AMERICAN CULTURES
Choose TWO groups that have different racial, cultural, national, or
ethnic backgrounds. Use these groups to meet requirements 1, 2, and 3. Also
complete requirement 4 and either requirement 5a or 5b.
- Do TWO of the following, choosing a different group for each:
- Go to a festival, celebration, or other event identified with one
of the groups. Report on what you see and learn.
- Go to a church, clubhouse, school, or other institution identified
with one of the groups. Report on what you see and learn.
- Talk with a person from one of the groups about the heritage and
traditions of the group. Report on what you learn.
- Learn a song, dance, poem, or story that is traditional to one
group, and teach it to a group of your friends.
- Go to a library or museum to see a program or exhibit featuring one
group's traditions. Report on what you see and learn.
- Imagine that one of the groups had always lived alone in a city or
country to which no other groups ever came. Tell what you think the city or
country might be like today. Now tell what you think it might be like if
both groups lived there at the same time.
- Tell about some differences between the religious and social customs of
the two groups. Tell about some ideas or ways of doing things that are
similar in both groups.
- Tell about a contribution made to our country by three different
people, each from a different background such as black American, white
American, Native American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, or any other
background of your choosing. Their backgrounds may be religious, as well,
such as Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.
- Do ONE of the following:
- Give a talk to your troop or school class on how people from
different groups have gotten along together. Lead a discussion on what
can be done to help various groups understand one another better.
- Tell about some achievements of the United Nations accomplished by
people of many cultures and beliefs working in one organization. Tell
how the U.N. has dealt with some problems caused by conflicts between
different groups.
BSA Advancement ID#: 17
Source: Boy Scout Requirements, #33215E, revised 2002