It’s graduation season. Last week I attended my daughter’s kindergarten graduation {attempting to hold back tears}.
{wiping away tears, composing myself}
I also attended an 8th Grade Recognition program at a local school, a celebration for all the middle school students who are moving up to high school. These are great moments in the lives of young people and their families. Many students face great adversity on their way to these graduations, and it is a privilege to bear witness to their achievement.
The event was loud. The atmosphere was celebratory. It started 15 miutes late. Loud cheers accompanied the reading of each name. Some students danced, others stood and pumped their fists old-school-Arsenio-style. Students were up and down, even walking around. To be honest, my first thought was that this was barely organized chaos. Where’s the respect, the reverence, the decorum?
Then my thoughts went to the book I had just begun reading: Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church by one of my favorite seminary professors, Soong-Chan Rah. 8th Grade Recognition was an event celebrating people from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds. I was approaching the event from the dominant culture perspective of western academia. In my world, we wait until every student is done walking across the stage, then cheer for everyone…at the end. In my world, everyone remains seated until their name is called. As a product of the historically dominant culture, I’ve moved through life easily believing that the standards of “my world” were the gold standard for all behavior.
Many Colors freed me to reconsider whether my European-American standards must always be considered normative. I was witnessing an event where my paradigm was being challenged, and I felt a bit threatened by it until I recalled the language of Soong-Chan’s book: this was an opportunity to grow in cultural intelligence. With my norms challenged, I was faced with a choice: do I cling steadfastly to my understanding of what should be normative or do I openly consider the good in what other cultures bring to the table?
As I sat at 8th Grade Recognition, I experienced a sort of cultural conversion. I saw families much different than mine free to celebrate their children in a way that suits their natural modes of expression. I saw students experiencing the joy of their accomplishments in an embodied way. It was a beautiful moment, and I’m glad I didn’t waste it by sitting in judgment. Besides, in my repressed Swedish-American heritage, who am I to sit in judgment on how others celebrate? I need other cultures to teach me how to celebrate well!
How does the idea of cultural intelligence sound to you? Natural? Threatening?
How do you experience cultural resistance?
wonderful expression of your experience; simple and direct. If more people would strive to ‘see’ through anothers’ eyes during such moments, the world would truly be a more inviting and grace imparting place.
Thanks. This story is a good example of why I must continue to regularly converse with and read literature from cultures and perspectives other than mine. The greater challenge, I suppose, is leading a congregation to do likewise!
also, locating published works by those “other” cultures…good luck… there are some, but needs to be more. Let me know how that works out for you.
Your well written, insightful post gives me much food for thought. After leaving the cultural non-diverse womb in which I spent the first 17 years of life, I was exposed to the culturally very diverse “Corinth of the Midwest”. I found the diverse cultural experiences exciting and enriching, even though I had to confront my majority points of view multiple times with much discomfort. I have received many cultural bumps and bruises. Now, more than a few decades later, you would think I would have evolved, but, instead, I find myself having to continue the process. Being from the majority culture paradigm, it is my constant struggle to be aware that not everyone experiences their or others cultures in exactly the same way that I do. At times, I feel that this issue is all too complex for a mortal to solve. But God is good and in His grace, He has not given up on pruning me. He loves each one of us individually. I wonder if this is the insight that the author of the childhood song was sharing when he wrote, “Red, and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Maybe His truth is just as simple as that.
Thanks for these reflections, Renee! I agree that though it may continue to be a struggle, listening and engaging is a worthwhile and enriching one. It prepares us for the multicultural landscape of eternity!
I’m reminded that as people of the dominant culture, we have to be really intentional about engaging issues of cultural captivity, whereas many of our brothers and sisters do not have a choice in the matter.
Very nicely said Andrew with great personal application. You get an A!
LOL, Soong-Chan! Thanks for the good word.
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