Sometimes I ask myself why it is hard to accept others’ cultures and to be able to live peacefully in a multicultural society. Many different reasons came to my mind every time and they make it hard to determine which one or maybe all. But each time I thought about that issue, I found one salient reason that came to my mind right away and it is fear.

But why fear? In my opinion, fear arises when the person does not have enough knowledge or is ignorant about an issue, or maybe something. It can also arise from bad past experiences, stereotypes, or conceptions. I will tell you a short story about myself when I see a dog in the street, I go walk the other way or sometimes wait till he disappears. Because I am afraid of dogs. No matter how small this dog is, I just cannot pass by peacefully without sometimes screaming when he comes near me. Seems very pathetic, right? But why do I do this although dogs are very peaceful animals? It’s my fear. I am afraid because of my experience from my country where dogs are in the street everywhere and you cannot tell when he will attack you. I am afraid from the stories that I heard when I was a kid about people who got bitten by dogs and have to take an injection in their stomach area for 21 days (seems that I am very old, right? This used to happen in the 70s or 80s). But the most important reason is that I never had the opportunity to know a dog or deal with him. That created the barrier which I was not able to pass.

This is exactly why we do not accept multiculturalism. How we are going to accept living in a community when we are afraid. We are afraid of one another because we do not know each other, and stereotypes are managing our thoughts. How I will build a healthy relationship with my different neighbors if I am afraid.  As a result of that fear instead of living together, we form small communities. So, we find in big cities places that are known for being inhabited by a certain cultural group.

Remove the fear out of your heart, get to know others, ask if you do not understand a certain action or behavior and above all accept and respect others no matter how different they are.

P.S. maybe it’s time to conquer my fear and get to know dogs 😉