1. Think about two positive messages you have been told throughout your life or when you were a kid or two positive things you believe about yourself. Now indicate below how these messages have manifest themselves in your life.
One of the messages I’ve been given is that young people should respect elder ones. Throughout my life, I have always respected my elders as they are wiser and have more experience than me. I believe that this has helped me in fostering a good relationship with them. I also believe that what goes around comes around, so by giving respect to my elders, I can hope to be given the same respect when I grow old, too.
Another message that I received when I was young was that I should be thankful for everything, good or bad. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that even the bad things have a purpose. Throughout my life, I have always tried to be grateful for and make the most out of the good things that come my way. At the same time, I also try to embrace the bad things that come by trying to learn from them.
2. How does thinking negative instead of positive impact you when you encounter someone different than yourself?
When I think negatively upon meeting someone who’s different than me then I feel uncomfortable around this person, which prevents me from properly interacting with him or her – whether at work or in school, for example. If we have to work together then the results will probably be not as good.
If I immediately think negatively of someone just because he or she is different from me then I’m preventing myself from getting to know this person better, which in turn will keep me from correcting the wrong notions I have of him or her. In the end, I don’t become a better person and I instead keep myself from growing and from learning about the different facets of life.
3. How to change your own ways of thinking to positively impact dealing with diversity
I think that it would help for me to think and see everyone as equals. Not that I don’t already do so, but I should perhaps exert more effort in approaching and getting to know people who may seem different from me. By allowing myself to interact with them more, I will be able to feel more comfortable in dealing with our differences to the point that I won’t even notice the differences anymore.
I know that most of these differences are only skin deep and that there’s more to each of us than what’s readily visible on the outside, so I think that increasing my interaction with them will enable me to get to know them better in terms of their personalities, their beliefs, and their cultures. Their beliefs and culture may be different from mine and I may not agree with all of them, but getting to know these things from their perspective will enable me to understand them better and will help me to accept our differences more easily.
4. Directions: After reading this chapter, indicate your feelings, viewpoint or question on the following topic: Discrimination and Tolerance
I think that discrimination has been a part of our society for so long that fighting it is proving to be a real challenge. It involves changing the mindset of a whole nation of people and not just that of an individual. However, I believe that this is not a hopeless feat. Although it takes the effort of a whole group of people to effect change, I think that we can start with ourselves. We have to learn to respect each other and accept our differences – not necessarily agreeing with them, but recognizing that we are all unique and not judging anyone as good or bad just because of these differences.
5. Directions: Read the passage below and indicate whether or not you/your culture agree with the statement.
State why you believe this way and if you do not believe this way indicate what your belief is regarding the issue. Lastly indicate if you think your viewpoint on this statement can interfere with diversity if others don’t feel like you.
Patriotism, Loyalty To Country, And Political Involvement: We believe that we are to be good citizens. This means we are loyal to our nation: we are to support our Armed Forces, law enforcement officials, and we should participate in the political process. We live in a free country but we must all be loyal and not question authority in order to be patriotic.
I believe that as a citizen of the United States, it is my obligation to abide by its laws. Yes, this is a free country and I am a free person. However, this freedom comes with responsibility and that is to fulfill my obligations as a citizen – whether they are political or societal in nature.
The only part of the statement I don’t agree with is the part that says we should be loyal and not question authority in order to be patriotic. I believe that nobody’s perfect and that authority is no exception. I believe that questioning authority within reason and justifiable cause is not disrespect towards them. I also don’t think this will interfere with diversity because I believe that the law is fair and just and that as long as my deeds are still considered lawful then I can be quite assured that I’m not intentionally offending or harming anyone.
1. Think about two positive messages you have been told throughout your life or when you were a kid or two positive things you believe about yourself. Now indicate below how these messages have manifest themselves in your life.
When I was young, I was always told to expect good things to happen. This has helped me in life in that it has helped me to stay positive at all times. Even when times get rough, I always believe that it will come to pass and that something good will happen in the end.
Another message that I have received and that I live by is that respect comes before knowledge, that is, I try to keep an open-mind about everything as I believe that this paves the way for knowledge about new things. I dislike it when people act like know-it-alls and in the process refuse to accept new ideas. I think that quickly rejecting the ideas and opinions of others would be limiting myself from learning new things and new perspectives. As such, I try to respect what everyone has to say – whether I agree with them or not – and I try to be open-minded in trying to understand the messages that they’re trying to convey.
2. How does thinking negative instead of positive impact you when you encounter someone different than yourself?
Thinking negatively about someone just because they’re different from me will make me feel like a hypocrite. I abhor prejudice, discrimination, and racism, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. Sometimes it can’t be helped that when you meet someone who’s very different from you, your first impression would be a negative reaction to those differences.
However, I try to always keep an open mind about these differences. For all I know, we might be sharing a lot in common. However, I will never know that if I fail to approach these differences with a positive attitude. For sure, someone out there thinks I’m different, too, and I would appreciate it if they’d rather be positive than negative about the ways I’m different from them.
3. How to change your own ways of thinking to positively impact dealing with diversity
I will always try to be open minded about other people and about the ways they are different from me. I acknowledge that we all come from different backgrounds, different upbringings, and different cultures and that these account for our differences. As such, I will try to learn more about these differences – for instance, other cultures or other religions – through readings or through actual interactions with these people.
4. Directions: After reading this chapter, indicate your feelings, viewpoint or question on the following topic: Discrimination and Tolerance
I think it’s quite shameful that we’re so advanced in many ways -- particularly with technology, fashion, lifestyle, etc. – yet discrimination still seems prevalent in our society. It makes me question why it’s so easy for us to develop new technologies, but it seems so hard for us to let go of our prejudices. I believe that discrimination is a thing of the past – probably borne out of ignorance.
However, I believe that we are now more educated and more aware of the situation in our societies. I think that we should use this knowledge and learning to open our minds and be more accepting and respectful of our fellow men regardless of our differences.
5. Directions: Read the passage below and indicate whether or not you/your culture agree with the statement.
State why you believe this way and if you do not believe this way indicate what your belief is regarding the issue. Lastly indicate if you think your viewpoint on this statement can interfere with diversity if others don’t feel like you.
Patriotism, Loyalty To Country, And Political Involvement: We believe that we are to be good citizens. This means we are loyal to our nation: we are to support our Armed Forces, law enforcement officials, and we should participate in the political process. We live in a free country but we must all be loyal and not question authority in order to be patriotic.
I believe that we should fulfill our duties as citizens of the country, but that we should be loyal only to a point. I don’t think that blind loyalty equates to patriotism. I believe that we should be loyal to the law. We should be loyal to what’s just and right. However, I don’t think that we have to always be loyal to the people who implement these laws. I think that misguided loyalty would end up doing more harm than good.
In addition, I don’t think that unquestioning loyalty is the price of freedom. I believe that we are free citizens in that we have rights and that these rights are protected. Although these rights come with the obligation to be a law-abiding citizen, I believe that questioning what I think might be wrong won’t be considered unlawful. I also don’t think that I’d be interfering with diversity by questioning what I think might be improper. After all, the lawful application of what’s right from wrong is applicable to all. It is not selective and does not discriminate.
