The Beauty of Diversity
If you follow me on Twitter or "like" my page on Facebook, you will see that every now and then I tweet or post about something regarding the Asian American community and diversity. I've also written about working for my university's diversity department in the past as well.
I love diversity. And when people say that word they usually only think of racial and ethnic groups but it can be that, it can be people who grew up in different places, people from different classes (social classes), or even just men and women.
However, when it comes to the topic of diversity in regards to racial and ethnic groups and the real issues that people deal with, we tend to get quiet. People are fine talking about the cultures or traveling or the foods but once issues that these people deal with come up, no one wants to talk.
And that's understandable too. I mean, no one wants to offend anyone and for different reasons, people may just not want to deal with the problems. It might be because they just want to be "normal," it might be because someone may think that it isn't fair to talk about the struggles of certain groups and not others, or it could even be something along the lines of something regarding what their parents believed.
Some people think being "colorblind" is the answer. Although you may have a good heart in saying that by thinking that everyone is one and the same, saying that you're colorblind actually diminishes that other person's racial/ethnic makeup and takes away their identity. And regardless of how close a person is to their racial/ethnic culture, dismissing an important part of one's identity is never okay.
In the Christian perspective, we are all made different for a reason. God wants us to celebrate the differences rather than ignore them. Besides, Jesus interacted with a variety of different people--Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, you name it. He hung around them and loved it.
No one wants to be uncomfortable. Of course, we are human and we want comfort. But it is so important to be open and willing to talk about diversity because honestly, it's a beautiful thing. When people are able to celebrate each other rather than try to ignore or hide the differences, diversity can be amazing.
Especially with everything going around the country in regards to police and race, it is the perfect time to start having open and honest conversations about race in our country. If we don't talk about it, no one will ever know how to make it better.
So who is with me!
What is one diverse fact about yourself that you find pretty darn great?
Honestly, this is a great perspective. I believe we shouldn't ever look at people and see only their race or skin color but we also shouldn't look at them and pretend that those things don't exist. We all need to embrace every single detail about each other. Our cultures, our personal beliefs, our styles, our ethnicity, and so on and so forth. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I tend to get a bit frustrated when people toss out the whole "I'm colorblind" line. It's safe. It's something people say to distance themselves from discussion about race.
ReplyDeleteI'm not colorblind and I'm proud of it. I was well aware that the cute guy who stopped to chat with me in the library (the guy who would later become my husband) didn't look any thing like me. I'm also well aware that people are still taken aback by my family when we show up to a social function together.
Black, White and Asian. I want people to recognize that we are distinctly different from each other, and it doesn't diminish our love for each other.
If only other people could come to the realization that being "colorblind" is ultimately damaging. You can be aware that someone looks a bit different than you. It's when you start to believe that you're better than them because of those difference that it starts to become a problem.
Wonderful post!
Great post! I totally agree. I'm Brown, married to a White man and I would be lying if I said I weren't colorblind. There are obvious cultural differences between us and like you stated, I think it's beautiful too :-)
ReplyDeleteDiversity should be celebrated. We were created different for a reason.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that diversity is a topic that needs to be discussed more and with healthy non-stereotypical dialogue. I feel like the media sells America to the world in a way that either ignores or diminishes the beauty of how multicultural our nation is, sadly. That's a reason that it is so important that we celebrate each other and all of our beautiful cultures and nuances. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOh girl I love this! You're right colorblindness is not the answer! We have to embrace our differences, even those of skin color. I think that treating someone different because of their skin color is my definition of color blind, not to ignore their whole ethnic makeup. I love to ask about ethnicities and learn about different culture. I also think it is important to ask others how they have experienced racism, etc so that we can stop ourselves from repeating mistakes. thank you for opening our eyes like always!!
ReplyDeleteI'm Finnish-Swedish and my hubby is Jamaican-Canadian, so I guess that will make our future children Canadian-Jamaican-Finnish-Swedish. I love all the different cultural holidays we get to celebrate because we have a diverse family! Life never gets booring at our house! :)
ReplyDeleteFind me at: http://livethelifeoflove.blogspot.ca/
So sorry for the extremely late reply I completely forgot about getting back to these comments! But thank you so much for commenting and reading my post! I couldn't agree with you more.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for the extremely late reply!
ReplyDeleteI want to say thank you so much for sharing a little bit of your story! I think especially in romantic relationships you have to recognize that other person's racial/ethnic background because it'll affect how you two interact. And if you have kids, all of those things will affect them too! I'm not in an interracial relationship myself (my boyfriend is full-Filipino like me), but I think they are all beautiful!
I agree with you so much on everything. Thanks for sharing your opinion! :]
Amen, girl! Your cultures will play a huge part in your family (or future family) so why ignore it, right? Haha thank you for sharing, and so sorry for the very late reply!
ReplyDeleteI agree! Thanks for commenting and so sorry for the late reply!
ReplyDeleteOh don't even get me started on how American media portrays diversity! I've been researching it for a while now and it is so disappointing especially with where we're at as a country racially and ethnically speaking. And you're right, we need to start having more dialogue about it. Thanks so much for sharing your opinion and so sorry for the late response!
ReplyDeleteAhhh I love you so much Raewyn! You just get me haha :] I agree with you completely and like your view of colorblindness. Thanks for sharing, love! And I can't believe I forgot to reply to these comments until now!
ReplyDeleteWow, I love you & your husband's ethnic makeup! You're right, it will be great for your future children! Thank you so much for sharing a little bit of your story, and so sorry for just replying to you now! I'll check out your blog as well :]
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