Posted on 05/10/2019 5:30:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
As the country grows more ethnically and racially diverse, Americans' attitudes towards diversity seem pretty sanguine. Most Americans, regardless of ethnic or racial background, think diversity is a good thing and makes the nation stronger. More than three-fourths of all Americans say diversity is either very good (57%) or somewhat good (20%) for the country, with little difference among specific racial or ethnic groups on this measure, according to a new survey of attitudes by the Pew Research Center. More highly educated people of all groups are the most enthusiastic, but even among whites with less than a high school degree, 63% say diversity is very or somewhat good for the country, about the same proportion as among Republicans (65%).
This is very good news, though there was still some concern on the part of many Americans about whether our growing diversity makes it harder for policymakers to solve problems. Americans were pretty evenly divided on this issue, with a plurality (47%) saying it does and 45% thinking it doesn't make much difference. But there was more divergence in opinion among different groups on this question than on many others in the survey, with a low of 30% of blacks who believed diversity made it harder and a high of 52% of whites who also thought so. Still, the responses to these questions makes it clear that, despite so much evidence of a racial divide in this nation, Americans are more alike in their attitudes on race and ethnicity than we might believe by watching cable news or looking at social media posts.
But perhaps the most heartening finding in the survey had to do with whether race and ethnicity should be a factor in hiring and promotion decisions. Overwhelmingly, Americans want applicants' race and ethnicity left out of the decision-making process in employment. Nearly 3 in 4 adults said that only qualifications should be considered in hiring and promotion. A majority of each group, including blacks (54%) and Hispanics (69%), agreed, even if it resulted in less diversity. Republicans were more in favor (90%) of race-neutral hiring and promotion, but even among Democrats, nearly two-thirds favored qualifications alone to be the deciding factor. Although the survey didn't ask about university admissions, similar surveys over the years show that most Americans are skeptical of using race or ethnic group as a major factor in deciding who gets into college as well.
The takeaway from the latest survey suggests that Americans are comfortable with diversity but don't believe that it should be an end in itself, as some progressives seem to suggest. Americans would still rather see the most qualified person picked for the job, even if it doesn't increase diversity.
The biggest area of divergence in opinion among groups occurred over whether students should attend schools in their local communities, even if it means most schools are not racially and ethnically mixed. Nearly two-thirds of whites favored community schools, while an even larger proportion (68%) of blacks placed a higher priority on students attending racially and ethnically mixed schools. Hispanics and Asians were about equally divided over the issue.
Not surprisingly, given the nation's increasing diversity, most Americans now have at least some contact with members of different racial and ethnic groups. Except for contact with Asians, the smallest of the four groups included in the survey, at least some inter-group contact is common among whites, blacks, and Hispanics. And Asians have fairly high levels of at least some contact with all other groups, even if others experience less contact with them, due largely to their lower numbers and less widespread geographical distribution. We shouldn't be surprised at these results, but they do mark a change from when groups used to be more socially isolated by race and ethnicity.
The Pew survey should give us hope that we are moving toward a point when racial and ethnic divides become a thing of the past. There are certainly those forces that want to keep us divided along color lines, but they are relatively small, no matter how loud their voices sometimes seem. Diversity can't be ignored, but neither does it need to be forced. Diversity has simply become a fact of American life -- one with which the overwhelming majority of us are perfectly comfortable.
...Diversity is an anti-religion, and anti-ideology, a nepotism which promotes everything except one's own family.
Diversity therefore equals the destruction of any and all religions and of all positive ideologies.
Because Diversity can only be destructive: whatever IS is insufficiently or inexactly diverse.
Whatever IS must therefore be destroyed in order to make it MORE Diverse.
And there is no conceivable or measurable end to it. Yesterday's Diversity is today's intolerable lack of Diversity.
Diversity is the destruction of Good; and it is the destruction of all types of Good - however defined. All are chewed up and spat out by Diversity.
Diversity is the promotion of chaos by the destruction of Good; and then there-naming of chaos as Good.
Grows? It is being forced on to us.
Diversity is killing America
Without assimilation, diversity is a menace.
Fixed it.
With "Pew" being the primary word in this sentence...
I'll take homogeneity any day.
Diversity absent tribalism is fine.
But, we don’t have that. Diversity WITH tribalism, of the ethnic, racial, or religious sort is a downward path to discord and anarchy.
A survey can be made to be anything someone wants it to be. We see this all the time.
Unbridled free trade is killing America too.
What they're defining as "diversity" today is "insanity." Today's "diversity" is the "suicide of the west." Big difference.
Diversity is killing Western civilization, Judaeo-Christian values and tribalizes the USA politically and culturally. Other than that, I think it is wonderful.
Linda Chavez is a charter member of the Republican anti-white, open border club.
These are the type of questions where most people feel they need to answer “correctly”. There’s nothing about having endless skin colors that makes you “stronger”. What is important is culture, identifying with the same values, otherwise “diversity” is just “division”.
For many on the left, especially black racists, the term “diversity” just means “less white Christian people”. Nobody pushes for “diversity” in non-white countries.
Our new head of HR introduced herself as “I’m an Asian female, so ‘diversity’...” - as if that’s some sort of qualification.
Ms. Chavez needs to clarify.
I do not judge anybody by the color of their skin, or by where their ancestors came from.
I do judge people who hold destructive ideologies which seek to destroy my way of life and/or kill me.
I do not support diversity as a goal unto itself (i.e. affirmative action programs) as it breeds incompetence and a lazy reliance on spoils systems.
Exactly.
Actually, so-called “diversity” is a code-word among the Left for “Non-white.”
e.g. “We need more diversity here” means “There are too many Caucasians here.”
In many cases, “Diversity” results in DIVISIVENESS. Look at racially homogeneous cultures like Japan. They don’t have the divisive problems we do.
Diversity + Proximity = War according to Vox Day.
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