The everyday impact of the Peace Imperative
Taylor University is not known for it’s diversity. A private Christian liberal arts University, it is no surprise that the majority is comprised of white middle class students. However, I live on what we affectionately call 1ceberg (becasue of our very effective AC units) the first floor of Bergwall hall. Here resides the athletes and go-getters on campus who desire to be in close proximity to food and the gym.
Our floor is easily the most diverse on campus in terms of race, political beliefs, and backgrounds that we come from. We have people like me that are entrenched in the HypeBeast streetwear and hiking sub-cultures, those who come from upper middle class Fort Wayne, The mountains of Colorado, and we have the highest percent of African American students on campus. While we have a large variance in the sub-cultures in which we are entrenched in we all get along. I believe this is due to our practical implementation of the Peace Imperative.
“I believe this is due to our practical implementation of the Peace Imperative.”
The Peace Imperative asks whether people from different cultures can coexist together in a peaceful manner. As an International Relations major, I am trained to look at this on the macro scale. How can we create a global village that encourages Arabs, Africans, and Americans to all be able to live in a globalized world peacefully? However, I am privileged to see the Peace Imperative to play out on the micro scale within my own dormitory.
The foundation of any relationship cross-culturally begins with cultural humility. The respect of the differences allows for the points in which we juxtapose each other actively builds a bridge. Our floor hosts an event titled, “Keeping it Real” every couple of weeks where we gather as a floor and speak on these differences; such as race, how to treat our political beliefs with love, and most importantly whether LeBron is better than Jordan.
We have found that there have been three steps to implement cultural humility that has allowed for us to reach our Peace Imperative.
The first is to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, this doesn’t change when speaking on culture. If someone is speaking on their own culture, such as when Cody the dairy farmer speaks on Agriculture and life in rural Ohio, we actively listen. We close our mouths, open our eyes and ensure that he doesn’t feel like he has our attention, but commands it.
When DT speaks on what life is like as a Black man in America we don’t tell him what we know it is like from the news we watch and read, but we listen.
The second step in practicing cultural humility is to learn and care. I now know that the majority of kids growing up in rural Ohio never have a job outside of their farms and are expected to contribute until they either have graduated college and started their career or take over the farm themselves. I also have learned that the reason that many rural places are supporting Trump are not because they believe in everything he says, but have been habitually neglected by the opposition and Trump has proved himself as someone that has had their interests in the forefront of his policy.
The final step to practicing cultural humility is to assimilate their culture. Our floor has a beautiful heterogeneous culture. One that is vibrant and alive in it’s differences that’s constantly evolving and changing to it’s inhabitants. Our rooms are filled with minds that contain experiences and values that are often on near opposite ends of the spectrum only united by the love and humility we have for each other.
