Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen;

I would like to thank Professor Edward Foster, Stevens Institute of Technology, College of Arts and Letters and everyone who made this organization possible.

I would also like to thank for the opportunity to share my experiences as a 19 year of person who has just arrived in the United States to study.

We all are coming from relatively homogeneous environments. Namely, we all grew up with people like us. Hence, wherever we grow up, even in the US, we are not made aware of, and thus prepared for the diversity around us. As one of my friends puts it; “Until I started school, I thought USA was a predominantly Korean country”.

However when we grow up, we go to college and then start working where we are have to work together with people from all walks of life. If you are not used to with living people from different cultures, it is a challenge to get used to. This was the case for me. As a person who is coming from Turkey to a whole different environment, I faced great challenges based on my culture in adapting; and learned a great deal from them. Thus, I would like to share some of the lessons I have learned.

The first thing I have learnt: forget everything you know. I mean everything. One might hear that X people do Y thing. This is wrong on two grounds. First, what one has heard might be entirely untrue. This will lead to a very comical situation, at best. I have learnt that at worst one will offend the person next to you horribly. Just like when my friend’s colleague's father called him “unreliable and untrustworthy” because he was middle eastern. Second, even if the hearsay true, that does not mean that everyone conforms to the norms.

Then I learnt: if you have strong political or emotional feelings about that country, accuse someone else. The person you have just met neither is the political authority nor is the cause of you strong feelings. I have realized that there is nothing he or she can do to remedy your feelings. I had witnessed one of my Jewish friends being confronted by a Palestinian person about the situation in Gaza. My friend was not even an Israeli citizen.

Consequently, that led me to realize: if you have strong feelings about that country, do not try to debate it. Even if you are right, as I perceive, and even if you persuade your friend, nothing will change. Because again, that person is not an official representative of their country. It will just cause hostility.

Also, I needed to learn this: be extra cautious about your actions. You don’t know how you will be understood. Things that would be absolutely normal could be an offensive gesture. Especially be cautious about the jokes. What can be an acceptable idiom can cause shock and terror for others. In the US, when two people see each other on the road, they apparently do not stop and talk. This, for example is quite offensive where I am coming from.

Furthermore: Pay as much respect as you expect your counterpart to pay you. You and your culture will not be respected by anyone if you don’t respect theirs. Mutual respect and understanding is the key element here. If you don’t respect what your friend holds to be the part of his or her identity, we can be offended the same way. All of us feel pride of our culture. It is very good to share our culture, but it is very offensive to deride others.

My final lesson was: don’t think what you don’t act out. We have been very successful in eradicating overt displays of racism or prejudice. No one can make any overt racial slurs anymore. Nonetheless, we have not been effective in putting action into thought. People still make choices based on the ethnic prejudice and this is still prevalent in most of the multicultural environment. Try not to do this, start making a change.

Sometimes, one might face prejudice or you might be attacked on the basis of one’s ethnicity or culture. Here is what my experience taught me;

Firstly: Try not to take it personally. Odds are that, that person is not making a personal attack. Keep in mind that that person is just very ignorant and callous. One can be the bigger man by preventing conflict by staying calm. Conversely you could escalate conflict by taking it personally and reacting likewise.
So: Be calm. You will not change anything by reacting heavily. In fact some of the racial prejudices live through self fulfilling prophecies. Even if that person is attacking your core values, the odds are he or she will use your reaction to re-affirm his or her beliefs.

Afterwards: Politely correct. Be very polite and show that person the errors in her or his ways. Most of the prejudices stem from negative reinforcements from parents or culture / television. If you engage in a polite conversation about the errors prejudice, you might persuade your counterpart to change his opinions. Then you would have made a change.

And finally: Report. If any of us is really offended and we think that person needs to be disciplined, report the incident to the administration or the diversity offices your institution has. This is much better than fostering an undercover enmity. Furthermore institutions are much better at conflict resolution than we could be. Many of such incidents that include ethnic tensions go unreported. However, this is a crime of the same value as insulting someone personally or injuring someone. Thus, like in all crimes, underreporting causes people to see the damages less, thus reinforcing the culture of prejudice.

This led me to come to two conclusions;

One: make friends. The more friends you have from different culture, the less you will have prejudices and the more you will display your culture in a positive manner. Furthermore, when you face prejudice your friends will support you and help the cause against prejudice by reacting to the perpetrator.

Two: realize. Realize that the fight against prejudice and racism is not a fight just for you. Do not be selfish in your struggle. Rather than joining campaigns that seek to eradicate prejudice against your culture, recruit all your friends to join a unified cause to prevent all prejudice. We must fight all together against the concept of prejudice. It is not a problem for Koreans, Turks, French or Arabs, it is a problem and disgrace for all humanity. Therefore we must fight this problem as humanity and humanitarians, not members of our own ethnicity. Secondly, in a practical sense, it is easier to teach people to ignore their thoughts rather than change their thoughts.

Thank you very much for listening

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