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Reflection Paper
Lindsey M. Rigdon
University of Montevallo
REFLECTION PAPER
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Cultural prejudices are rampant throughout today’s society. Although drastically
portrayed, the movie “Crash” illustrates how disastrous these prejudices can affect an
individual’s life and the people around them. People are afraid of things they are unaccustomed
to which I believe is a main contributor to the hatred that people hurl at one another. If a person
has been surrounded by people that are similar to their culture their entire life then they can be
leery of accepting other cultures. They react negatively to these differences because they do not
understand why people go about affairs differently than them and they judge their differences as
being false. I strongly believe that cultural integration is crucial, especially for children, so they
can begin to perceive that everyone is different, but that does not mean that they are any less
important. If the world was full of people who relate to your particular culture then life would be
rather boring because everyone would wear the same clothes, eat the same food, listen to the
same music, and have the same hobbies. I enjoy embracing other cultures that are different from
mine because I love to learn what drives their society and them as an individual. I love to hear of
their different outlooks in life and I always learn something from this conversion. I work with a
very diverse group of individuals and I am very thankful that I have had that opportunity. I am
especially glad that I have learned that we are all people once you strip away the cultural and
religious customs and rituals. I embrace my coworker’s friendship because I have learned so
much about the human race from their engagement.
I strongly believe that if a culturally prejudice individual invites the opportunity to walk
in their victim’s shoes they would discover that they have more in common than they previously
thought. They would discover the human aspect of that particular person and they would begin to
understand that we are all beloved children of God and that they deserve the respect and liberties
REFLECTION PAPER
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that humankind should equally enjoy. This would help to abolish cultural prejudices that are
ingrained into individuals by their family and society. I believe that the main contributors to my
lack of prejudices is my family upbringing as well as the people I chose to surround myself with.
Although my parents were raised in the deep south during the Civil Rights Movement, they
instilled in me the notion that all people are equal and deserve respect. I believe that by fostering
an example in their children, parents can become a main entity in ridding prejudices from the
next generation. Although I went to school with a majority of people who were much like me, I
was able to gain cultural diversity with the people I worked with. I became friends with my
coworkers which eliminated any cultural stigmas that I had prior to being in a relationship with
them.
I am glad that cultural prejudice is asserted in the field of teaching because we will be a
contributing role model to students. If we are able to communicate to our students that we are all
equal despite our differences then we will succeed in making the world a better place for all
people. I believe that it is also crucial for teachers to adhere to the philosophies of multicultural
education because we will be involved in teaching cultures unlike ours. If we are able to
understand how different cultures learn then we can reach these individuals who would
otherwise be overlooked. Every person deserves the right to an education and that right is better
obtained through the teacher’s understanding of that individual. I plan to embrace children that
are from a different culture because I see them as very interesting and stimulating. I would love
to see my students to remember me for being a good role model and a person who has motivated
to succeed in life with whatever they choose to do. I can only be successful in this endeavor if I
am open to each student’s unique identity.