My Reflection on Culturally Responsive Thinking

After reading,"Culturally Responsive Thinking", many thoughts came to mind. Mostly I think of the United States and how it's this "melting pot" of culture, and even though this country is s diverse, I don't think as a country, we are as culturally accepting of each other as we should be. It seems like the majority of Americans are more concerned with money and material things, than other people's cultures and beliefs. Maybe that's because, starting from a young age, we never hear anything bad about America. It's always been about how great and wonderful a nation we are. Why should we concern ourselves with other cultures, when this is the "greatest nation on earth"? And why shouldn't we feel full of ourselves when, we think every non-American wants to look, act, and live like we do? It's no wonder why we aren't more educated on other cultures beyond their outer most layers. All we need to know is how wonderful we are, and celebrate it several times a year, right? What we are taught is usually so superficial, there aren't any culturally substantive lessons in America's high schools. If there are, there wasn't any at mine. If we want to make a change in our opinions and stereotypes of those around us, a major change has to take place in our education starting when we enter the school system.


One evident flaw with this country's inability to accept other cultures has existed since its days of early settlement. American settlers were so obsessed with their own religious freedoms, they had to leave their homelands and settle in North America so, they could practice their own beliefs without any conflicts. Yet the settlers stripped the Native Americans of their own well-being because, their cultures and beliefs weren't parallel to theirs. Native Americans had Christianity forced upon them, and discouraged from practicing their own traditions and beliefs. So, when I look back at the beginnings of this country, it seems like there has always been a superior culture complex, and no desire to accept other beliefs and values.


Not only does thinking one culture is superior to another cause bias and racism, it inhibits societies from progressing toward cultural cohesiveness. For example, in the book, "Three Cups of Tea"(Mortenson and Relin,2006) there's the complex issue of convincing Americans post 9/11, that educating the children of Pakistan and other neighboring regions, is a logical solution to preventing terrorism. The young people in this region have an increased likelihood of joining terrorist regimes because, the lack of other options. If Americans were more attuned to cultures of the world, namely Muslims, there wouldn't be such an uproar over this concept. Just as Americans are guilty of cultural ignorance, those in that region of the world are also ignorant in understanding American culture. One quote in the book that best sums up this idea is by Pakistan Brigadier General Bashir Baz. He said,"The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise, the battle will go on forever."


In order to become more understanding and compassionate of other cultures, I feel it is necessary to have an ongoing and progressive increase in cultural awareness in America's schools. It's something that should begin at an early age at home and in our schools. People need to learn how to be more open-minded and challenge our own thinking. Not only one culture is the right one, or superior to another. We need to look at every individual as an intricate and valuable part of our global family. We as people can only benefit each other by educating ourselves of all our differences, and approach our differences from a philosophical standpoint. Maybe then, we can move towards a more compassionate, and progressive world.