Diversity and all that..

At my workplace we usually have discussions about diversity, race and differences in culture, and there is one particular person that I noticed would always contradict or have very strong opinions on other people's culture. Come to think of it, she not only contradicts me on those topics but on everything else. She mentions that she needs to buy a swimsuit I would try to suggest stores like TJ maxx or Kohls and she woulds say "I don't like those stores.", or the topic is ikea and she would butt in and ssay "I don't like Ikea..it's so cheap". It has come to a point that whenever she opens her mouth I tune her out. Come on! not everybody likes to spend or can afford to spend thousands of dollars on a stupid couch or sofa. And besides who cares if your furniture is from Ikea? who cares if you buy clothes at discount stores?!!! who f***ing cares! well , I guess she does. I have reached my limit when she started talking about how bad the Filipinio culture is..that we encourage our kids to become nurses or "force" them to have an education which is "USEFUL". Or when she started ranting about dating and marriage traditions of my Indian friends or my Chinese friends and their "non-healthy" food. I just looked at her and asked her directly does she have any Indian or CHinese friends? I didn't think so, she said she talked to some..and I'm like...so this is a perfect example of talking while being ignorant. And the sad thing was, she thought she was pretty smart and open minded. I kinda pity her, because it kinda reflects how she doesn't really like her own cultural identity. If you ask her where she's from,she would say she's a US citizen. She won't deny where she came from, but all the foul things coming out of her mouth pretty much sums up that she did not have a happy childhood, she was not reared appreciating her OWN culture.
I am Filipino born, my husband..also Filipino, we may have taken the mantle of US citizenship but more for our children than for us. But in our hearts we will always be Filipinos. The US is an immigrant country, it was enriched and prospered on the backs of immigrants. And I think that's what makes this country special. My children will know where their parents came from, will learn the language..will EAT manga and bagoong, dinuguan and karekare. Will learn to play sipa,patintero and agawan base. They will have the Filipino values of respecting and loving their elders, mano po lolo, mano po lola. They will appreciate the fact that we have cars since they will be exposed to riding jeeps and tricycles..and what it feels like without central air with a 102F summer in the Philippine Islands.
Children of immigrants are unique because they are multicultural, I agree that they have to go to school in the US coz on the end they will have to deal with people born, raised and educated here. But I do not believe in turning your back on your own culture coz of being ashamed or whatever reason one drumms up. Instead of being citizens of the US, I want my kids to be citizens of the world. So I say again, so what if you live in a small house with a lot of furniture from Ikea or shop at discount stores, and they speak English-Tagalog with a smattering of Spanish, but they are happy..they say po and opo, go to mass and eat what their parents eat. I see their closeness with their grandparents, and we enjoy our diverse group of friends. And then let me tell you this..I would not exchange this for the world.