Cultural Awareness and Competence Essay Example for Free

Cultural Awareness and Competence Essay Cultural awareness and competence refers to the ability of an individual to postpone judgment and prejudice toward other people based on their religious background, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender, age, and such, and also one’s capability of understanding, accepting, and even adapting to unfamiliar culture, points of view, beliefs, ideologies, traditions, etc. Raising one’s cultural awareness and competence requires allocating time and exerting effort in learning and understanding the concepts of multiculturalism or cultural diversity. For instance, developing specific learning goals and a plan of action is an excellent start to promoting cultural awareness. My desire to raise my cultural awareness of two specific groups, particularly homosexuals and individuals belonging to the black population, require that I set personal learning goals and a plan of action that will guide how I am going to go about the process of learning and understanding culture based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. For this particular case, I believe that two of my learning goals should include reviewing the history of the African-American people, particularly the reasons why they are being discriminated upon, as well as the unfamiliar cultural practices and traditions and the meaning and significance that deepens or intensify their culture, and understanding the personal sentiments and emotions of homosexuals in order for me to recognize where they are coming from and be able to empathize with them in the process regarding their unfortunate situation especially when it comes to being judged or discriminated because of their sexual orientation. In order for me to realize the aforementioned learning goals, I plan to conduct research by reading books, magazines, newspaper articles, journal publications, research studies, online articles, and such, about black people and homosexuality. Moreover, I feel that there is a need for me to socialize with individuals belonging to the African-American culture and homosexuals in order for me to obtain first-hand information about their sentiments, experiences, knowledge, and such. I believe that through my willingness and determination to immerse myself into the African-American culture and the world of homosexuality, I will be able to promote cultural awareness simply by being conscious of the issues that they burden themselves with. EXODUS International is an online website that discriminates against homosexuals. It is a religion-based organization that provides assistance for individuals who want to â€Å"leave homosexuality. † The organization subtly reiterates that homosexuality is against the will and the word of God and that â€Å"leaving homosexuality† is a way for individuals to live a better life according to what God wants for His children. Moreover, within the lines of EXODUS International’s mission and objectives, the organization clearly mentions that homosexuals will not be able to live a fulfilling and holy life. (EXODUS International, 2005) The blog â€Å"Stuff White People Like† is an online website that discriminates against African-Americans simply because the site is devoted to discuss issues that generalize on the likes and dislikes of white people. The website lists more than one hundred things that white people like. I believe generalizing and labeling things or situations as something that is true or amenable only for a certain race is close to prejudice and bias since one is limiting these things and situations to a particular race only despite the fact that other individuals from diverse racial backgrounds may share the likes and dislikes of white people. (Stuff White People Like, 2009) I can honestly say that I am non-judgmental or prejudice in any way against any group of people in society depending on their race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender, and such. I am also proud to say that my parents raised me well. Although my family is American and adheres to Christianity as a religion, we do not judge other people from different racial backgrounds and religions. Because of my parents and family, I was able to understand that people are different from each other, and although we are different, I do not have the right to judge other people because of it. Moreover, I understand that people have different frames of mind or worldviews and we see things and situations differently. Handling the matter only requires respect and acceptance and the understanding of cultural diversity or multiculturalism. Judging from my self-assessment of my cultural awareness and competency, I believe I will be able to uphold moral and ethical principles in my profession, especially with issues that concern multiculturalism. Perhaps the only challenge that I would have to face is how I am going to develop and increase my cultural awareness to cope with multicultural trends and new information. References EXODUS International. (2005). Thinking of Leaving Homosexuality? Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Exodus International. Website: http://exodus. to/help/? option=com_contenttask=viewid=327Itemid=147 Harvey, C. Alard, M. J. (2008). Understanding and Managing Diversity, 4th Ed. Prentice Hall. Stuff White People Like. (2009). Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Stuff White People Like. Website: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike. com/

The Morally Obvious :: Ethics Philosophy Moral Papers

The Morally Obvious I. Obviousness. There is no way to contrive an ethical theory which does not rely in the end upon moral judgments that are subjectively "intuitive" or obvious or "just seen". No matter which of the major approaches to ethical theory one takes, an ultimate reliance upon the individual's intuitive judgment is inevitable. If one supposes that moral valuations are sui generis, irreducible, the deliverances of a moral sense or faculty, then manifestly what one "just feels" or "just sees" to be morally valuable will have to be the final court of appeal. If one supposes that moral values are a special subclass of human likings or preferences, say those things men want overall, in the long run, in the light of man's deepest needs and his sympathetic nature, etc., why then those wants and preferences must themselves be finally known by making their presence felt. The presence of a want, of a satisfaction or fulfillment, of pleasure or pain, is known intuitively and immediately. Finally, if mo ral values are perceived by the eye of reason, as a number of philosophers still urge, so that the wrongness of things is known by the mind in a way similar to its knowing 2 + 2 = 4, this too must be seen as an ultimate reliance upon the intellectually "obvious", or the intuitively known. It appears that whether in ethics or in any field of human opinion we can ask for justifications only so far. Even when a successful justification of an opinion can be given, the very success of that justification involves the "just seeing" of how the justification applies to and supports the opinion. Beyond that, we can always request a proof of the justifying premises or considerations themselves, and if we keep asking for a justification for the justification that has just been given, we will soon reach a point where all that can be said is that the thing just seems obvious, and we can only hope that others will think so too. Notoriously, of course, others often don't. I have said that moral judgments must in the end rest upon an "intuitive" judgment of some sort. The word "intuition" is too useful and too close to what I mean to avoid, but it also has technical connotations I wish to disavow. Philosophers often use "intuition" to mean a way of knowing involving no inference whatever and yielding infallible and incorrigible results.

