#multicultural issues

Name Kim Parker  

Location Houston, TX, USA

What do you do? I published a memoir/self-help book detailing how I was a refugee of the Vietnam War, immigrant to the U.S., sponsored by a Christian church, helped by social workers, and later became a Christian social worker and therapist. I also ended up marrying a white Southerner from my sponsor church, became mom to three boys, and am now addressing interracial marriage and multicultural issues in parenting. I'm also interested in being a bridge for racial reconciliation work.

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Contact FB: @kimparkerlcsw (author page) Twitter: @kimparkerlcsw Instagram: kimparkerlcswauthor

During my second term in the program, I took Multicultural Issues with Janet and Tristan. This class dealt with the very timely Oregon State University speak outs. Our class sessions were informal and dealt with open discussions about what true diversity was defined as, and how we might be social justice leaders. 

Because of a requirement of this class, I was able to talk to the Student Conduct Director at the University of Kansas and determine what kind of requirements are expected of students when it comes to online behavior. Now as I look back on this paper with the knowledge that legal issues has given me, I can see there were some issues with my initial proposal that student conduct codes should apply to online presences as well. 

I understand that Fox News is overtly conservative and only the loudest, not necessarily the overwhelming majority. It's important to criticize the actions our president takes. But, if you think about it...maybe it's because he's black.

These people are not explicitly racist. I'm not calling them bigots who deserve to be thrown into the hellfire. But, minorities and women are criticized so much more than white men. Don't even get me started on LGBT criticism in the media. However, as I am concurrently taking Multicultural Psychology and Human Sexuality, sometimes I think that there is no proper way that everyone is criticizing minorities in power (and I mean all minorities, including women and the LGBT community).

Asian American's value loyalty to family and deference to authority. Sharing personal problems with others may bring shame upon the family. The family can often be threatening to the self esteem of an Asian individual, instead of supportive. For example, a female Asian American might be experiencing significant marital and financial problems, but she would not likely speak to anyone, including her family, about her struggles. She believes that others, particularly her family, will lose respect for her if she is unable to solve her problems herself. She may feel greater depression because of her secrecy (Chiu, M., 2002).