How Diversified Is Your Life?

[kittensaver]

There are a couple of interesting threads going right now - interesting in that *some* folks are here flying their racial/ethnic/immigrant intolerance flags pretty high (no, not naming names here in order to stay inside the CoC, but it really doesn't matter because most folks can readily pick out who they are).

But it occurs to me that my life would probably drive a few of these posters pretty batty , given their prejudices. Case in point:

* my gardener is Mexican
* my housekeeper is Guatamalan
* my manicurist is Vietnamese
* my massage therapist is Brazilian (and a ex-member of the Brazilian national soccer team )
* my facialist is Persian
* my CPA is African-American (and highly educated)
* most of my department at work is Philipino (and also well educated)
* my landscaper is Israeli

My siblings and a wide variety of my extended family (cousins) are married to spouses from ethnic, racial and religious groups different than themselves. When I go to the grocery store, the movies or stroll down a mall walkway, there are always faces from every ethnic and racial group under the sun there. There are 120 (or so) languages spoken in my public school system. There are about a dozen "threshold" languages identified for all kinds of public and social services in my part of the world. I find it easy - and often enjoyable - to move among the kaleidoscope of humanity and appreciate the depth and breadth of what "different" people bring to my life. I can't really imagine living in a world where I see only white, middle-aged faces like myself.

How about you? How diversified is your life? Does it bring value to you?

[tractor]

My life is non-diversified. I went to high school with one non-white student. I'm all grown up now and live in a town with a few non-white families. Everyone I know speaks English ( some quite poorly, but not due to their country of origin). Were so white, we only eat white bread.

Nothing wrong with diversity, it's just limited around here.

[NancysSummerSip]

I grew up just outside NYC, so my life was always pretty diverse, ethnically and religiously speaking. German, Italian, Irish neighbors (we're Jewish/Eastern European), diverse schools in terms of race and levels of wealth vs. poverty, attended a huge university with students from all over the world, and now South Florida, with a large Latin and Haitian population, but because of the number of universities and medical facilities, we have folks from a lot of other places, too. We have a lot of students and medical professionals from Korea, China, and the Indian subcontinent. My doctor's office looks like the United Nations. . One town to the south of mine has such a large population of Finns, they maintain several Finnish restaurants, rest homes and social lodges where their language is spoken almost exclusively.

My brother is married to a French Canadian Cajun. Other cousins married into Lebanese, Sicilian and backwoods Tennessee families (should I count that last one as an ethnicity or an aberration? )

I think it's a good thing. I like what other cultures bring to my world, especially when it comes to food. The world would be boring if we all ate like typical Americans, I think.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Not that diverse. Caucasions are a minority in this county, but almost all the rest are Latinos, so it's not exactly a smorgasboard. More diverse than where I grew up, but still pretty boring.

[Deleted]

My wiener is Sudanese.

[NancysSummerSip]

Dec 4, 2013 16:03:54 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Dec 4, 2013 16:02:54 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

My wiener is Sudanese.

But does it have a first name? 

Peanut.

[Bonny]

Dec 4, 2013 15:31:07 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

There are a couple of interesting threads going right now - interesting in that *some* folks are here flying their racial/ethnic/immigrant intolerance flags pretty high (no, not naming names here in order to stay inside the CoC, but it really doesn't matter because most folks can readily pick out who they are).

But it occurs to me that my life would probably drive a few of these posters pretty batty , given their prejudices. Case in point:

* my gardener is Mexican
* my housekeeper is Guatamalan
* my manicurist is Vietnamese
* my massage therapist is Brazilian (and a ex-member of the Brazilian national soccer team )
* my facialist is Persian
* my CPA is African-American (and highly educated)
* most of my department at work is Philipino (and also well educated)
* my landscaper is Israeli

My siblings and a wide variety of my extended family (cousins) are married to spouses from ethnic, racial and religious groups different than themselves. When I go to the grocery store, the movies or stroll down a mall walkway, there are always faces from every ethnic and racial group under the sun there. There are 120 (or so) languages spoken in my public school system. There are about a dozen "threshold" languages identified for all kinds of public and social services in my part of the world. I find it easy - and often enjoyable - to move among the kaleidoscope of humanity and appreciate the depth and breadth of what "different" people bring to my life. I can't really imagine living in a world where I see only white, middle-aged faces like myself.

