Dr. Phil Mazzocco spoke about the negative impact of racial colorblindness on social development – specifically the social development of children who will grow into adults. Then, Dr. Mazzocco provides an alternative framework to engage race and color – multiculturalism. It makes sense that his talk lands on culture because holding a colorblind framework flattens our identities making us invisible.

Culture helps us widen our lens and perspective to see other human beings in their full humanity. The word ‘culture’ is defined as “comprising those norms, practices, rituals, and values which are taught to and learned by people of a shared group or shared contexts.” (What Is Series — R-Squared [r2hub.org]) Some examples of culture include but are not limited to: dialects, slang, religious rituals, how food is prepared, cleansing and purification practices, table manners, and marriage and family systems. (What Is Series — R-Squared [r2hub.org]) 

Throughout scripture, we see references to diverse nations and ethnicities and God using the differences and gifts of all to bless others. Revelation 7:9 provides a clear biblical image of how deeply God values all nations and ethnicities and calls them holy. The verse reads: “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the Lamb.” Culture helps us see the ‘imago Dei’ – the image of God – in humanity by helping us see the context in which a person is shaped – what family they come from, how they view God, what food they eat, and what regional/geographical part of the world the come from.   

We are open to learning different cultures when we better understand the culture from which we originate.

I invite you to take a moment and download the worksheet below entitled “Iceberg Concept of Culture.” Let’s walk through this exercise together so we can learn about the layers of culture. Then, you will have an opportunity to complete your own cultural ‘iceberg.’

The iceberg concept of culture holds that there are two components of culture: surface culture and deep culture.

Surface culture is “above sea level;” that is, this level of culture requires a low level of emotional labor to understand. This level of culture includes: 

• Food 
• Language 
• Festivals and other rituals 
• Art 
• Music 
• Dance 
• Fashion 
• Literature 

Deep culture, in contrast, requires an intense level of emotional labor to understand. The two components of deep culture are unspoken rules and unconscious rules. This level of culture includes: 

• Communication styles and rules (facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, body language, tone of voice, displaying of emotion) 
• Notions of : courtesy and manners, friendship, leadership 
• Concepts of time, self, past and future, fairness and justice 
• Attitudes toward: elders, adolescents, dependents, work, authority, rules 
• Approaches to: religion, dating, marriage and family, raising children, decision making, problem-solving (conflict) 

Now, I invite you to go to the reflection worksheet and begin completing your own cultural iceberg.  

Worksheet