The merging of cultures and ethnic backgrounds produced both a richness of diversity and a myriad of problems. The richness of diversity is evident in the new communities that have evolved from people relocating here in hopes of establishing a better life for themselves and their families. Can you remember the first time that you did a double take at a market sign written in both English and a foreign language? Such signs are now so prevalent in communities throughout Los Angeles County that they are no longer unusual.
There are also new and unique stores, businesses, places of worship, newspapers, and television and radio stations throughout Southern California catering to this rich diversity. In fact, it was reported recently that the most popular radio station in Los Angeles is a Hispanic language station.
Each ethnic community strives and struggles to overcome life's challenges to acquire part of the American Dream--the dream to be free to live, work, worship, and play as it sees fit. However, the cultural mix itself can cause problems.
The complexity of culture might be explained by comparing it to an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg represents the external part of a culture, e.g., the language, customs, dress, etc. The portion of the iceberg that lies beneath the ocean's surface, which makes up the larger part of the iceberg, corresponds to the internal aspects of a culture. This includes the beliefs, thought patterns, and perspectives shared by others in the same cultural group--in other words, their basic feelings toward life in general.
Internal culture often determines people's behavior. To understand what motivates people's behavior is to understand their internal culture.
The department also established what I believe to be an effective, all-encompassing cultural awareness training program to be able to deal more effectively with the diverse communities we serve. A training program dealing with such a sensitive topic as cultural diversity should not be viewed as a politically expedient act. It should be viewed as skill development, and more importantly, as employee development, which leads to organizational competency.