BridgetheCulturalGap

1、Bridge the Cultural GapBridge the Cultural GapBridge the Cultural Gap Once, duri ng the course of a conv ersati on with a colleague who was a woman of color, I happened to refer to her as an African America n. Her resp onse left me con fused. D ont call me that, she said. Ive n ever bee n to Africa;

2、 I dont know the first thi ng about Africa. You can call me black or you can call me an America n, but dont call me Africa n America n. She went on to ask me why, if a white pers on from South Africa became a US citizen, no one would ever refer to that person as African America n. Of course, I did n

3、t have a resp on se.And not too long ago, I met a man who bemoa ned the fact that every one automatically refers to him as Africa n America n, despite the fact that he has only rece ntly emigrated from Ghana. Im Africa n, but rm certai nly not an America n, he said.For census purposes, were asked to

4、 fit ourselves into one of five categories, says Cor nelia Gamlem, preside nt of the GEMS Group, a human resources consultingfirm based inHerndon, Virgi nia. These racial/eth nic categories are as follows: white, black, Asia n and Pacific Isla nder, Hispa nic, and America n In dia n, Eskimo or Aleut

5、. While people of the same race may share similarities, there are many cultural differe nces that n eed to be recog ni zed.For in sta nee, a pers on who checks black on the cen sus form may be America n-born, or may hail from elsewhere, such as the Caribbean or an African nation. Likewise, a Hispani

6、c person may be from places as disparate as New York City, Mexico, Cuba or Brazil. The problem is that there may be a tendency to make assumpti ons about people, just by look ing at their obvious characteristics, says Gamlem. I see your sk in is black, so I lump you into the Africa n America n categ

7、ory and figure that youre just like everybody else who grew up in this coun try. But if you were raised in the Caribbea n or an Africa n n ati on, Ive made assumpti ons that arein correct. This ope nsthe door to discrimi natory treatme nt and un fair practices.While it might simplify life at the off

8、ice if we could all justmake assumptions about people based on their obvious physical characteristics, that kind of thi nking just does nt fit the bill anymore (not that it ever really did in the first place).Diversity goes well beyondwhat one can visually see,Gamlem says. It can be hidde n. Gamlem

9、remembers the time she was on a bus in ess trip and di ning alone in a restaura nt. After her meal, the waiter brought her a check and told her to have a nice Mothers Day. He categorized me in a certa in way. Because of my gender and age group, he assumed I was a mother.Making assumptio ns based on

10、a pers ons race can be aneve n dicier propositi on.The fact is that, cen sus categoriesno twithsta nding,the Un ited States is a vastly diversepopulati on, and grow ing more so all the time. And in the end, a pers ons cultural ide ntity is at least as importa nt as his eth nic ide ntity. For in sta

11、nee, the guy from Jamaica with an office n ext door to an African Americanmay actually have more incom mon culturally with the light-ski nned Cuba n pers on dow n the hall.So whats a person supposed to do? The answer, says Gamlem, is both in credibly simple and eno rmouslydifficult:Appreciate people

12、 for who they are as individuals, not for what class of people they are assumed to be associated with. That means check ing your biases and automatic stereotypes -weve all got them - at the door and taking some time to un dersta nd your coworkers cultural backgro unds and values.Gamlem is the first to admit tha