Unit 1

So, as we finish out unit 1 and do our questions, it makes me reflect on what I have learned through the first unit. We have learned about the influences that our family, religion, world views, etc., have on the way we view our culture. We discussed why we think that culture is based so much upon these things. Of course, we all understand that family and religion play such a large role because they are what we are comfortable with. But, one thing that I read in one of the chapters that I found so interesting was that an adopted child, who thought that because he was from a certain country he shared the same culture, found that a child, although raised in the U.S. like himself, that had parents from his foreign country, actually did not share the same culture that he did. His culture was shaped around his family, which was from the U.S. I found this so interesting since I have five African American children. I am sure that their culture and beliefs are different than that of a child being raised with two African American parents. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact they may be getting the best of two worlds. We try to teach them things about their culture and history, but we have never lived in an African Americans shoes. So they learn about their history through talk and information, but see our culture and history through our daily walk and talk. I guess this gives them two views on life, I guess we will see if as adults they combine the two cultures for their children, or if they lean towards one or the other.