Your emotional state of health has to do with the degree to which you are aware of people and situations around you, and how you relate to these people and situations. Because America is one of the most multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-religious country in the world, your next-door neighbor, restaurant waiter, your college professor, mom’s nursing home aid, or your doctor is likely to be someone from another country or culture. While it might be tolerable to see people from other cultures play subservient roles or have jobs undesirable by those in the dominant culture, the reality is that things are changing very fast. The diverse immigrant cultures of today are taking advantage of the abundant educational opportunities in the country and making faster moves into higher socio-economic classes in the country.

If demographic projections become accurate, we are told that by the year 2020, 45 percent of the nation's youth under 18 years of age will be minorities, and by 2050, almost half the nation's population will be non-white. The recent 2000 census reveals that Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the country. Things are changing!

America's growing racial, ethnic, and religious diversity, while potentially one of the country’s greatest “blessings”, can also cause problems, because diversity issues of today are more complex and challenging than they were in the past.

History tells us that diversity in the early 1800s and the 1920s was a result of waves of immigrants from Western, Northern, and Eastern Europe. These immigrants came from different nations, practiced different religions, but were readily absorbed into the mainstream of American life, creating phenomena which historians called the “melting pot”. This phenomenon was successful in producing good health, economic growth and social harmony in the country, because generations of these immigrants worked, lived, and played side-by-side with other Americans.

The newer cultures of today are different. They are mostly non-European, want to retain the cultural identities of their native countries while being a part of the dominant culture, thus creating newer phenomena, called “salad bowl” cultures. Though some in the new salad bowl culture are making social and economic progress, many still have to overcome challenges which include but not limited to: segregated living communities, higher unemployment rate, limited access to health services, social isolation and disrespect for being culturally different.

Realizing that most of these newer cultures are here to stay and are growing, makes it necessary to find better ways to understand them. A suggestion that works is to always challenge ourselves to create opportunities to genuinely talk with those who are different from us. It might be easy to read a book, watch television programs about other cultures, or just remain hopeful that one may never have “anything” to do with “them”.

Reading books and watching television programs can be educational, but can never be a good substitute for taking the time to genuinely meet and talk with, or hire and work with those who are around us, but culturally different. If we are interested in improving our emotional state of health, we need to become aware that the number of people from other cultures is growing around us. Remember: your college professor, student, pastor, roommate, next-door neighbor, banker, or even your future spouse is likely to be somebody from another culture. Cultural stereotypes don’t work. It is a win-win, and healthy investment to respect, hire and work with, and make the effort to genuinely understand those from other cultures.

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