People Like Us

I think if I was a music artist that I would be a lot more familiar with the diversity that exists because music artist tend to be around a lot of different people. They travel the world to perform concerts and they meet so many different kinds of people in different countries. They can look into a crowd in China and see all the sorts of people that inhabit the area, and then the next week return and do a concert in the United States and see a whole different community, culture, and race in the crowd.

If i were thrity years older than I am now, I definitely think that I would know a lot more kinds of diversity now and experienced first hand those kinds of diversity. For example, my dad is exactly thrity years older than me, and he grew up through a ot of the racism that existed between the whites and the African Americans. He knows first hand the diversity that existed between the two and how much that affected the community and the places in whihc he lived. Thirty years provides a lot of diverse experiences to diverse people because one excounters countless kinds of people over a thrity year period.

Personally, I think I am somewhat in tune with the diversity around me. I notice all the different kinds of people that inhabit Florida State Unviersity. I see the different styles people where, the fraternities they belong to, the religion they have, and the race they are. However, as I grow older I know that I will continue to learn and notice many different diversities and some new ones that I have not seen a long the way. With more experiences, and the new locations I am sure to encounter, I know i will see what the world and all of its people are like.

People Like Us

I can honestly say that I am not that diverse of a person. Yes, I have a few friends that are Muslim, Mormon, Jewish, black, etc., I can’t say that I have much knowledge on their beliefs. I have done some traveling but it has been mostly inside the U.S. and Canada. I have never truly experienced a culture other than my own, though that’s not to say that I wouldn’t if I ever had the chance. It is hard to achieve diversity because we are surrounded by people that we have things in common with, be it jobs, income, hobbies, religion, or location.

If I was thirty years older I would probably be able to see diversity more clearly. That is because when I was younger I would have been able to experience and see racial discrimination and segregation in my daily life. As little back as the 1960’s blacks were still facing discrimination in many aspects of their lives. They had trouble voting, had to go to different school than whites, and even had to use different bathrooms. Now they have mostly every opportunity that whites have. Though we have come so far since I was younger there is always room for improvement.

If I was a music artist I would have a lot more diversity and experience in the world. I would be able to travel the globe performing for audiences in various countries of very different cultures and backgrounds. I feel that music is a way for people to bond and connect with one other; music really helps to bring people together in unity. At a concert you may have Asians, Hispanics, whites, upper class, middle class, all sitting in the same area and interacting together. I am so happy that my music is able to bring so many different people together for a while.

Over generalizing?

My perspective: "People Like Us..." is a little too cynical. From my point of view, people only group together with the familiar because it is comfortable, not because they expressly or consciously choose to shun other cultures. My family is Brasilian, in Pensacola we live in a predominantly white neighborhood. But yes, we have neighbors of other skin tones and cultures. America is culturally diverse, I can't tell you the amount of people I meet on any given day with different views or culture than mine, and I get along with most everyone I meet. As far as his argument for most fine arts professors and professionals being democrats, it is not a bias. I can't imagine anyone refusing to hire a music professor just because he is a republican. I think it is a fact that people who choose fine arts tend to be more open minded and liberal, therefore left leaning. People who are more business minded might lean more to the right. I think it is a matter of preference on the part of the people who choose those professions, not employers refusing to let them in on the fun due to their beliefs.

Contemporary music artist: It's my job to create music for my fans and for myself. I don't want my audience to be limited to some specific demogaphic, but that is sometimes a reality. Hopefully I will appeal to a diverse group of people, but depending on what I perform it is likely a certain group will like my style more, my manager won't let me forget it. We and most other artists cater to an audience to help sales. I still don't think that is a conscious effort to segregate. Culture or race may have nothing to do with a persons personality being more drawn to my music. I'd say more often than race we'll target age groups.

30 years older than I...: In the time I was growing up I got to witness the blatent version of the segregation he discusses. It was very real and I know it is still very real. I see the same lines drawn, the same dived neighborhoods. I think it is a shame because for the most part I see these neighborhoods dived not only by race but financial standing. Some people put themselves there, others were drawn a difficult hand and couldn't work through it, and some were given the whole silver platter. Of course there are divisions in society, I don't believe that there will ever be an even playing field. People make judgements and group themselves based on what they know, see, and believe.

People LIKE Us

Diversity depend on where I was raised and with what types of values.  Since I was born and raised in South Florida I have been a witness to some pretty diverse things.  I have experienced both public and private school, both being very diverse. Especially by making trips down to Miami and South Beach it taught me to never assume who people really are and that basically everyone is accepted for being an individual.  Obviously I am considered a diverse person because many people believe I am the stuck you Jewish brat from Boca, and to some extreme, yes.  But if you also look at me I could really care less what people think of me, the way I dress, or my pink hair.  I think what makes me such a diverse people and not so stereotypical of other people is the fact that I don't judge.  Its all in the way you judge people and you could and most likely will be wrong.  

Being a contemporary music artist I would attempt to be diverse as possible in order to be able to share my music with as many people as possible.  But I would have to include my beliefs and what I like in the creation of music.  I would not be able to focus my music on adults and children alike. I would have to pick what type of music I was interested in and then go from there.  I would never want to offend anyone with the type of music I would compose but I think I would aim for the more young adult crowd up into the adult years.  

