Importance of Cultural Diversity (Essay Sample)

Importance of Cultural Diversity
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ABSTRACT
Stereotypes, being torn between cultures and varying cultural diversities are themes that are much discussed by modern day writers. People in society have different cultures and beliefs that, to a large extent influence their perception and decision making processes. It is important to be tolerant and understanding because every individual is unique in one way or another and such differences make the society complete. This paper seeks to show the importance of cultural diversity and the reason as to why people should learn to appreciate the varying beliefs, backgrounds and cultures.
Importance of cultural diversity
Li young Lee and Cathy Songs have over the years written about stereotypes, being torn between two cultures and the importance of cultural diversity. In modern day society, cultural diversity should be encouraged because it is through such that everyone will realize that diversity is essentially what all human beings have in common and, thus, should embrace it (Bhikhu, 2002). The main aim of this paper is to use different writings by the mentioned authors to show what the themes in their writings teach about diversity.
Every individual has something that sets him or her apart from the rest. This provides a lesson for everyone to be open to the things that set people apart including gender, race, religion and sexual orientation. A multicultural society is critical because it provides each person an opportunity to be aware of the varying cultural backgrounds, people’s beliefs and their nurturing which makes them perceive diverse things differently. This will push for tolerance and reduce judgmental and inconsiderate actions towards people who are different from whom we are in whichever way (Stephen, 2007).
In Lee Young’s poem, Persimmons, a sixth grade young boy of Chinese decent is punished for not differentiating between two words. To the young boy, the two words are linked in manner that the teacher did not bother to dig deeper and understand. The teacher fails to understand that the Chinese boy does not have the mental aptitude to handle English. From this incident, one can conclude that it is important to be culturally sensitive because the varying cultures shape the actions of people. Things that are thought to be improper in one culture can be entirely appropriate in another.
The poet also narrates an incident where the teacher brings a persimmon to class and gives it to the class. She makes an insensitive and incorrect remark of branding it a Chinese apple. According to the young Chinese boy, the teacher has an improper choice of persimmons and her use of a knife to cut the fruit is improper as dictated by his culture. The boy turns down the fruit and watches the other student’s faces as they taste the fruit because he knew the fruit was not ripe. Contrary to the earlier incident where the boy was deemed as ignorant, the teacher comes as ignorant in this case. This view shows that no individual is perfe...