“What poor substitutes for real diversity are the wild rainbows of dyed hair and other external differences that tell the observer nothing about what is inside.” – Alan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind
The word “diversity” has become one of this generation’s buzzwords. When I attended freshman orientation at Carroll College (now, inexplicably, “Carroll University”), everything was about diversity. The message was, “Hey, we’re all different, so let’s just accept people for who they are, right? That’s healthy!” But so many people are taking diversity the wrong way.
To be fair, diversity is not a concept that the human race generally knows how to deal with. When it comes to diversity in our world, people don’t like people who are different from them. Take the race riots of the 1960s, or Nazism during World War II. We like to be around people who are like us, and we tend to avoid people who are different.
The roots of the concept of diversity are great: let’s all show some basic human decency and respect for each other. Not so bad, right? But the problem is that our generation has been force-fed this concept so much that it becomes a political soapbox rather than a respect for mankind.
Take your classic dumb liberal college kid. I don’t say that they are dumb because they are liberal. I say they are dumb because they are dumb. College kids are idiots. I was one, and I was an idiot. Like little children, college kids are fascinated by what they can see. It’s their first extended period of time out of the nest, so when they see somebody that dresses different or looks different than they do, they are mesmerized. So they do the same. To make some sort of statement, kids in college (and high school) start getting tattoos and dying their hair wild colors. They listen to goth music or punk music, or, even worse, Radiohead.
Their message is clear: “Look how diverse I can be! I’m totally into Kabballah like Madonna and my skinny jeans show you that I march to the beat of a different drum!”
But what is behind the piercings, the tattoos, the pretentious music, and the clothing? In the past, true diversity meant a completely different culture. I have visited Taiwan twice and spent a lot of time in the big city of Taichung. I met people who were raised to worship cows and who made eating food an event (and a darn good one, I might add!). If you want to see what diversity is all about, immerse yourself in a different culture. Instead of looking at how they are dressed, look at how they act. Real diversity shows itself when you are hanging out with someone who looks and acts just like you, but you find out in conversation that they have been raised a different religion than you, or that they have strikingly different beliefs.
The thing is, diversity doesn’t have to be a policy or something you hang your hat on – it’s all over the place anyway. Everywhere you look in any environment, you will see kids who were raised without fathers, people who are homosexuals, and those who put their faith in something other than your God.
I’m not going to split hairs over what is right and wrong right now as far as those belief systems go, but embracing diversity doesn’t mean ignoring it altogether and it doesn’t mean you need to wear goofy clothes in place of a sandwich board that says “I AM OPEN-MINDED.” The true tests of diversity are the ones that happen when nobody’s around.
Those people who make diversity a public action are the least diverse of any of us. In fact, you can lump them all together because they all look and act alike. Instead of being showy with your open-mindedness, just hang onto it and use it when you need to. Respect the people around you, and then just let the rest happen. Then, diversity will become even better than some policy – it will become a natural part of life.
(Note: I didn’t say you needed to believe what they believe or tell them it’s okay, either. The best part of true diversity is that you can stand up on your beliefs as well, however “open” or “closed” they may be.)
Tom is an entrepreneur and freelance writer, working out of his apartment full-time, or wherever he feels like taking his laptop. He doesn't take long European vacations or blogs on the beach. He's an Average Joe that took control of his life. He wants you to do the same.
