L etter T o the E ditor

Understanding dominant culture-and its impact-can bolster diversity efforts in your organization. was about as far as you could travel from North Carolina without coming back the other way. I didn't realize it, but I had been stereotyped as an "American teenager" before I ever arrived. For the people in Pita Kotte-a village full of ox carts and just one phone-that meant I should talk loudly, snap gum, wear excessive blue eye shadow, and shop all the time. And though they got to know me as an individual, not a type, my neighbors there continued to rely on me for information on all things American: "What do Americans value more than anything else?" "What is a typical day for an American?" "What do Americans eat for breakfast?" and "What is the most important rule for living in America?" (My answer to the last one? "Don't break in line.") That experience provided several a-ha's for me: First, we have to see people as "who's," not "what's," Secondly, I couldn't answer their questions about Americans because I couldn't see American culture from a distance. I was too much in the thick of it, and from that vantage point it was impossible to make generalizations-I knew too much about how complex, diverse, and individualistic American life was. In fact, until then, I had never thought of myself as living in a distinct culture-the way I lived was just the way life was. Wasn't it? Only by seeing it from a distance (and from someone else's perspective) was I able to put my American life into context and see myself as part of a culture-complete with its own norms, values, and behaviors. Raising that "out-of-awareness" level is the first, most vital step of any diversity undertaking, whether personal or organizational. Dominant and nondominant cultures Many of us have traveled abroad and been stereotyped as an "ugly American" though we knew we didn't fit that stereotype. Simply being American puts us in a dominant position in the world, and makes us revered-or feared-by some for that reason. It's an uncomfortable position in which to be. Or if we are right-brained creative types in a left-brained analytical world, we've also felt that discomfort-what we've experienced in both cases is the phenomenon of dominant and nondominant cultures. "Every dimension of diversity-whether age, race, gender, management status, education or thinking style-has a dominant and nondominant side," explains Anita Rowe, …