Personal Narrative: My Life With Diversity

Throughout my life I have not experienced a life with diversity. Growing up in Loveland, Ohio I have only found a life full of middle class white families. Loveland demographics show ninety-four percent of the population are white while only two percent are African American. The makeup of a city can skew the lifestyle of an individual growing up and force him or her to change the way they view a race, religion, or other characteristic. Today, I find myself with a bias against non-caucasians.
Growing up I had always vacationed in Lakeside, Ohio, a private Chautauqua community based off of Christian values and living a happy and healthy lifestyle. My family has visited and worked in Lakeside for many generations until recently my family was …show more content…
I mainly worked in the downtown areas that were dilapidated and made up of mainly African Americans. On my second day I worked at Paul’s Place, a soup kitchen that provides services and addresses needs for homeless or impoverished people. The service center is located in Washington Village, also known as Pigtown, where forty percent of adults in the neighborhood have not graduated highschool and over seventy percent of families and children are in poverty. While pulling up to the building we were surrounded by a group of African American men who helped guide us while trying to park a huge Mercedes van. I was immediately nervous as to what would transpire. Our driver graciously thanked the group and asked them if they had enjoyed the summer. I was surprised how comfortable she was around them and how she did not seem nervous. When my group arrived we were taken on a tour where the director emphasized how just giving the impoverished people what they need does not help and how they need to be taught because once they grow with one thing a door is slammed and in their face and they are forced to learn a new thing. This goes on for a long time before they become stable. She also emphasized how everyone that comes their for help is treated with dignity and respect, this has stuck with me since the trip. After the tour we were told to go into the cafeteria for the daily introductions. In the room were nonlocal volunteers, all white, and ambassador volunteers. Ambassador volunteers were people from the area that have grown up in Pigtown and went to Paul’s place in their time of need and got back on their feet with their help, most of them were African American. One of the ambassadors, Will, was a middle aged African American. Initially I was nervous around him because of his race. During introductions I was able to see