Homework, feh.

Sad. I'm finishing my homework for my class... and I'm so uninspired. Maybe it's just because it's been two weeks since the first session (we had a weekend off for Thanksgiving), or maybe it's because I got sick the very night of class and I sort of lost my focus.

Or maybe it's just the class. It's about dealing with diversity issues--a sticky and uncomfortable subject. I don't like being uncomfortable. There's an ugly truth for you.


At least I got to see tahari today, which was lovely.

The promised essay. It's on culture. Specifically, mine.

In grad school I had to write a short essay on my culture for a writing workshop course. "What culture?" I said to my husband, visions of the Japanese tea ceremony and Kwanzaa dancing before my eyes. "I haven't got a culture."

"Sure you do," he said. "It's the American culture."

American culture? I remember thinking. You mean that godawful mess of racism, deep ignorance about world affairs, consumerism, and greed? That's culture?

Somehow I had gotten all the way to grad school without ever thinking about this issue. Well, I thought about it then.

Now I know that of course I have a culture. I was raised in the dominant culture of the United States. I went to public schools through eighth grade. I watched the same TV shows as other kids, at least mostly. I was a Girl Scout for a couple of years. And even though I've quietly slipped into some subcultures that directly oppose parts of the dominant culture, I'm still culturally an American. I believe in free speech. I say "Oh my God!" when I'm shocked, even though I'm an agnostic. I think religion should keep its little paws out of government (and government should keep its greasy mitts away from religion). My stuff is mine, thanks anyway, unless I personally decide to give it to you. (Hey, ask; I might say yes.) These are all cultural characteristics that would probably mark me as an American anywhere, even if I visited only cities in western Europe, where my ancestors came from.

Of course, American culture isn't quite as bad as I initially painted it. Sure, the dominant culture is (quite frankly) still deeply racist--but at least it's no longer acceptable to use the excoriated "N-word." Sure, many Americans couldn't find Iraq on a globe if their lives depended on it--but at least many others keep a daily eye on world news. Sure, the dominant culture is incredibly consumeristic (just look at the annual frenzy of Christmas buying that started mere days ago)--but at least a growing, if small, number of Americans are turning their backs on the culture of consumerism in search of something that's more lasting, more meaningful, and better for the planet. These are all big problems, no fooling, but I have hopes that we can solve them. (By the way, optimism is also an American cultural trait.)

I think of my culture as a mix of the old and the new. For starters, even setting aside the rather large matters of representative government and the Bill of Rights, American culture has many things worth keeping. The old cliché about Yankee ingenuity holds some truth; everybody respects the woman (or guy) down the hall who can find fourteen new and useful things to do with a twisty tie, and most Americans take a lot of pride in being from a country that values creativity so much. There is truth as well in "old-fashioned" attitudes about letting people have their say, being neighborly, behaving honestly, and giving the other guy (or woman) a hand up when he (or she) is down. Politicians love to spout smarmy platitudes about decency, truth, justice, and so on, but those platitudes wouldn't appeal to people if they weren't about deeply held cultural values--whether or not those values actually get acted on.

On the other hand, even setting aside the obvious ones like racism, sexism, and homophobia, American culture has quite a few things that have just got to go. That whole We're #1 And If You Disagree You Suck thing? Trouble. The shortsighted focus on this quarter's bottom line over the long-term health of our people, corporations, and environment? A really bad idea. And that "subdue the earth" bit? Dear Corporate Fat Cats: Quit using it as an excuse to screw up my air and water. Now, please.

Yes, I have a culture. Like cultures everywhere, it's a mix of good and bad. I only have to remember, going forward, that just as it wasn't obvious to me what my culture was until I sat down, thought about it, and talked about it with someone else, it probably won't be obvious what my students' cultures are until I ask questions--and then sit down and think about it.