My Community ~ Cultural Diversity

Do you know who lives in your neighborhood? Your town? Your state? Your country? Bet the answer is "of course" — and well, “maybe not.” Many of us don't get out much — unless we're heading to an interview or the bar down the street. On the weekends, we more or less stick to our familiar surroundings, whatever they may be. So we could quite easily miss a big story going on right under our noses: That is, who is living where. The majority of the members of my community do look like me. My community has been predominately white for many years. The total population for my neighborhood is 63,000 people. Of that number 34,500 are whites, 16,400 are African-Americans, 11,900 are Hispanic, 2,700 are Asians and 7,000 are other races. The only way that members of my community look the same as I do is that we are all creatures of God. When you talk about members of the community looking different from me then we get into the different race and ethnical groups. My community is very diverse. I do interact with everyone in my community. The majority of the time it is because of work and the children that I see on a regular basis at school. When I do see the same families in my neighborhood it is because we are shopping or just walking around and happen to stop and talk about different topics. The neighbors that I have on my block are all nice. We have a block party once a year to celebrate the end of the summer. We make this party a cultural event. Every household is responsible for making one special dish that is part of their authenticity. Since we have been doing this for several years we actually know what we are making all year so that we can prepare for this event. This food is enjoyed

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by all. It is actually a way to get to try different foods. I have to make Tomato Gravy and meatballs along with Lasagna. Try making that for 100 people. My community leaders are themselves diverse. This makes for a very interesting election