer when asked the question, “Have you

ever been harassed for your ethnicity or race?” This is absurd. To have a random person

randomly call another person a slur just because of their race is something that many may not

ever even fathom. In a situation like that Hayashi was not able to retaliate, and her husband, out

of protection, let it slide. These are the types of situations where the person who says the slur

needs to be held accountable, but nothing can really be done about it. This interaction is with a

random person, but surprisingly this is an issue amongst friends and people that are close. At

what point does a joke go too far? Having fun, joking around with friends is okay, but there

always is a line. Racism in any sort of way is an issue and if a person is acting this way, people

need to stand up not only for themselves, but for their peers. “ I played baseball in college and

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then the guys I played baseball with were mostly not Asian. Yeah. Right. So the jokes tend to fly

around. Right, and the seniors would pick [on me about my height]. Actually, this was, this was

at Northgate, now that I'm going backwards. Seniors when I was a freshman, my walkout song

that they picked for me was Mulan” (Hayashi). This was said in an interview with Chip Hayashi,

showing such an obvious form of racism even from people Mr. Hayashi would call his friends.

He had no clue at the moment that he was being discriminated against and just laughed it off, but

thinking back to it at an older age, he realized what truly happened. This is a strong example

where the victim and the attacker are both unaware of how bad the things being said are. Things

like this are the reason that all people need to be accountable for their actions.

Lack of awareness plays a huge role in the cultural scene. Social media and the news

nowadays can really keep you on board with the latest issues on everything, especially on

anything to do with race and culture, “Simply put, cultural awareness is about understanding that

our cultures impact and shape how we see the world; that differences are natural and that when

we work with people from other cultures, we need to be aware of where, when, how and when

our cultures may either help or hinder us in terms of communication and collaboration” (“Why Is

Cultural Awareness Important?”). As said, cultures very much shape the world, especially with

the way our society is right now. This is especially important in work spaces where there are

many different groups of people that may possibly do things differently from others. When aware

of how one may go about their day to day basis, one can uplift others in the workspace and give

people the best possible space to comfortably be able to get what they need done. Lack of

awareness can even cause issues in healthcare. Lockett summarizes these issues, “We expect that

the treatment we receive will be equal to that of anyone else’s, and we trust that the people on

our care team will also be on our team — regardless of any personal thoughts or feelings”

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(Lockett). Honestly, not being part of the minority in the United States, when going into a

hospital questions like, “Am I safe here? And Will I be taken care of to the best of these doctors

abilities?” would not really pop up in your head. Lockett states next, “In fact, one survey found

that over 10 percent of Black adults, and an even higher percentage of Black women and Black

adults living in low income households, reported being unfairly discriminated against or judged

by a healthcare professional….It has led to serious healthcare disparities that affect everything

from rates of diagnosis to treatment opportunities, and beyond.” The fact that there is real

surveyed proof of this issue just really shows how much our healthcare system has failed its

people.

The education system, a tool to raise awareness but is currently not working sufficiently.

This could be another place where students and even faculty members can come together to limit

this racial tension and divide, and promote understanding of one another's culture and race. I feel

that this would be the best case scenario. In reality, there are many issues that have not been

talked about and looked at enough regarding discrimination, “...I have gotten many calls from

families whose children have been harassed and discriminated against in school because of their

race. Repeatedly, I am hearing that students of color, often in predominantly white schools, are

being called the n-word by their classmates and targeted for bullying and harassment” (Shatz).

Even though people are all moving forward in time as life goes on, it feels like this issue just

keeps getting worse. As Shatz said, kids, innocent kids, are getting harassed and discriminated

against for something that is out of their control. No one chose to be the color that they are.

