Boy Scouts of America

American Cultures Merit Badge

American Cultures
Merit Badge

Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Hub

Boy Scouts of America
Merit Badge Hub

AmericanCultures

American Cultures Merit Badge Overview

The United States is a nation of immigrants. Every person came to America from somewhere else—or their ancestors did—and understanding these various cultural backgrounds can help Scouts to live in harmony with others in our varied and increasingly multicultural society.
American-Cultures_merit-badge-overview

American Cultures Merit Badge Requirements

The requirements will be fed dynamically using the scout book integration 4
Choose THREE groups that have different racial, cultural, national, or ethnic backgrounds, one of which comes from your own background. Use these groups to meet requirements 1, 2, and 3.
1. Do TWO of the following, choosing a different group for each:
  • (a) Go to a festival, celebration, or other event identified with one of the groups. Report on what you see and learn.
  • (b) Go to a place of worship, school, or other institution identified with one of the groups. Report on what you see and learn.
  • (c) Talk with a person from one of the groups about the heritage and traditions of the group. Report on what you learn.
  • (d) Learn a song, dance, poem, or story that is traditional to one group, and teach it to a group of your friends.
  • (e) Go to a library or museum to see a program or exhibit featuring one group's traditions. Report on what you see and learn.
2. 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 the three groups you chose lived there at the same time.
3. Tell about some differences between the religions and social customs of the three groups. Tell about some ideas or ways of doing things that are similar in the three groups.
4. Tell about a contribution made to our country by three different people, each from a different racial, ethnic, or religious background.
5. Give a talk to your Scout unit or class at school 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.

Get the American Cultures Merit Badge Pamphlet

Explore how the “melting pot” makes the United States of America an icon of cultural freedom and gives true meaning to the familiar Latin motto E Pluribus Unum (“out of many, one”), which appears on all U.S. coins!

Discover more about "American Cultures"

In a commencement speech years ago, writer David Foster Wallace told the story of two young fish that were out swimming. When an older fish swam by and said, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?”, one young fish thought for a moment, then said, “What’s water?” Culture is the water we swim in as people. It’s all around us, but we usually don’t think about it until we leave it — until we become fish out of water, so to speak. The American Cultures merit badge offers Scouts a fish-out-of-water experience. It encourages them to dive into three cultures (including their own) and learn more about each’s customs, institutions, people and impact on their country. American Scouter Jon Justine has a unique perspective on the badge. A Christian missionary based in Chiang Rai, Thailand, he has taught the badge both for Troop 711, for which he is Scoutmaster, and at events run by the Far East Council’s Asia South District, where he is district commissioner. “It’s been a fun merit badge,” he says. Photo courtesy of Jon Justine Seek Out Cultural Partners Troop 711 is chartered to Chiang Rai International Christian School and includes members from an array of countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and, of course, Thailand. But the Scouts are all Christians, making the troop a little less diverse than it might appear to be. So Justine has organized multi-troop events involving Christians, Muslims and Hindus. At one, an assistant Scoutmaster arranged a visit to a mosque in a nearby town (and served as an English-Thai interpreter) so Scouts could get familiar with an unfamiliar culture. If everyone in your troop looks, thinks and worships alike, Justine recommends reaching out to people who can provide a different perspective. “If you’re doing this badge, don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and put yourself in a place that’s different than what you’re normally used to,” he says. Photo courtesy of Jon Justine Don’t Just Look for Differences Scouts (and adults) quickly pick up on how cultures differ, but Justine says it’s important to look for similarities as well. For example, the mullah who spoke with his Scouts described how he and the local Christian and Buddhist leaders meet each year to talk about their community’s needs and how the various faith groups can address them. “There’s 7 billion people around the world, and we have a lot more in common than we have differences,” Justine says. “This badge allows us to embrace those differences in a way that is more healthy.”

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Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.