Culture Facts

Some statistics that illustrate "the need for people to learn more about one another and more about cultural diversity itself" from Promoting Community Change by Mark S. Homan:

• The Hispanic community increased 53% from 1980-1990. By 2015, the Hispanic population will double, growing to over 40 million.
• The Asian population also doubled in that period, and the growth rate for Asian and Pacific Islanders and will continue to increase (up to 48.2 per 1000 in 1995.) This is 7 times the growth rate for Caucasians!
• From 1980-2020, the African-American population in the U.S. will increase by 10 million people.
• The Caucasian population has decreased by 8% since 1960. In fact, Caucasians are the slowest growing segment of the U.S. population.

In light of these figures, how can we close our eyes, hearts, and minds to people of different backgrounds?

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like this:

• 57 Asians
• 21 Europeans
• 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
• 8 Africans
• 52 females
• 48 males
• 70 non-whites
• 30 whites
• 70 non-Christians
• 30 Christians
• 89 heterosexuals
• 11 homosexuals
• 6 people would possess 59% of the world's wealth and ALL SIX would be from the United States
• 80 would live in substandard housing
• 70 would be unable to read
• 50 (YES, THAT IS HALF) would suffer from malnutrition
• 1 would be near death
• 1 would be near birth
• 1 would have a college education
• 0 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding, and education becomes glaringly apparent.