1. Respecting and understanding diversity is an essential component of this and most classes in undergraduate educations. This has always been important but recent events like the killing of George Floyd and so many others has brought an unprecedented amount of just deserved attention to these issues. So given these facts, this question will be intentionally controversial.
Should there be a limit to our respect for diversity? By this, I mean are there some cultural practices and customs that rise to the level of violating human rights? Such topics may include female genital mutilation, the Sudanese law that requires a woman to obtain permission from her husband, father, or brother before she may leave the country? Or how about the law in Saudi Arabia that forbids women to drive? Another example may be Native American skin offerings. As part of my Master’s degree experiences, I attended the Sundance with a branch of the Lakota Tribe in South Dakota. I vividly remember a 9-year-old boy engaging in a skin offering to alleviate the epilepsy that had plagued his 6-year-old brother.
For this LA, research two customs that may violate deeply held values of your culture. Discuss those customs in detail from their cultural perspective. Then answer the following questions:
Why is this custom continued?
Does the practice violate a human right? Why/why not?
What is your view of the practice?
Do people who practice the custom view it as a human right violation?
Are there members of the identified cultural group who view this practice as inappropriate? What do they say?
If this custom should be changed, how would you go about doing it?