Definition of Failure

Hannah Goracke Dr. Young English Composition 101 26 September 2012 Failure Failure is an ambiguous term. Each person can define what it means to â€Å"fail† in a different way. Just as someone has their own standards of leading a successful life, they also have their own standards in terms of maybe leading a not so successful life. Within the word â€Å"failure† therein lays a few different meanings that may differ from person to person depending on his or her own opinion. Each person may have had a different experience with failure, which led him or her to believe what he or she does.Today, failure can be attached to three different ideas. First, failure can be defined as the opposite of success. Lost the race? You failed it. Got a 54 percent on your last math test? That’s failure. Whether this failure comes about as a result of laziness or just bad luck, this is the type of failure that we have been taught since we knew how to spell the word. It is the most com mon use of the word; if you were to ask a random stranger what â€Å"failure† meant to them, they would most likely correlate it with the word â€Å"success†.Failure is not success, it is failing to succeed. Still, there is another meaning of the word that takes on a more philosophical view. Failure, some may argue, is the actually the word used to describe the result of not trying. This definition has to do with the outcome the effort opposed to trying but not reaching a specific goal. Failing to do anything at all is failing to try. You want to run the race, but you don’t? Failure. Got a 54 percent on your math test? Technically failing, but did you try?If any sort of trying was involved, failure did not occur. Even by getting an F on the math test, there was still an A for effort. The third meaning may require a bit more explanation. The word â€Å"fail† has become quite commonplace in today’s society among young tween-age kids to teenagers. It has become a slang term, usually used in humorous situations. It is often used to kid or make fun of another or themselves when a small and funny mistake has been committed. It is almost always used in a joking manner.You overslept your alarm and missed your first class? Fail. That person left their blinker on for two miles after they turned? Fail. The word â€Å"fail† has become part of the young people’s generation. It is a term that is used very commonly among the teenagers of today. Failure can have multiple meanings. How it’s interpreted all depend on the person and the context of their situation. Someone who tried to complete a task but instead experienced failure might be bitter or optimistic depending on his or her outlook.Someone who is more pessimistic might repeat that failure is the opposite of success. Someone who has a more optimistic mindset would be able to look at the bigger picture understand that by failing to try, they decrease their chances of success exponentially. Failure has taken on another meaning as a popular slang term used by young people to describe a funny mistake. The term failure holds much ambiguity that depends on the perspective and experiences of the person putting it in use.

The Bench - 741 Words

Since 1948, the white governments all around have built a racial segregation system called apartheid, which means separation in Afrikaans. Apartheid was developed after World War II by the Afrikaner-dominated National Party (NP). Officially should apartheid policy help South Africas black raise their living standards, but in reality, the apartheid system wanted to make the blacks â€Å"disappear† from the white South Africa, but still have them as cheap labor reserve. Apartheid is a big problem, but who decides what people are worth? Is it not their actions, rather than their skin tone that should determine this? In the short story â€Å"the Bench† we meet a colored man named Karlie. Karlie is at a demonstration in Cape Town, South Africa,†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"These were new things and he, Karlie, had to be careful before he accepted them† (s. 32. Line 18-19). The narrator is limited because he only knows Karlies thoughts and not everyone else’s. This makes the readers connect with Karlie, and might see him as a victim of the white’s racism. By having a limited narrator the history focuses on one person, and that makes the readers in this specific story, get sympathy with the main character Karlie, because they only hear his opinions and thoughts. â€Å"I have no right to sit on this bench.† (s. 34. Line 13-14). The narrator describes and report what happens in the text, just like a fly on the wall. In the text are also used a few signs of direct speech. â€Å"Afrika!† shouted a joker (s. 36. Line 21) or â€Å"this†¦this†¦ † he was lost for word (s.37. line 18). The writer captures the readers by medias res, by starting the story in the middle of a speech. The speech is a good start because, the speech tells us about the present situation in South Africa. The story draws a conflict between black and white, where the blacks wants their rights back, and wants to go against the apartheid system. The title â€Å"the bench† is link to the main character Karlie, because Karlie finds his challenge, to sit on the white man’s bench. And the bench describes the society in South Africa. Some of the themes in the story could be: black and white, discrimination, segregation and rights. They are all very similar, so a main theme could beShow MoreRelatedThe Court Of A Bench Trial Essay1398 Words   |  6 Pagesspecific duties that help the court system thrive. Judges decide on the verdict if there is a bench trial. A bench trial is a trial by a judge as opposed to a trial by jury (Reuter, 2016). In a bench trial, the judge is an unbiased third-party advocate for justice. He or she determines the appropriate punishment and sentence those convicted of crimes (Reuter, 2016). A judge takes on a couple of roles in a bench trial such as, that of the referee who rules on the admissibility of evidence and decidesRead MoreBench Press is one of the three work outs we will be discussing in the manual. 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