Culture is the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people's way of life. This idea of culture then has two categories beneath it: non-material culture, which are the ideas created by members of a society and material culture, which are the physical things created by members of a society. These concepts of culture greatly shape who a person is, who they will become, how they feel, and how they act. This creates so many different unique people in the world which means the cultures themselves are very different and unique. But although each culture is different they all share the same components that build and make a culture what it is. These components that shape a culture are symbols, language, belief, and norms. Symbols are anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture. Language is a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another. Beliefs are specific ideas that people hold to be true and norms are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.These simple components create admirable diversity throughout the world that I see, even in the small United States, everyday.
I believe in Multiculturalism, which is a perspective that recognizes the cultural diversity of the United States while also promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions. There are people who are Eurocentric, which means they believe in the dominance of European cultural patterns and those who are in Afrocentric, which means they believe in over promoting African cultural patterns. There are also people who are ethnocentric, which means they judge another culture by the standards of their own culture. I don't think people should be judging other cultures especially if they don't understand that cultures beliefs, practices, and its overall meaning. At the end of the day you wouldn't want someone judging your culture that you practice everyday because its apart of your life and is something you feel strongly about. No one should feel that their culture is better than anyone else's because every culture is unique and has its own way of portraying that uniqueness that can not and should not be considered less than another. There is so much hate, discrimination, and violence in the world today that comes from someone disagreeing or not approving of someone else's culture. I really don't see the point of wasting energy by being angry at someone who is minding their own business and doing their own thing. I've seen kids get bullied in school because they're dressed a certain way that is accustomed to their culture, because they have a certain accent, and even because they have different beliefs that may cause them to act in an unfamiliar manner. I am starting to believe what we discussed in class is true, a lot of people in this world today are just scared of the unknown and of change and are trying to push it away with anger and hate instead of just welcoming it and giving it a chance.
Already during my short time as a freshman at Northern Illinois University have I seen so many different cultures around me. I've learned so much about different cultures and have been exposed to their ways of life through the friends I've made here at the university. I have been nothing but accepting to my friends cultures and they have been accepting of my mixed cultures: Spanish and African. They respect the fact that my grandmother cooks huevos rellenos de atun for me to eat while my father buys traditional dashikis to wear to church. I believe that culture is a form freedom. Being someone with culture means you don't only rely on your biological and primitive instincts to make all the choices for you but you yourself can make your own choices based on your culture, unlike animals. The evidence of this freedom through the great amount of diversity in this world only makes the concept of Culture even more important.
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