How about you? How diversified is your life? Does it bring value to you?

One the reasons why I LOVE being back in the SF Bay Area. I really missed the diversity where we lived in AZ. The editor of the local paper was so full of hate towards immigrants it was embarrassing. Bonn was also problematic (or at least where we lived). All folks who appeared to be middle eastern were called "Turks" and treated like second class citizens. Oh and all missing dogs and cats, burglars were due to the Poles.

[Phoenix84]

Well, I don't have a gardener, manicurist, hairstylist, housekeeper ect. 

I don't have any friends.

*shrugs* one of my co workers is Asian American, and another is Mexican American.  But I never really thought of them as anything other than American. 

Generally I don't go around and take stock of what race/ethnicity everyone around me is.  It just doesn't matter to me, people are people.  So no, I don't feel "enriched" by their presence or lackthereof.  To me, they're just there, and they're people living their lives like I am.

My brother in law's grandparents immigrated from Lebonon.  I guess that "counts."  But generally, I never viewed diversity as a numbers game.

[quince]

I'm of asian descent and my husband is white, but we're both pretty American. 

I have a hard time with people who don't speak English well- I'm pretty anxious around other humans in the first place, and how easy it is to misunderstand someone ratchets up my panic.  Also, some people try to speak to me in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, which drives me crazy. Otherwise, couldn't give much of a damn about anyone's differences. 

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 17:26:54 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Well, I don't have a gardener, manicurist, hairstylist, housekeeper ect. 

I don't have any friends.

*shrugs* one of my co workers is Asian American, and another is Mexican American.  But I never really thought of them as anything other than American. 

Generally I don't go around and take stock of what race/ethnicity everyone around me is.  It just doesn't matter to me, people are people.  So no, I don't feel "enriched" by their presence or lackthereof.  To me, they're just there, and they're people living their lives like I am.

My brother in law's grandparents immigrated from Lebonon.  I guess that "counts."  But generally, I never viewed diversity as a numbers game.

aren't you a young singe guy?  why don't you have any friends?  join some groups?  get a hobby?

[whoisjohngalt]

Dec 4, 2013 15:31:07 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

There are a couple of interesting threads going right now - interesting in that *some* folks are here flying their racial/ethnic/immigrant intolerance flags pretty high (no, not naming names here in order to stay inside the CoC, but it really doesn't matter because most folks can readily pick out who they are).

But it occurs to me that my life would probably drive a few of these posters pretty batty , given their prejudices. Case in point:

* my gardener is Mexican
* my housekeeper is Guatamalan
* my manicurist is Vietnamese
* my massage therapist is Brazilian (and a ex-member of the Brazilian national soccer team )
* my facialist is Persian
* my CPA is African-American (and highly educated)
* most of my department at work is Philipino (and also well educated)
* my landscaper is Israeli

My siblings and a wide variety of my extended family (cousins) are married to spouses from ethnic, racial and religious groups different than themselves. When I go to the grocery store, the movies or stroll down a mall walkway, there are always faces from every ethnic and racial group under the sun there. There are 120 (or so) languages spoken in my public school system. There are about a dozen "threshold" languages identified for all kinds of public and social services in my part of the world. I find it easy - and often enjoyable - to move among the kaleidoscope of humanity and appreciate the depth and breadth of what "different" people bring to my life. I can't really imagine living in a world where I see only white, middle-aged faces like myself.

How about you? How diversified is your life? Does it bring value to you?

What threads are those?

[Miss Tequila]

Lets see...I get my nails done by a Korean, I had 5 Mexicans put a roof on one if my rentals, the office manager where I used to work was black and one of the CPA's I worked with was Asian (not sure if she was Chinese or Japanese)....:I eat a lot of Thai, Mexican and Chinese food.

