CULTURE AS DYNAMICBARRIERS TO UNDERSTANDING

A Senegalese poet said “In the end we will conserve only what we love. We love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” We must learn about other cultures in order to understand, in order to love, and in order to preserve our common world heritage.

--Yo Yo Ma, child prodigy and American cellist speaking at White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy .

THE BARRIERS BETWEEN US

Yo Yo Ma's quote above stresses the importance of learning from other cultures.   How does this quote compare to your personal experiences? When you look around at your surroundings, you might be able to identify situations where cultures do not seem to be willing to learn from each other. If this is the case, what prevents some people from doing as Yo Yo Ma suggests?

The reality is that sometimes there are factors that prevent you from clearly seeing and learning from other ethnocultural groups. You can visualize these factors as a wall or barrier that separates two people, or groups of people, stopping them from moving closer to each other and from seeing or talking to each other. These barriers could be visible or invisible, but nonetheless they impact everyone - those who erect the barriers, those who try to dismantle the barriers, and those who are trapped in between.

WHAT IS A BARRIER?

When a society is open and inclusive, different cultures can learn from each other. Without barriers to understanding, individuals are free to explore ideas from various ethnocultures as they share their ideas and learn from others' ideas.

As cultures vie for understanding and acceptance, they have to contend with the perceptions others have of them - both real and imagined. It is human nature to be wary of the new and unknown. This can lead to the unintentional creation of barriers created by fear and misunderstanding.

On the other hand, some barriers are deliberately constructed. Not everyone is accepting of different races, ethnicities, or culture and the need for all to thrive. They try building figurative walls around groups they want to exclude.

WHO BUILDS BARRIERS?

Like a real-world brick wall, cultural barriers are constructed. They may have been built by members of society as individuals, organizations, and governmental Institutions Many of these barriers have a longstanding history which makes dismantling them - or even recognizing that they exist - difficult.

Cultural barriers are like brick walls because they are often made up of many individual factors. Taken one at a time, it can be difficult to see their impact. However, these factors can stack up - like rows of bricks - until an insurmountable barrier is formed between society and the culture.

This raises the question, "What are the 'bricks' that make up a cultural barrier?" To investigate the answer, let's turn our attention to the factors that block the understanding of another culture.

TYPES OF "BRICKS"

Barriers to understanding can come in a variety of forms. For example, they can be seen as a product of power dynamics that creates conflict and inevitably challenges the pre-existing ideas about an evolving culture.

They can be the legacy of ingrained ideals such as colonialism that can leave deep scars on a culture's psyche..

The problem with certain types of barriers to understanding is that they are not always as obvious as say the Jim Crow laws or apartheid; many barriers exist in our society that go unrecognized and unchallenged because we may not be aware of them, or because they do not directly affect us.

In the following slide show, consider examples of “bricks” that make up the walls between cultures. As you watch the slide show, reflect on the questions posed and try to connect each barrier with a personal observation.

CULTURE APPROPRIATION Cultural Appropriation is

the “adoption” of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. Usually the appropriation is by which a dominant culture assimilating aspects of a minority culture in a way that is often deemed as negative, as the original context and meaning is often lost in the exchange.

At the 2013 American Music Awards, pop star Katy Perry performed one of her songs “dressed” as a Japanese Geisha. The backlash from this incident resulted in conversations about her cultural insensitivity, noting the fact that she mixed both Chinese and Japanese elements in her performance without fully understanding that she had even made an error.

Such appropriation demonstrated that her “knowledge” was based on stereotypes and assumptions about a culture (or in this case, several cultures) other than her own. The jarring issue with cultural appropriation is that it is based on ingrained assumptions that often cheapen that culture from which it was been appropriated.

In what was could these logos limit or inform ones understanding of indigenous cultures?

SYSTEMIC BARRIERS Systemic barriers are

policies, practices, or procedures that discriminate against people of specific groups and limit their ability to equal access of resources and self-determination and autonomy. Some systemic barriers can be physical, emotional, language based and cultural.

How might systemic barriers impact the field of mental healh?

MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS

Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays the world and the individuals, groups, experiences, values and ideas in it. The media had an immense power over our perception of the world

Asian people are vastly underrepresented in the media, and the acting roles that are given to Asian people often consist of stereotypical characters. These characters only serve to perpetuate the stereotypical beliefs of the culture.

