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?
