High education
I think that my experience in Mandir can relate to the class in three different ways. First of all, it reminds me about the power of hegemony. My stereotype in Indian somehow was caused by hegemony. Dominant classes tend to show their reality and other cultures are marginalized when they tend to present their own world views (Hratmann, 91). The supremacy is clearly demonstrated through moral leadership and intellectual and both are bounded by force and consent. According to class, the first major premise of hegemony is the “spontaneous” consent which demonstrates the cultural leadership in social relations. Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, I think that it’s wired to see Indian people still wearing costumes; normal people should wear more modernized clothes. I was deeply influenced by the society where I grew up. Therefore, when I saw Indian woman wearing Sari (a traditional Indian costume) I considered that as strange. It is hard for us to accept people who are different because we all have unconscious belief about what is normal and what is not. To understand different cultures, we have to raise awareness about hegemony and to escape the hegemony; we have to think outside of the box (Hratmann, 91).
Secondly, my cultural plunge experience shows the importance of religious freedom. There is homogenisation which creates social interaction and society inclusion (Hratmann, 96). In class, professor taught us about the first Amendment rights to religious freedom. Indian people are guaranteed the right to practice their religion without government interference. I asked them whether it was difficult or not to establish the temple in United States. They said it was not hard, and the government allowed them to do so legally. Since the government didn’t prohibit or interfering their individual religious beliefs, the establishment clause was well enforced in this situation. I’m glad that different people can practice their own religions in United States (Hratmann, 96). Especially India is a very religious country, and religion is important for them no matter where they are.
My experience helped me to value the importance of multicultural education since this is the source of freedom. It is important to understand that hegemony as described by Antonio Gramsci is socially constructed and in higher education, it has a negative effective since it provides dominant thoughts which control the popular culture and the way of life (Hratmann, 97). Hegemony in the society has social formations and it creates a barrier between the society and culture. Traditional culture plays role in shaping hegemony and the practices which it introduces hinders cultural development. It is important to eliminate the hegemony in education in order to strengthen the multicultural education (Hratmann, 91). Note that hegemony in higher education creates a cultural dynamic where there is as gap between social life. Since there is a higher level of racism in American institution, the only to eliminate racism and hegemony is to reinforce culture diversity. Racism is associated with hegemony in that people tend to view themselves more significant than others. Thus, elimination of racism will reduce hegemony in higher education and help student value the importance of diversity in education.
Finally, interacting with Indian people reminds me about the importance of five dimensions of multicultural education. Specifically, I want to connect my experience with empowering school culture and prejudice reduction. Empowering school culture can help diverse students create mutual respect and value diversity. When students learn more about different cultures, they could accept different cultures so that different culture group can co-exist in society (Tatum, 4). For example, because I grew in China that everyone has similar culture background, it was hard for me to appreciate different cultures, that why I didn’t understand Indian culture at beginning. The prejudice reduction dimension can create positive attitude regarding other racial. After talking to Indian people, I realized that they all hope American society could have more positive attitudes about them (Tatum, 4). Prejudice could be avoided once people don’t consider themselves as better ones. If I didn’t ask to do this cultural plunge activity, I probably would never have the chance to step in Hinduism temple and interact with them. Before attending college, I never taught anything that intended to reduce prejudice; I had my own prejudice even without knowing it.
Overall, my experience in Hinduism temple and the interaction with Indian people was an unforgettable memory for me. It reminded me the importance to pay attention to different cultures group living in society, and taught me to reduce stereotype about people because the stereotype is usually not true. Just like how Tatum defines prejudice, “Stereotypes and exclusions are the root causes of prejudice (Tatum, 5). We have to think outside the box, and look everyone, every group equally, because no one is better than others, just like how Hinduisms believe. It was hard for me to step my own comfort zone at first, and it was hard for me to understand Indian culture without any stereotype. However, this experience changed my way of thinking, and I’m glad that I chose to go there for my cultural plunge activity. I will always remind myself to accept people who are different from me, and to always respect others.
Work cited
Tatum D. Beverly. Defining Racism “Can We Talk”.2000
Hratmann Eva. The Educational Dimension of Global Hegemony.2015
