THE PSEUDO-DISSERTATED MONOGRAPH: The Diversity Essay
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THE DIVERSITY ESSAY
The word “diversity” immediately brings to my mind an image of discord and argument. Diversity entails many cultures in one place; many cultures in one place entail conflict. It implies a massive debate of historical wrongs and modern misdoings, it implies protests and lawsuits, and it implies radio presenters and evangelists voicing strident contentions. Race-violence stems from it. Genocides and cultural extinctions have arisen from it. Gang-wars are born from it. Even in simple ways it causes problems, from workplace mistreatments to college admissions. All in all, diversity appears as a treacherous self-perpetuating disagreement to which there can be no right answers and no good solutions.
This reaction is unfair, and moreover, it is from the gut. Certainly, diversity does not mean this, and was never supposed to mean this. As defined, it merely refers to the condition of being different or having differences, and it is not reserved for use on people. I suppose that in the minds of those who use it for its own sake, the word diversity creates a picture of perfected harmony. In other words, it represents an ultimate ideal of cooperation and peace, like the murals on elementary school walls that display wide circles of colorful humans holding hands and smiling.
Human nature is definitely against such a concept. Disgust, and eventually, hatred between cultures is almost unavoidable, as the customs and conduct of one populations may run entirely counter to the customs and conduct of another, and thus (at least in those who are wanting in tolerance) offensive, though they may be simple and insignificant to outsiders. World history (and, naturally, American history) is steeped in conflicts of this sort. Individual lives and entire civilizations have been lost through the most trifling cultural mishaps (think of Emmett Till, and of the fifteenth-century Aztecs).
The advancement that comes with being human is a contributor to this. “Lesser” animals have no concept of religion, politics, or the strife that comes with them. Humans, being an order of magnitude higher, have shifted from their simpler beginnings of survival and propagation to concentrate and make troubles out of stranger and less reasonable things. But, then again, this advancement brings forth a tremendous ability for prosperity and goodness. When killing and fighting become unnecessary for personal survival, effort can be put to other things: Learning and exploration, for instance.
Diversity holds this promise as well. Its very presence makes necessary an environment of tolerance, acceptance, and other admirable qualities in a society (without which the society breaks down). It expands the mind, causing those who are poorly traveled to widen their conceptions of the possibilities of the world. It makes the world a more interesting place.
The only solid conclusion that can be drawn is that diversity, in a cultural sense, is a double-edged sword. While it has ramifications that are pleasant, it also has those which are deadly. Diversity may benefit a society or an environment, or it may devastate both.
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