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------------------------------------------------- Associate Program Material

Diversity Worksheet

Answer each question in 50 to 150 words. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

1. What is diversity? Why is diversity valued?

I have learned that diversity has various different definitions but I will only focus on the Webster’s Dictionary meaning. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, diversity is “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: Variety; especially: the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization.” To summarize this definition or make it simple, diversity is to include people from different races, religions, genders, ages, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds all in one place. Diversity is valued because it teaches us how to accept and understand differences in people and to look beyond personal biases or emotions of language, culture, and race. It also teaches us to be more open and enhances our knowledge of all things or people that are different from us.

2. What is ethnocentrism? In what ways can ethnocentrism be detrimental to a society?

Ethnocentrism is the feeling that one’s group or culture is superior to another. Ethnocentrism makes a person bias against other cultures and ethnic groups, makes a person look down on others, and makes a person feel that other cultures are inferior to their own. Furthermore, ethnocentrism can be detrimental to a society in many ways.One way is racism, which is a problem that has plagued our society for decades and has caused violence and death. Ethnocentrism has also caused war and genocide such as the Holocaust. During the time of the Holocaust, the Nazis (who were German) believed that Germans were racially superior and the Jews were inferior. This belief led to the Nazis killing a lot of Jews, disabled people, and homosexuals. In today’s society, I am not sure if ethnocentrism would go that far but it would still harm our society. It can cause more violence, discrimination, and coflicts acrtoss the world.

3. Define emigration and immigration.

Emigration is to leave ones’s country permanently to live in another. Immgration is defined as coming into a new country as a permanent resident. Schaefer, R. T. states that “from Vietnam’s perspective, the “boat people” were emigrants from Vietnam to the United States, but in the United States they were counted among this nation’s immigrants.” This is how the two terms are different.

4. What are some of the ways groups of people are identified?

Groups of people are identified by dominant and subordinate groups to include their race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. The racial group refers to people who are socially set apart because of physical differences. The ethic group is set apart because of their national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. The religious group is set apart because they are associated with a religion other than the dominant faith. The gender group suggests that men are the social majority and women are the minority. Finally there are other subordinate groups that people are identified by such as age, disability status, physical appearance, and sexual orientation.

5. Why do people label and group other people?

I believe that some people label and group other people because this is the way they were taught. On the other hand, there are some people who label and group other people because of ignorance. For those who were brought up with prejudice, they continue to label people because it is easier to go off of what they were taught than to look up the facts on their own. Furthermore, I feel that people label and group other people in order to make themselves look good or seem superior. They want to feel as if they are better than others. Labeling and grouping people is judgemental and can easily be avoided if people would just learn other people for themselves.

6. Define culture. Is culture limited to racial and ethnic backgrounds? Explain.

Culture is the beliefs, social forms, and material traigts of a race, religion, or social group. It is also the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time (Merriam-Webster online, 2013). Culture can refer to many areas in a society and is not only limited to racial and ethnic backgrounds. Culture can also refer to other areas such as education, business, and science.