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Two dimensions of diversity, one primary and one secondary, that make me differ

ent from my coworkers or classmates in the past or present are


1-ethnicity or national origin:Being born outside The U.S.A and being exposed to
cultural diversity overseas especially in the Middle east area will enable me t
o understand the importance role diversity play in our society and community.
The United States is becoming increasingly diverse. By the turn of the century o
ne out of every three Americans will be a person of color. According to James Ba
nks, more than 8 million legal immigrants came to the U.S. between 1981 and 1990
, and an undetermined number of undocumented immigrants enter the United States
each year. In addition, the United States includes people of many religions, lan
guages, economic groups, and other cultural groups.
It is becoming clear that in order to build communities that are successful at i
mproving conditions and resolving problems, we need to understand and appreciate
many cultures, establish relationships with people from cultures other than our
own, and build strong alliances with different cultural groups.
Each cultural groups has unique strengths and perspectives that the larger commun
ity can benefit from. Bringing minority groups into the center of civic activity
can provide fresh perspectives and shed new light on tough problems.
The secondary dimension is the religious belief:Although I practice the muslim f
aith,but I am always open minded with a desire to respect different viewpoints
and to understand and apperciate the positives ideas of other Abrahamic religion
s ( Christianity and judaism).
According to a recent USA TODAY Gallup
poll, 39 percent of respondents reported feeling some prejudice against Muslims.
About 22 percent said they would not want Muslims as neighbors. However, of thes
e
respondents, 58 percent said they had never met a Muslim.In an effort
to promote awareness of their cultural practices and religion, Muslim groups hav
e
become much more active in presenting educational programs to police, teachers a
nd students and community groups.
2-Two factors that influence prejudice are:
A-Ethnocentrism refers to a tendency to use your own culture as the standard by
which to judge and evaluate other cultures. In other words, taking an ethnocentr
ic point of view means using your understanding of your own culture to be the be
st selected one. This can lead to biases and a tendency to view cultural differe
nces as abnormal.
B-Economic factors.people's prejudices against other groups( immigrants in The U
.S.A) often will increase if the economy goes through recession like the financi
al and economic crisis of 2008.Mostly in the Southwest region, many citizens bla
me the hardworking,mostly Hispanics immigrants( Illegals) and their official nam
e is Aliens! Unemployment,traffic and language barriers are major alleged proble
ms caused by immigrants.
3-Based on the many forms of discrimination, identify two that you think are esp
ecially powerful and give an example
Age descriminatiom is a major issue these days and is an alarming practice by so
me employers.Many many baby boomers, lost more than other groups in the stock ma
rket and housing bust of 2008.These days, many Baby Boomers are planning to dela
y their retirement and are looking for any job opeening.Unfortunatley some emplo
yers dont hire older applicant under the pretext that they are overqualified!
Religion is another form of discromination .According to EEOC reports Charges of
religious discrimination in the workplace have increased in recent years (Effec
tive Human relation) page 331.The last famous settled case was whem Abercrombie
and fitch retail stores fired two of its Muslim women employees.
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-23-13c.cfm
4-Individuals can do to let go of prejudices and stereotypes is to engage in a c
ontinuos process that a commitment made to others is a stronger commitment than
the one made alone or to oneself. The commitment should be to working on a chang
e process.Education and appreciation that hard work will come with rewards to en
hance their current situation can put a strong barrier in all form of prejudices
.
Something corporations can do to enhance workforce diversity is to hire more di
verse workforce and engage and promote more qualified diverse groups memebers.Co
rporations should support community colleges to establish awareness programs abo
ut diversity.

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