Students as young as the age of five should not be treated differently from other students just

because of their race and ethnicity. Take Northgate High School as an example. There are many

unnoticed racist remarks that are said that most may just think nothing of, but these are the types

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of things that need attention. For example teachers can do things such as this teacher, “A

mathematics instructor includes a diversity statement in her syllabus explaining her personal

background, her previous experiences with diversity, and her field’s lack of women and

minorities. She acknowledges potential biases and/or lack of racial literacy while reaffirming her

commitment to diversity and inclusivity” (“Racial Awareness”). Clearly showing her knowledge

and awareness in this field to better teach kids about diversity. Or even this teacher, “A history

instructor writes a diversity statement for his syllabus in which he acknowledges that the

curriculum content may elicit strong emotional reactions during conversations around race. He

outlines some community guidelines for having respectful dialogues on these potentially

controversial topics” (“Racial Awareness”). Teenagers being put into a classroom where the

teacher knows how to incorporate a curriculum of racial inclusion is such a key component to

educate students, and right now in this day in age it is rare to see teachers preaching equality

amongst races. Many may blame parents, but kids not being pushed to want to learn about

culture and being in more of an understanding and accepting environment is really what the issue

is about. Having that experience can make someone go from uneducated to educated and

wanting to learn more in mere seconds. Solutions to this can include after school clubs that can

teach kids while also giving them a fun way to spend their afternoons. This is why learning about

culture is such a key part of life and can minimize the racial divide.

The racial divide in the United States to this day is still a very prominent issue that needs

to be solved. Whether it be uneducated people, or people that have been brought up in a

household where only one way of life was taught, learning about one's cultures can help

minimize this division. Seeing these uneducated people going around acting a fool may be

triggering, but do not let it go unnoticed. Call them out and educate them on not only being a

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better person, but a more educated person. Being open to new ways of life and accepting other

cultures into everyday scenarios can even make you want to get more involved. Whether it be

different styles of food, different day to day activities, you will never know how much fun or

even easier things may be if you never give it a try. The workspace, school space, and just life in

general can give so many openings to this understanding and allow opportunities for young

developing kids to grasp the importance of learning about different cultures. These kids will be

our future and hopefully will make our country a safe place for all people especially the minority

population. Let the racial divisions end today.

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Work Cited

Brach, C, and I Fraser. “Can Cultural Competency Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities?

A Review and Conceptual Model.” Medical Care Research and Review : MCRR, U.S.

National Library of Medicine, 2000, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5091811/.

Lesadmin. “What Are the Benefits of Understanding Different Cultures?” Summer, Winter,

Spring Camps for Kids & Teens, 11 Oct. 2021,

www.leselfes.com/understanding-different-cultures/.

“Racial Awareness.” Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, 30 June 2021,

poorvucenter.yale.edu/RacialAwareness.

“Understanding Culture and Diversity in Building Communities.” Chapter 27. Working Together

for Racial Justice and Inclusion | Section 1. Understanding Culture and Diversity in

Building Communities | Main Section | Community Tool Box,

ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/culture-and-diversity/main.

Lockett, Eleesha. “Racial Bias in Healthcare: How Disparities Affect Communities of Color.”

Healthline, Healthline Media, 23 June 2022,

https://www.healthline.com/health/racial-bias-in-healthcare.

“Why Is Cultural Awareness Important?” Commisceo Global Consulting Ltd.,

https://www.commisceo-global.com/blog/why-is-cultural-awareness-important.

Shatz, Naomi. “Racial Discrimination and Harassment in School.” Boston Lawyer Blog, 16 Sept.

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2022,

https://www.bostonlawyerblog.com/back-to-school-basics-racial-discrimination-and-hara

ssment-in-school/.

“The Importance of Multicultural Education.” School of Education,

https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/importance-of-cultural-diversity-

in-classroom/.

“Racial Inequality in the United States.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 21 July 2022,

https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/racial-inequality-in-the-united-states.

Meyer, Erin. The Culture Map: Breaking through the Invisible Boundaries of Global

Business. PublicAffairs, 2014.

“What Is Diversity?” Pavlou, Christina. Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire

Better, 8 July 2022, https://resources.workable.com/hr-terms/diversity-definition.

Hayashi, Nagisa. Personal Interview. 05 March 2023.

Hayashi Chip. Personal Interview. 06 March 2023.

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