I'm not sure how any of the above enriched my life. I do know the Mexican roofers did a great job and were way cheaper than the next bidder....so I guess that's how I was enriched :-p

[swamp]

I live in mayonnaise world. There are Indian doctors recruited to work at the hospital, but that's about it. 

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 4, 2013 18:46:54 GMT -5 swamp said:

I live in mayonnaise world. There are Indian doctors recruited to work at the hospital, but that's about it. 

Good point...one of the on call pediatricians is Indian. I work with a lesbian....does that count??

[MarleyKeezy78]

I'm white, DH is Korean, DS is mixed. My family is white, but we have a diversity that has married in and produced my wonderful cousins. We have asian, mexican, black, columbian and east indian. We may have more but I can't think off hand. My cousins and I call each other some ferociously mean names, but it's all in great fun   If you were a outsider looking in you would be greatly offended, but we love it and wouldn't have it any other way! 

[Opti]

I agree I don't have that many service people either, but I do enjoy living
here in central New Jersey because I have met people from all over the
world. The biggest way it enriches my life is learning about other cultures
and countries. I miss the days when I met well educated techie folk from
Europe including Croatia, Serbia, etc. Now its more people from various
countries in Africa and more Filipinos because of my PT job in healthcare.


I rarely keep track of who is what nationality but I do have an bank teller
from Egypt who is one of my favorites.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Oh, we are not talking about family   My bad. I don't have "help"  so nothing there. The guys at our two party stores are middle eastern maybe  I guess they help me get my buzz on   

[kittensaver]

Dec 4, 2013 21:50:38 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

Oh, we are not talking about family   My bad. I don't have "help"  so nothing there. The guys at our two party stores are middle eastern maybe  I guess they help me get my buzz on   

Hey cranberry49 it's not about the "help" - this thread is about whatever people want it to be. I'm just curious about others' thoughts because I see a group of folks on these Boards who are vocally very dismissive/disrespectful of racial and ethnic minorities - and immigrants. I personally hold the belief that diversity can contribute very positively to one's life, though clearly I understand others don't. I come from a "mixed" family too - and proud of it.

[Lizard Queen]

My life wasn't very diversified until I went back to school.  I have a Chinese professor, an Indian professor and a Taiwanese (if I recall correctly) professor.  In my econ class, it seems like half of the class is from different countries.  Some that I recall: Zimbabwe, 2 South Koreans, 3 British girls--one of which is black (double whammy  ), Yemen, Italy, Germany, and Bosnia.  And of course, my parents were Polish immigrants.  In my other classes, there were also girls from Russia and the Ukraine, and another really nice German guy, oh, and and another South Korean or 2.

[whoisjohngalt]

I always thought that one's life was "diversified" bc they traveled or learned about various cultures and things.   I guess I was wrong.

To answer OP - when we lived in MD - there were all kinds of people around.

Now, my acupuncturist is from China.  And a few homeschooling moms are kind of Spanish?  I think that's about it

Oh wait!!! My neighbor is from Indonesia!!! 

[giramomma]

I think our life is fairly diversified.

When we were first starting out, we lived in very diversified neighborhoods. When we moved on up..we ended up in a middle class neighborhood with far less racial diversity. We did attend the bar mitzvah of one of the neighbor kids.

My kids go to private school, but every year there's a few more kids that aren't Caucasian that attend.

I teach a bunch of ethnically diverse kids (that happen to be low income): Latino/Hispanic, African American, Hmong, African, Chinese.

I also a few kids that are of means but of different race: Chinese, Korean, Indian, . I also have a Vietnamese student, but he's adopted, so I don't really know if that counts. He has gone to vietnam and goes to Vietnamese culture camps, but that's as far as his parents bring him into the culture. I contrast that with my Chinese kids, that detest chinese new year-because they have to clean everything, move furniture, etc, in part of preparation for it. 

Some of my kids/parents used to make me food. That was always super.

I think in our case, music is a good conduit for learning about other cultures. Through my contact with my more diverse students, I've learned music that isn't traditionally taught in academia. It's nice for all parties involved to branch out from music written by dead white men. 

