Ethnic and cultural diversity in OCs discussion

I think it's really hard to write a character from a culture you don't know. I'm Chinese American and even with a character who is white from England, I've found I need to do a LOT of research before writing. I have another character who is black and instead of making him African American, I felt it would be easier to make him full African by blood who was raised in France and now lives in America. That would give him the immigrant mindset, which is something I know though I've had to ask my white friends what a typical American family will have for dinner. My parents have no white friends and did not allow me to visit friends' houses growing up so I honestly don't have a clue how anyone but my family lives x'D

Maybe that's just me though. 

Inspector-Spinda agreed, I have given up on a whole bunch of OCs after one (1) foreign person brought up a cultural difference in a people's mindset (I don't know if somewhat factual or stereotypical), and it made me suddenly be very lost and convinced that I could never have a believable character from another culture without misrepresenting it. So that's part of why this thread exists (apart my fiery wish to tell everyone that spaghetti with meatballs and "spaghetti alla Bolognese" are not actual Italian dishes ahah)!

Do you want to be added in any of the sections, or create a new one?

LeoLeonis sure. chinese american. born in china, used to frequently travel. now in nyc

Ive noticed a lack of mexico on the list: i am the daughter of immigrants from mexico, but i've also spent a lot of collective time living there so i'd like to think i could help someone who wants to make a mexican character. you can add me on the list for that if youd like, and i can also give insight on growing up catholic too.

Hi! Since I don't see it on the list yet despite it being a country that is often used for OCs' backgrounds, I'm volunteering for France! Feel free to ping or PM me, should you have any questions about our culture, language, names, history, etc, I'll do my best to help.

I also grew up in Alsace, a region of France next to the German border, if anybody is interested; I'm not a walking encyclopedia on the subject but I think I still know more stuff than the common man, especially given the research I already have to do for my own stories, haha. 

I'm an ABC (American born chinese) myself, I've been living my entire life in the US. My mom, dad, and sister are all immigrants, so I'm def the odd ball of the family. I'm also the only person in my family to be born in Not China for like the past couple hundred years lol. I think everyone else who's in a similar situation as I am already touched on some good stuff!! If you'd still like to add me, thats cool!! One thing I would like to add tho is abt culture clash- most notably, I've noticed that Americans value independence and individualism and Asian//tbh most cultulres value the family- ex. My family identifies individuals by last name first, even some American Friends, and some of our eating habits. Both sides have pros and cons- like a lot of my family's Asian friends have closer relationships with my family //sometimes we get MAD discounts at certain resturants and places they own//, but they also ignore my personal issues like my mental health.

and in the west, a lot more ppl value my accomplishments as my own, but my friends aren't as generous as my Asian friends (tho that could also b me n my friends??)

being born in America has def strained my relationship with my family- both immediate and extended. Which rlly sucks bc there's so much emphasis put on the family, being seen as alienated feels terrible. I've visited China 3 times in my life (tho one of them was when I was a baby?? So I don't remember and don't count that one as much). The most recent I went with my entire immediate family, and it became really obvious that my extended family didn't want to talk to me, there was a lot of weird questions they asked, called me things like "Ice drinker", stuff like that?? It was weird but it felt terrible. My immediate family speak Chinese at home, but when my sister talks to them and I ask a question about what they're saying (both when I reply in English and in Chinese) they speak to me in English,, as if I don't understand Chinese??

also sorry lol this is me venting bc I hate having clashing race/nationality

PenTem added! And that does sound really rough, but also good point about the differences. It's definitively family name first where I'm from too, but I believe it's more of a convention than anything else - as in, most don't question it and don't really care about what family someone is from once small talk is over, while actual familiar relationships tend to be strong while not too close either and mostly driven by economic needs (it's a very common thing for adults to live with their parents off their grandparents' pensions until way later on, but other than partaking in traditions like eating together at the table and holidays everyone is mostly just a nuisance to each other and don't want to interact much - from this stem sayings like "relatives snakes" and "fish starts smelling after three days").

Loose thought about cultural differences that I don't see brought up often: schools, how the education system of a certain State can reflect the features of the Country, how different education systems can be from each other and how exchange students face that.

For example: I'm often very confused when people from the USA or even the UK talk about their school years. What follows is a long spoiler talking about how Italian schools work.

