Another cultural impact that characters in the office experience that is unique to their group are the combined ethnic groups. Minority ethnicities in The Office are comprised of Oscar, a Hispanic, Kelly, an Indian, and Stanley, an African American. In several episodes, race is discussed amongst the characters in terms of how they function in the office on a daily basis. One memorable episode consists of Michael deciding to show how he knows how to recognize diversity and having a "race recognition day" in which he has each member of the office tape a 3x5 card to their forehead. Each card has the name of a different ethnicity on it, and no one knows what their "designated ethnicity" is.
They are told to walk around and converse with different people about the race that each person is representing. This makes for some awkward conversation as people try to focus only on the ethnic points of each race. The fact that race and ethnicity goes beyond culture is lost on Michael; in a comical way, he does not realize that individuals representing different parts of the world can all reach a common ground of communication while still maintaining their cultural identity.
This episode shows, in a comic way, how characters on The Office celebrate their differences and are able to work together-oftentimes in a disrupted manner, for the sake of hilarity on the show-to provide individual input on important matters pertaining to the office.
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