Bridge the Cultural Gap

详细内容

'

Once,duringthecourseofaconversationwithacolleaguewhowasawomanofcolor,IhappenedtorefertoherasanAfricanAmerican.Herresponseleftmeconfused."Don'tcallmethat,"shesaid."I'veneverbeentoAfrica;Idon'tknowthefirstthingaboutAfrica.YoucancallmeblackoryoucancallmeanAmerican,butdon'tcallmeAfricanAmerican."Shewentontoaskmewhy,ifawhitepersonfromSouthAfricabecameaUScitizen,noonewouldeverrefertothatpersonasAfricanAmerican.Ofcourse,Ididn'thavearesponse.

Andnottoolongago,ImetamanwhobemoanedthefactthateveryoneautomaticallyreferstohimasAfricanAmerican,despitethefactthathehasonlyrecentlyemigratedfromGhana."I'mAfrican,butI'mcertainlynotanAmerican,"hesaid.

"Forcensuspurposes,we'reaskedtofitourselvesintooneoffivecategories,"saysCorneliaGamlem,presidentoftheGEMSGroup,ahumanresourcesconsultingfirmbasedinHerndon,Virginia.Theseracial/ethniategoriesareasfollows:white,black,AsianandPacificIslander,Hispanic,andAmericanIndian,EskimoorAleut."Whilepeopleofthesameracemaysharesimilarities,therearemanyculturaldifferencesthatneedtoberecognized."

Forinstance,apersonwhochecks"black"onthecensusformmaybeAmerican-born,ormayhailfromelsewhere,suchastheCaribbeanoranAfricannation.Likewise,aHispanicpersonmaybefromplacesasdisparateasNewYorkCity,Mexico,CubaorBrazil."Theproblemisthattheremaybeatendencytomakeassumptionsaboutpeople,justbylookingattheirobviouscharacteristics,"saysGamlem."Iseeyourskinisblack,soIlumpyouintotheAfricanAmericancategoryandfigurethatyou'rejustlikeeverybodyelsewhogrewupinthiscountry.ButifyouwereraisedintheCaribbeanoranAfricannation,I'vemadeassumptionsthatareincorrect.Thisopensthedoortodiscriminatorytreatmentandunfairpractices."

Whileitmightsimplifylifeattheofficeifwecouldalljustmakeassumptionsaboutpeoplebasedontheirobviousphysicalcharacteristics,thatkindofthinkingjustdoesn'tfitthebillanymore(notthatiteverreallydidinthefirstplace)."Diversitygoeswellbeyondwhatonecanvisuallysee,"Gamlemsays."Itcanbehidden."Gamlemremembersthetimeshewasonabusinesstripanddiningaloneinarestaurant.Afterhermeal,thewaiterbroughtheracheckandtoldhertohaveaniceMother'sDay."Hecategorizedmeinacertainway.Becauseofmygenderandagegroup,heassumedIwasamother."

Makingassumptionsbasedonaperson'sracecanbeanevendicierproposition.Thefactisthat,censuscategoriesnotwithstanding,theUnitedStatesisavastlydiversepopulation,andgrowingmoresoallthetime.Andintheend,aperson'sculturalidentityisatleastasimportantashisethnicidentity.Forinstance,theguyfromJamaicawithanofficenextdoortoanAfricanAmericanmayactuallyhavemoreinmonculturallywiththelight-skinnedCubanpersondownthehall.

Sowhat'sapersonsupposedtodo?Theanswer,saysGamlem,isbothincrediblysimpleandenormouslydifficult:"Appreciatepeopleforwhotheyareasindividuals,notforwhatclassofpeopletheyareassumedtobeassociatedwith."Thatmeanscheckingyourbiasesandautomaticstereotypes--we'veallgotthem--atthedoorandtakingsometimetounderstandyourcoworkers'culturalbackgroundsandvalues.Gamlemisthefirsttoadmitthatthisfundamentalandnecessarychangeinthewayweviewourfellowhumanbeingswon'thappenovernight."It'saprocess,"shesays."Itneedstobenurturedovertime."

本新闻共2页,当前在第1页  1  2