I also live in a fairly gay-friendly city, and spent a few years living with gay men. Those were good times.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Thanks Jingle Kitten! I love my family so much and am so lucky to have all those crazy ass people in my life  We also have a few gay loved ones, one of which just came out to her parents! So happy for her  We also like learning about new cultures and trying their foods. We are pretty open. We have a few people who can be a bit prejiduced but they eventually come around after awhile. I am also very polish (mixed with alot of other european types(mutt))and grew up being teased till I cried. Now I tell jokes right back! I could go on forever 

[cronewitch]

Where I work the people are often foreign born but I don't ask them about where they are from. I can't really tell ethnics apart very well and think it is rude to ask. Our temp appears to be Asian maybe and I work with at least one Canadian and one guy appears to be Russian or Ukrainian I didn't ask. Most are either black or some kind of Asian or white but I don't care or benefit from diversity. The Canadian gets upset if you say those darn Canadians or I wouldn't remember she was Canadian. I only don't like Canadians because of the money we have to go get a money order in Canadian money to pay them and it is a pain since it cost a different amount than the purchase order and postage isn't the same amount and I have put a code 6 in the postage meter, darn Canadians! If we didn't need them to be our attic or our hat we probably could just ignore them and they talk funny.

[mamasita99]

It is safe to say that with the exception of my immediate family, the rest of the people in my life, and the lives of my wife and daughters, are a huge, diversified mix from all over the world. And I love it  

[milee]

Dec 4, 2013 22:14:13 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

A few of the homeschool mom's that I hang out with are hardcore anarchists (excuse me, voluntaryists).

I always get a kick out of female anarchists. Either they're incredibly naïve or just so comfy in the safety cocoon provided by society that they have no idea how horrifically awful life would be for women if there really was anarchy.

What idiot says, "Yup.  A place with no rules and no structure?  And I'm going to be the physically weakest person there?  A society where I'm likely to be treated as a slave or chattel?  Sounds fantastic - sign me up!"

[skubikky]

Dec 4, 2013 15:51:37 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I grew up just outside NYC, so my life was always pretty diverse, ethnically and religiously speaking. German, Italian, Irish neighbors (we're Jewish/Eastern European), diverse schools in terms of race and levels of wealth vs. poverty,

I grew up in NYC probably about the same age as Nancy.

Our neighborhood was Italian, Irish, German and Eastern European Jews(1st, 2nd generation).
My Dad was in the jewelry business(had a factory on 47th Street).
He apprenticed a number of young men over the years from Brazil and Vietnam later on.
Our family had friends from all ethnic backgrounds.  My Dad particularly enjoyed making friends from different countries and learning some of the language and traditions.
As it is today, NYC is probably one of the most diverse cities in the world.  Of the kids I hung out with, they were of Albanian descent, Maltese,  Sicilian,  Brazilian, and a a lot of Italians as well as Irish, Polish, Greek, Chinese, and a number of others.

I live way out in a rural part of Western NY and the diversity consists of 4th and 5th generation Italians, Germans and Poles who came and settled this area for farming.
Many Mexicans and Haitians who work on the farms as well.

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 5, 2013 7:05:26 GMT -5 milee said:

Dec 4, 2013 22:14:13 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

A few of the homeschool mom's that I hang out with are hardcore anarchists (excuse me, voluntaryists).

I always get a kick out of female anarchists. Either they're incredibly naïve or just so comfy in the safety cocoon provided by society that they have no idea how horrifically awful life would be for women if there really was anarchy.

What idiot says, "Yup.  A place with no rules and no structure?  And I'm going to be the physically weakest person there?  A society where I'm likely to be treated as a slave or chattel?  Sounds fantastic - sign me up!"

The liberals are going to blast you for that! We aren't allowed to say that women are weaker than men...women can do anything men can do, even something physical.  Or at least that is what I've been told on this board

[milee]

Dec 5, 2013 7:33:09 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Dec 5, 2013 7:05:26 GMT -5 milee said:

I always get a kick out of female anarchists. Either they're incredibly naïve or just so comfy in the safety cocoon provided by society that they have no idea how horrifically awful life would be for women if there really was anarchy.

