Cultural Values

Cultural Values

Cultural values mean those behaviors that we act out as we move through the day, month, and year with constant thoughts of how we are supposed to act. Our values are what give us pause when making decisions. With no cultural values, we would only act as needed to suit ourselves. Thoughts of the group needs would never play roll in our decision process. With values we ask ourselves; what would “insert name here” do.

In my youth my family rejected religion and sent me to public school, I was a Cub Scout, and watched the hippies go through their routine as well as the Vietnam War body count on the evening news. Technology did not seem to be a big part of life. My culture always emphasizes family, religion, lifestyles.

Ancestry

The wide varieties of ethnicities in my family tree have no doubt caused the watering down of any specific culture. Each generation gave up more of the values, and traditions until any semblance of the past cultural richness is gone. Most of my ancestor came across the Atlantic Ocean via boat.

Current Culture

My current culture is more of an amalgam of easy to follow values. The strict rules of my ancestors have given way to cliché values such as “go along to get along” and “forgive and forget.” Our food choices no longer pay homage to the rich narrow diets of our past cultures. In the absence of any passing on of history, there have been two possible outcomes of culture on my family's values: perhaps my family culture has gravitated toward religion or perhaps religion is the only remaining vestige of my culture's past. Religious beliefs, if any, were left behind in the cross marriages that consumed the heritage. My family currently has no traditions, values, language from any previous ethnic group; all cultural nuances seem to have disappeared over time. Gone are, apparently, the rich varieties of foods that Seneca Indians, Swiss, Italians, Slovaks, and Austrians would have enjoyed.

Culture of the Hood

The culture of the neighborhood and school in which I grew up was, in retrospect, focused on looking back towards the past and a time that my peers and I never knew. Parents and teachers talked about the past as if it had been misplaced, yet no one new when this misplacement had happened or how. Left to their own devices it was as if the adults I knew were testing new ideas and theories in an attempt to find direction to their life. Henceforth an inordinate amount of time was left looking to the past, the children were consequently left alone to wander and flounder as well. Most children were spanked, paddled and verbally abused for their punishment. Youngsters were expected to accept punishment without explanation; never question adults, children are to be seen but not heard. Disbelief in a God was the norm in my neighborhood.

Characteristics of the Past Culture

Gas grills were installed in every yard, lawn tractors mowed every blade of grass, neighborhood streets were gravel, kids played ball in fields of weeds, kids and parents alike dressed up to go to school and work, respectively. The schools and local government celebrated Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving—and no one questioned this practice. The students lined up into long lines for their vaccinations, and savings bonds were sold in the school with the weekly collection of dimes and quarters. We ate cherry pie in February and we knew the reason behind it: there really was a man named Abe and he was honest and a President who gave a speech that we all new by heart. We were Americans and that’s the way it was.

Bringing Culture Forward

Forty years later, we still have Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving in our home. We send our children to public schools that they thrive.

Leaving it behind

The schools now have Winter Festivals, Spring Festivals, and Fall Festivals. As it turns out, the schools learned the Pilgrims killed all the Indians with contaminated blankets—which is not quite the occasion my peers and I celebrated growing up—and as a result many schools now celebrate what is called a Harvest Festival instead. Some now consider Halloween the work of Satan and children celebrate a Fall Festival. The Supreme Court due to the government’s responsibility to uphold the separation of Church and State bans both Easter and Christmas. Many children cannot play in fields of weeds due to allergies or asthma. A special day has been set up to acknowledge all Presidents.

Conclusion

Mainstream USA is quite the blending of world cultures leaving the basics that bind us together; religious freedom, the hope of upward mobility, choosing public officials, strong defense, good healthcare, and free education for all children. It appears that most people trade in their cultural when they begin to assimilate in America, it is neither good nor bad but rather, just the way it is.