Cultural Pluralism

When I first went to answer the questions to this blog, I thought, “What a shallow person I am!” I have few friends that are not like me, but then I looked more closely. I was the rebel trouble making child. I went to a private school. I dated a guy that not only went to public school, but was Catholic to boot. We were Church of Christ at the time. I also regularly slipped off to school dances, because I just didn’t think dancing was wrong. I had friends from all different religions. I grew up not knowing any black children, but I was taught to treat older blacks with respect by my best friend’s parents. Her family had employed members of the same family for generations. Growing up it was worse to sass one of the Brent maids or gardeners than it was to sass Granny Brent. Recently when Eden’s mom died Ida Mae, Ollie, and Melvina’s families were seated with the Brent family because they were more like family than many family members there. The family pays for any member to go to college that wants to go and provides them with a job in the family business if they want one or helps them find one somewhere else if they wish. Most choose to move on to somewhere else. I also remember growing up with people of the Chinese culture that had lived in the south so long they spoke with a southern accent. The culture clashes in our area were between African American and Chinese kids. Other than those that went to my school, I don’t remember them.
I hate to say it, but college didn’t get better. I went to a private college for a while then to a small university near my home town. Cultures still did not mix. I managed to “doom my soul to hell” by marrying a Methodist (I still hear this regularly from my mother.). If possible, I moved into an even less diverse area, Grundy County. I loved my time in this area, but it was different. My time living in Rutherford County has been the most diverse and plural in my life. Apartment living will do that to you. I have watched my children interact with other children and people from other countries and cultures without hesitation. I have met and made friends with people from all walks of life. I still have my moments and outbursts where I think and say things I shouldn’t. The difference is I am immediately ashamed of myself when I do and I only do it when others can’t hear. I have grown over the years and stand up to my mom and tell her she is wrong when she uses hurtful names. I correct her when she uses them in front of my children. I have learned to respect others right to have an opinion that is different from mine. Isn’t that what cultural pluralism boils down to in the end?