Family Life

One question I want you to ask yourself is, what is culture? Culture is often something that we define as what our family does and how we do things, and is generally passed on down through many generations. When we do things, we think oh I do that because my mom does, or because someone else does it. It turns out we aren't as different as we think we are. Yes we all have our own likes and dislikes, but overall we are similar to one another. In our communities we all have the same skin tone, speak the same language, etc. It's all in what we assume. We do see trends though where if someone is not of that same "culture" we tend to push them away because they are different in some way. Is that the ethical thing to do per say? Probably not. So why can't we include everyone no matter their culture and our view of them. We always hear the saying "never judge a book by its cover".  And I think that is perfect for this situation. As human beings, our natural reaction is to gravitate towards what is familiar to us rather than things that are different. We all have different socioeconomic status' and we also tend to categorize people into those when we see them. Some of them include: income, location as to where they live, their education, who they associate with, their occupation, what they wear and their overall appearance, and their mannerisms/lifestyle. It is a natural instinct to do this when we see someone whether we know them or not. And then from there we decide if want to associate ourselves with them if they match our "culture".

An activity we did in class this week was having classmates act as a family who lived in Mexico and eventually decided to cross the border to come to the states. There were two different families who were related, and then their grandma. One of those families had decided to make the move to the states, but the father had to go first. This wasn't an easy decision or was it an easy process. The dad was to get across the border, but had to have someone help him get across. He had to leave his family behind while he went across and found a place to live and also a job. He was in the states for about 2 years before he was able to get the rest of his family across which led to family relationship issues. Once the mom and the 2 kids were able to get across the border to meet up with the father, things were a little awkward at first because it had all been so different for each of them. He was living in a run down trailer with the people he worked with, and he wasn't making much money at all, and the wife and kids had to sell everything in order for them to have the money to go. They also left behind their cousins who was their support system when they needed it, but eventually they decided to make the move as well. This was also a risky move because of how hard it is for women especially to get across the border. The statistics have shown that about 1/3 of women get raped from the "coyotes" that are supposed to help them move across the border. This is not safe for any woman, and it is a real thing that happens in our society today. Things like this happen all the time today, and it is not a good situation. Family should be the basic unit of everything today, and we should be able to rely on them at all times to help us get through tough times. It is heart breaking to see what many families have to go through and how they grow apart. I am grateful for my family today and the support they have for me.