Cultural Complexities D iscussions about ethnic diversity can be difficult due to the tremendous cultural complexities that surround the issues. I think there is. Let me suggest four distinct levels of culture as a framework for our understanding. Think of them as concentric spheres. It's what makes it possible to understand grief and joy across language barriers.
Gender is primal.
Race is primal, and so is inherited ethnicity, those birth characteristics that form one of the more than 3,500 ethnicities in the world. Nonetheless we are all unique, so we can never assume we know someone just because we know his or her ethnicity. Stereotypes easily turn into prejudice and racism. A third cultural level is absorbed culture. It includes our nationality, language, religious experience and communal ethnicity.