When Jeremy Lin started playing in the NBA, many within basketball culture found it difficult to “define” him. What was ultimately proven was how ill prepared the community was for seeing and Asian – American break into the basket ball scene. His physical appearance made him stand out on the court and he was unfortunately the victim of discriminatory and insensitive insults from not only basket ball viewers but commentators and broadcasters as well.

Latino culture is often misrepresented in the media. Consider television shows or movies that cast Latino men or women. What is the media representation of Latino men?

In the television show, Modern Family, the role played by the only Latina is often criticized as a stereotypical portrayal of a Latina in the media. Do a little research on the character to determine if this criticism is accurate?

STEREOTYPES

A stereotype is an unfair judgement about a group of people that is used to categorize that group of people. It is a way of thinking, often without conscious awareness that everyone who meets certain characteristics (e.g. Race, religion, gender, body composition) must be and act a particular way.

Stereotypes have permeated all facets of the multicultural communities of Canada. Arab people are often portrayed and thought of as oil-rich or terrorists. Arab women are though of as veiled and oppressed or exoticized as belly dancers.

These stereotypes influence public opinion about this group that sometimes results in unfortunate consequence like racial profiling, discrimination, hate crimes and bullying.

Stereotype of the police officer at the donut ship is an old one. This promotes the stereotype that police offices are lazy and frequent donut shops.

What effect does this stereotype have on our perceptions of police officers? Does this help or hinder their work?

GENERATIONAL BARRIER AND CONFLICT

Generational barriers and conflict (also referred to as Intergenerationality) can take on many forms, but at the heart of it is the conflict between two different generations, youth verse adults.

There are many instances that put generations face to face with one another. Often, the experiences of one does not sync with the other.

Given that the chart you see here, you can see four distinct generations with carrying outlooks. When these groups meet in the workplace, the resulting dynamic can lead to misunderstandings.

COLONIZATION

Colonization refers to the domination of an area. The goal of colonizers is often to invade an area and assume complete power and authority in all aspects of the inhabitants lives. This has caused extinction and near extinction of many cultures.

Historically, colonization has been driven by economics – that is, countries were taken over in order to exploit the natural resources (human and other) to make colonizing countries richer

In this picture, local Sumatran man work in a coffee factory crushing and preparing coffee beans for export.

In this picture, what evidence do you have that ‘western’ culture has affected this Malasian Orang Asli community? What is a possible connection between the man with the camera and the children posing for the photo? In a colonized community, how can culture become “something that sells?”

LABELS

Labels represent a way of identifying people using assumed qualities, considered by many as a form of prejudice and discriminations

Labels attached to individuals often limit their potential to be ‘seen’ beyond that label. This is detrimental to the individual but also to the person who believe the label. It, in turn, limits their ability to ‘see’ others. Sadly, these who label tend to have a difficult time changing their minds about the individual or group even when presented with evidence to the contrary

This London “punk” is sitting on the sidewalk. It is possible that he represents a part of youth culture in London. What do you think passerby conclude about him? What message is his outer appearance sending? What might have put him on the street? What estimation do you believe those who label would have for this individuals future?

IDENTIFYING THE BRICKS

The explicit policy of Canadian multiculturalism places value on cultures being able to express themselves and be visible within communities. Recognizing the destructive essence of assimilation, in recent years we have witnessed an exchange of cultural ideas, even an amalgamation of cultural expressions between various ethnocultures. First Nations Hip Hop (Beat Nation), or the electric pow wows of A Tribe Called Red, or Folkhop (a blending of traditional Punjabi Bhangra music and hip hop), are just some examples of how cultural expressions in the form of music can be fertile ground for breaking down barriers and creating emerging subcultures - especially among the youth. Likewise, we see cultural “fusions” in other areas such as food, and visual arts. These amalgamations are often a balanced exchange between cultures and not a one-sided appropriation.

Unfortunately, not everyone is accepting of different cultures and the need for all cultures to thrive. It is then that we see the figurative walls being built.

So where do these “bricks” come from? To investigate the answers, we must turn our attention to

those factors that block our understanding of other cultures.

In the following interactive tutorial, you will have the opportunity to see an explanation of each of these barriers and an example of how these barriers impede understanding.