Exploring Another Ethnicity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Exploring Another Ethnicity - Essay Example The distinct ethnic groups have diverse attitudes, rituals, actions, religious traits, and cultural beliefs. As such, ethnicity plays a big role in the American society although the American society rarely defines people according to their ethnic groups (O'Neil Web). My Ethnicity is both Arab and Hispanic. This paper seeks to address another ethnic group that I do not belong. In this case, I will address the Indian American ethnic group as part of the America society. To achieve this, I will describe rituals, actions, religious aspects, cultures, and morals of an Indian American wedding that I attended. Indeed, it was my first time to attend an Indian American wedding and the entire event was culturally strange, informing, and somehow entertaining to me. Notably, most Indian American is Hindus and as such, the wedding ceremony was in a Hindu setting unlike my normal Muslim setting. My Feelings in an Indian American Wedding Ceremony Actually, the whole setting was completely new to me and although I had previously heard of the uniqueness of the Indian weddings, I have never been a witness. As such, I had much anxiety that derived mixed feelings as the reality of the wedding came to me. To some extent, I had expectations that any wedding must derive a lot of fun but was equally aware that the difference in cultures would deny me such fun, as it would be challenging to follow the proceedings of the ceremony. The different rituals and cultural dimensions that the wedding to me. More so, the Hindu religion aspects and even the language in application created loneliness and a feeling of isolation during the wedding. Indeed, everybody was in a joyous mood and I equally tried to adapt to the celebratory mood but I could rarely understand the various procedures adopted in the ceremony. However, with the help of my Indian friend, I would manage to glimpse and understand some happenings in the Indian American wedding. My Feelings in an Indian and an African American Event This situation was somehow similar to an African American wedding ceremony that I attended in a Christian setting. Indeed, the feeling of isolation of the real time happenings was still eminent in that Christian setting. Indeed, the Christian and the Hindu religion are quite new to me as I profess the Muslim religion. Moreover, the Indian and the black American traditions, rituals, and traditions are different from the Hispanic and Arabic. As such, my earlier situation was significantly similar to the reference situation where I attended the wedding ceremony in an Indian cultural setting. In both instances, I would struggle to understand the language in application, the rituals, and the cultures as seen in their dressing and code of conduct. Influence of Group Membership, Race, and Personality in Interpretation My group membership, race, and personal attributes are however fundamental in interpreting the situation. Actually, the members in our group include people from different et hnic groups and hence I have lived to embrace cultural diversity. As such, I can interpret that any wedding creates a source of joy and is of cultural importance to any ethnic group. Therefore, I interpret that the wedding ceremony in the Indian America setting is important to their culture. On the other hand, my race accommodates cultural diversity and respects other cultures and their traditions. Hence, my race helps me to deduce the importance of such a wedding