Being almost forty eight right now would impact my beliefs greatly.  Considering I was raised around people only like me with the "different people" only taking care of my house and the children, I do not believe I would be able to be as diverse as some of the younger crowd.  I was raised with no sex while being a teen-age and to always try to wait till marriage.  Drugs were so different when I was younger, people weren't dying because the drugs weren't real, they would just die because they had an overdose.  I still get weird when I see an inter-racial couple, I just feel like I never saw that when I was growing up.  Throughout the years I have become more open to ideas, especially with my kids opening up my eyes. I allowed one of my daughters to have a boyfriend while so was in high school, which I never even imagined. I even voted for Obama! 

They are different because its three different people with three different beliefs. Me being myself I am open to anything and I just want everyone to accept people for who they are, just because you may not approve of certain things, does not make them wrong, because to me and the next person it could be totally right.  Being a music artist I do not want to offend anyone but I also know I cannot please everyone so I shouldn't try.  Being forty eight I was set in my ways of how I was raised but I am slowly opening up to new things with the help of my children and the changing ways of society. 

They are all alike because they are in tune with what is going on around them.  They are not closed minded to learning and discovering new things.  

People Like Us

Besides simple stuff such as watching different movies and listening to different types of music, I don’t consider myself that diverse. My hometown in made up of people with the same background and I went to a private school that kept my parents’ Catholic beliefs. I do try being diverse sometimes, though, by eating different types of food and visiting different countries. By traveling I have been able to experience different cultures and get a better appreciation of the world around me. Although I tend to stick to my roots, it’s always good to learn about other cultures and their way of life. I might learn something new that I might think is a good idea.
If I were a music artist, I would tend to be more diverse and learn more about different types of people so that I could sell my music to a broader audience. By being open to what other people think, I can write songs that everyone can relate too, instead of just writing about what I think. By traveling to different cities and countries to perform, I would probably learn a lot about people outside of my own neighborhood.
If I were 30 years older, I would probably be a lot more diverse. By being older, I would have experienced a lot more encounter with different people and would be a lot more educated. At this time of my life, I might be good friends with people of different values because I would probably not care what someone’s race, religion , or ethnicity is. I would be a lot more open to different cultures.
These perspectives are similar in that in all three roles, we are meeting different people through our experiences. How diverse we become depends on how many of these experiences we encounter, and our openness to accept other beliefs. A music artist or someone 30 years older would be more open then I would be right now.

I think i am a pretty diverse person. As far as culturally i lived in California where there are many Hispanics and my family and i had to get used to that moving from New York. As far as race goes i rarely see discrimination. everywhere i have ever worked there has been about an equal share of black and white. It really bothers me when people stress the whole equality issue between black and white because all of my life i have seen blacks the same way I have seen whites and talking about race equality all the time only brings it in the spot light even more and just causes all kinds of issues that are not even relevant. When i worked at Target if a black or white man came through my line wearing a suit and tie i would address him as sir, however is they came through in overalls and a ripped shirt i would more likely address them in a casual way therefore i believe diversity isn't race or culture but how you present yourself.

As a contemporary music artist i would want to be very diverse in my music and appearances. As a music artist id think you want as many fans as possible and the more diverse you are the better you are. If a group of people like you they might recommend you to their friends and so on and eventually that one fan brings in hundreds.

Somebody thirty years older than me would be expected to be not as diverse because anyone who wasn't white was discriminated against in their childhood. However from my own experience my grandparents which are 36 years old than i am are very diverse and i have never seen them discriminate against anybody.

In general i think america is very diverse and noone is harassed for having different idea whether political, cultural, or anything else.

If I were 3 people...diversity

I like to think of myself as pretty diverse. I look at the types of music I listen to which varies greatly, I look at the type of people I hang out, the foods I eat, etc. and I notice a common trait where I’m diverse in all those areas. However, in some core areas I stick to my own values, but generally I am very open to new things and new ideas and people. I really don’t focus on certain type of anything; I just go on what I like.

As a contemporary music artist, my fans would range from all different races, classes, countries, etc. (bearing I am that popular). So I would be more in tune with experiencing diversity than the average person since I would be around different cities, peoples, countries, and cultures. I would most likely “grab” certain things from those cultures I liked and incorporate them into my own life. If my fan base is strictly a certain core group of people than I would most likely put my effort and creativity in appeasing that core group of people because after all they are the ones that make me money. However, if I was more globally known or popular in different races or classes or regions than my diversity would allow me to never become bland and also force me to make music that targets all my audiences and not just one group.

As a 58 year old man, I would think that I had witnessed a lot of diversity and change that would have influenced my life greatly. I think I read a poll that said by 2025 minorities will be the majority in the US and I think that speaks volumes in itself on how I would respond to diversity 30 years from now. I think that I would have become accustom to change and new things and ideas to the point I wouldn’t notice them as much as I would earlier on in my life. But I also feel that 30 years from now a part of me would like to still have niche that represents the comfort and sort of normalcy that I experienced growing up.