What idiot says, "Yup.  A place with no rules and no structure?  And I'm going to be the physically weakest person there?  A society where I'm likely to be treated as a slave or chattel?  Sounds fantastic - sign me up!"

The liberals are going to blast you for that! We aren't allowed to say that women are weaker than men...women can do anything men can do, even something physical.  Or at least that is what I've been told on this board

I'm very fit for a woman. I run, do pushups, etc.  I did well in the MMA/Boxing workouts. But I'm also 5'3" and female. It's not discrimination, it's math and physiology.  I may be the strongest woman in the room, but that still leaves me weaker than 80% of the guys.

The only people who might possibly live a better life under anarchy are male, large, fit, intelligent, have good political savvy and no moral compass.  Under anarchy, a person like that would probably do well.  For the rest of the population, anarchy would expose them to horrors that they cannot possibly imagine because their sheltered life does not allow them to conceive of it.

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 5, 2013 7:42:57 GMT -5 milee said:

Dec 5, 2013 7:33:09 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

The liberals are going to blast you for that! We aren't allowed to say that women are weaker than men...women can do anything men can do, even something physical.  Or at least that is what I've been told on this board

I'm very fit for a woman. I run, do pushups, etc.  I did well in the MMA/Boxing workouts. But I'm also 5'3" and female. It's not discrimination, it's math and physiology.  I may be the strongest woman in the room, but that still leaves me weaker than 80% of the guys.

The only people who might possibly live a better life under anarchy are male, large, fit, intelligent, have good political savvy and no moral compass.  Under anarchy, a person like that would probably do well.  For the rest of the population, anarchy would expose them to horrors that they cannot possibly imagine because their sheltered life does not allow them to conceive of it.

I've said that and still got lambasted for it....I'm not disagreeing with you, just pointing out that not all women realize that most men are stronger than most women. 

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

I guess I am too wrapped up in living life to pay much attention to diversity -- I guess I consider it a given and neither seek it out nor avoid it.  I mean, unless one is a Native American, one is an immigrant to this continent.  Some of us have simply been here longer than others.     So, I had to give this some thought.  I am sure I am overlooking some of the diversity in my life, but I base my relationships with others more on their individual personalities than on the color of their skin or any preconceived prejudices.  So, here goes:

I am the child of first and third generation Irish Catholic immigrants.  My father came over at the age of 5.  My maternal great grandmother immigrated from Ireland to Montreal, Canada.  My maternal grandmother was born in Montreal and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager.

So, from the get-go, my family is lily white and devoutly Catholic.  My generation, however, has managed to bring an agnostic and a pagan into the fold (and both are valued and respected family members).  My first cousins include a much-loved gay man.  But, beyond that, we are not yet diversified.  I don't sense any deep, ingrained opposition to diversity -- many of us have travelled far and wide and have friends and co-workers of every size/shape/color/ethnicity/spiritual belief/flavor/sexual orientation.  The diversity just hasn't worked itself into the gene pool yet.

DH, the kids, and I, currently live in a semi-diverse town.  We have a mix of white, black, Asian, Hispanic, and Arabic families.  We have 2 Catholic churches, 2 temples, several Protestant churches, a UU parish, and a Mosque.  Our school district is part of a metro Boston program that allows Boston residents to send their kids to suburban schools from Kindergarten until graduation, so the schools are even more diverse than the town.  Our high school has a fairly active international student exchange program with kids from China, Spain, and Germany being the most recent visiting students.  There are several gay families in my town (although I had to think about that one because I don't identify them so much as "gay" families and more so by "Billy's" family).  The nice thing about this town is that it is also very economically diverse.  Our old town was lily white, wealthy, and mostly Republican -- *we* didn't fit in that crowd at all since we are only white, LOL, so moved in large part for more variety, LOL.    

I work with native-born Americans (both black and white) and recent immigrants from Russia, India, Guatemala, Mexico, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and Cambodia.  I work with several lesbians and gay men.   

I live a diverse life, but naturally so.  I just don't keep track and wouldn't think to do so.