Diversity in Culture and Politics

When I was a kid, I attended schools in the Richmond School District (now called West Contra Costa USD) in the 60s and 70s.  The schools were fairly integrated and I believe I got a good view of how diversity enhanced my life.  My dad always worked for the Berkeley Unified School District - first as a PE teacher at Burbank Jr High, working up to being the Principal at Berkeley High (their only public high school) in the 70s and then retiring as Associate Superintendent.  He always had friends of different ethnicities coming over for Poker games at our house, and that reinforced my appreciation for diversity.

On the other hand, I also grew up in a Chinese-American home and went to SF weekly to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  We would go to Chinatown to mai soong (buy groceries) and later my uncle and aunt started taking me to the First Chinese Baptist Church in SF.  I got a good dose of cultural education during these trips, especially during Chinese New Year and Moon Festival time.

When I reached Junior High (now called Middle School), Berkeley Unified School District offered an Asian-American Summer School that my cousin and I attended (my older cousin was the Principal).  I remember learning a lot about the histories of Asian immigrants and remember thinking, "Gee, they don't teach us this stuff in regular school."  It was then that I realized that the education I was getting was mostly from the Euro-American standpoint; and that all the other minorities were probably experiencing the same gap in learning of their backgrounds and cultures.  This is especially true for Blacks and Natives who may have had their history glossed over because, let's face it, the truth is not pretty.

Since then, I've always been interested in the histories of different ethnicities and cultures.  They say "Variety is the spice of life" and I find that to be true.  Up until 2016, I was registered (like my dad) as an Independent Voter.  I welcome the chance to interact with people from different backgrounds and cultures, both socially and politically.  While I don't always agree with other folks, I'm okay with that.  If my friend is a Buddhist and I'm a Christian, that doesn't effect our friendship.   Same thing with politics - if someone's a Republican, I'll let them have their say and go about my business.  I usually go with the assumption that my friend or family member has good intentions; and that they are assuming the same of me.  There have been times that I've been proven wrong later, but I'd rather still start with giving the benefit of doubt.