Kelli Wright thinks “cultural humility” can help people better appreciate America’s rich diversity.
It’s a twist on the better-known and more-widely discussed idea of “cultural competence.”
Wright pointed to a recent article on the Community Partnerships for Older Adults Web site. It notes that cultural competence is based on the “assumption that we can all become expert in each others’ cultural preferences and perform our services in culturally competent ways.”
That article also says “it is not humanly possible to become culturally competent in every culture and subculture and that instead we should approach each other with humility, with an assumption that we do not really fully understand each other’s cultures and need to be constantly open and receptive to cultural guidance from individuals.”
Cultural humility could benefit health care and social workers, the article said, delivering services to older people in El Paso, Texas. That is a “majority-minority” city in which Hispanics are about 65 percent of the population. It’s not unlike Wyandotte County, also a majority-minority community.
Doctors in El Paso, who are mostly white, need to communicate effectively with the older people they serve. But so do social workers, many of whom are younger Hispanics.
Age differences create a subculture dynamic. Older people speak only Spanish vs. young Latinos who primarily use English. “The ‘Americanization’ of younger people reinforces notions among older people that their progeny have lost their roots and may no longer share their values,” the article said.
Cultural humility promoted by Humberto Reynoso-Vallejo encouraged workers to communicate more effectively with clients to learn about them as individuals and shed assumptions. It helps people establish a rapport and enhances service.
“A social worker in her 20s noted that she had been working from a perspective of cultural competence and, being Hispanic/Latino, felt she was competent,” the article said. “But the cultural humility concept allowed her to see the differences that age alone produce, and she left the workshop determined to approach older people with greater deference and fewer assumptions.”
Wright, project director of the Institute for Human Development at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, and I agreed that people who accept cultural humility do so understanding that it must be a lifelong process helping folks better know others.
Often people view others through the lens of their own culture, which can spark biases. Minority groups such as Hispanics and blacks also use the standards of the majority culture because that’s what schools and the media teach.
It tends to minimize people of color, women, gays, lesbians and people with disabilities even within those sub-groups. Cultural humility for them may mean the continued dominance of the majority culture with no regard for others.
The mainstream culture persistently pushes Eurocentric norms even after the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American president. The consistent thrust often excludes blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans.
To me, a complete adherence to cultural humility carries a risk of letting the status quo go unchallenged. People in minority groups must blend cultural humility with a cultural assertiveness so that a rich and welcomed diversity emerges.
But that also requires that individuals from all cultures have a better understanding of their own history and heritage so they can better explain to others the value that each provides. For instance, being black is far more than just a color.
The same applies for people who are white. People have to know their history and heritage and be able to discuss it to help others understand the rich benefits their culture provides to America.
It’s why Black History Month is a time to teach and learn. Cultural acceptance is what Obama’s presidency promotes. He just has to help people take the voyage with its many diverse sails. No doubt, people will enjoy the journey.
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