As I think is a direct result of our system, when people get out of school they either are really good at remembering a lot of information forever and generally ok at using it (the nerd option, and very popular between those who end up working and/or living abroad), or don't remember anything at all and don't really know how to handle info responsibly (the copying and at the very most studying everything the night before the test option to forget it later, common for those we call "functional illiterates" later on because despite being potentially very resourceful people they don't actually know how to do apply this potential, especially when taking technology and social media into account). Of course it's not just these two types, but they're quite recurring; however even the people who learn less often end up thinking students abroad have it way easier. A student who is a self proclaimed "not very good at studying" type told me they were quite ok with what they experienced in a school in NY zone, just had to catch up some study later. Another had a great time in Denmark, but also had to study a bunch of stuff once they were back 'cause the school there didn't require it. Another "star of the class" type, instead, stayed somewhere in Alabama for 6 months, thought everything was so extremely easy, couldn't understand how local students failed tests at all when their teacher "had given them the exact answers to the exact questions the previous day, just in a different order", and was very surprised about how little these students knew about many topics and especially not USA related stuff (ex. they were allegedly asked if Italy is in Spain, if they spoke European, and if they used a camel to reach their school and similar, quite ingenuous things). Other things I think are very tied to the rest of the Country but can be seen clearly in our schools: everyone complains about how bad school is all the time and yet there's been just minor or name changes since 1923, much like many things everyone complains about; students just like cheating even if it's not even the most easy thing to do (ex. I remember a classmate who was very buff and on the spot while running, but instead of running the full tiny lap in our tiny gym always made sure to either hide behind the mattresses or cut the lap as soon as the teacher wasn't looking because why not) - which is not an exclusive to Italy of course, but we truly are artists in finding creative ways of not following the rules, not calling others out when they do, and doing it even when the gain is nothing apart some kind of mysterious revenge against tHe StAtE driven by the idea of tHe StAtE having a few euros less overall; and most of all the nightmare that is bureaucracy, every joke about Italian bureaucracy being the worst compared to most other places is true and school is no exception, I've been a class representative one year and sometimes I still remember with terror the amount of paper sheets I handled - most of which were just authorizations for every single student to get out of the building earlier when a teacher was missing, everyone had to present them signed, and yet nobody ever checked them and directly put them in the thrash as soon as I gave them, literally the worst waste of trees I could think of; and lastly and sadly, intolerance against some groups (including racial ones) was becoming more evident when I left like it was in general. Also, it's said northern and southern schools are different like North and South still are in some aspects (southern teachers being more generous with grades and buildings being even more precarious? Banya comparing teachers is difficult and probably meaningless when they often don't even work in the regions they live in, but maybe the building thing is true?) but I don't have anything more than rumors about it.

So, does anyone have reflections about their own environment, cultural factors and education? Does anyone have direct experience with schools in a foreign Country? If that's the case, did you also notice relevant differences in attitude towards other cultures and races?

LeoLeonis I was having a psychology class just now, and we were talking about racial bias. it sounded a lot like what you were talking about. I don't know if this is accurate everywhere in Italy for all racial discrimination, but I wonder if this video is a specific example? 

I grew up in America, and I actually saw a lot of divide in just my high school, it's a bit like we live in different countries, at least from what I see. There are kind of three groups at my school: the IB students, the gifted students, and the general education students. I think even though they have quite a few similar aspects they might as well all be in different worlds, since they each sort of have a culture of their own.

quick summary of how it works:

so there's usually a pretty big gap between the gifted IB students and the gen ed students, I don't see them hanging out together much. the normal IB students mainly stick to themselves and the gen ed students, except if you're like me and transferred from the gifted IB program; in that case, I usually hang with gifted IB students.

we don't see a lot of racism, but what i have noticed since i've been drifting among the three groups is that the learning environment for gen ed students is much more relaxed and loose compared to gifted IB's learning environment. Usually gifted IB and gen ed students learn a bit more applicable content to real life, while gen ed students seem to work on the "conventional" schoolwork that doesn't seem as applicable. it's a bit counter to what i expected the divide to be, but that seems to be how it is.

aight i think i'm babbling at this point, I'm done now :)

Allyz

ye idk about the chainsaw (idr maybe he mentioned it after i left) but its pretty stressful.

ZenoOfElea the chainsaw was in the video that the school sent us :D his daughter apparently was waving around a chainsaw in the background while he was trying to talk and it was pretty cool

he taught her how to say "dismemberment" lmaooo

Also, it's said northern and southern schools are different like North and South still are in some aspects (southern teachers being more generous with grades and buildings being even more precarious? Banya comparing teachers is difficult and probably meaningless when they often don't even work in the regions they live in, but maybe the building thing is true?) but I don't have anything more than rumors about it.

LeoLeonis and all people interested in IT info :)
About the situation in the South, school is a very harsh subject here. In most regions schools are set in dangerous buildings with almost no safety precautionary measures and there have been several rock\wall slides resulting in serious harming or killing students. When I was in high school (in Puglia) my classroom for example was a decaying building right next to a slum: it was something like 3m square, we had one dangling wall (if you knocked on it, it would sway for minutes), the pipes from the bathroom screeching for pressure just above our heads, no heating system and a broken window. Our classroom (and school) was considered one of the most well mainteined in the whole city.
When I moved to Naples for University I got in a prestigious one, but it was so overcrowed that up until last year I've never been able to follow a lesson sitting on  chair: I've always been sitting on the ground, and I wasn't alone. Most of our teachers emigrate to the north.

I'd say the level of education is almost the same, but the difference is the mentality. Some groups in the South (not all the South, I mean) don't value education or can't afford it, so there's a terrific high level of school abandonment. Most leave at 16, but some even don't complete mandatory education years.
Naples (and a good hunch of Campania I guess) is a highly cultural city, but the city I grew up in Puglia is one of the most degraded of the country.