Posted on 01/21/2003 9:51:06 AM PST by Positive
I don't get it - President Bush says we need diversity - every politician says we need diversity - teachers - professors - deans and school boards say we need diversity.
I'm fairly informed about politics so there's no need to tell me that it's all hyperbole/rhetoric/disinformation etc. I'm actually trying to find out if there are really, literally some intrinsic benefits to "diversity" and what exactly are they?
Certainly, less factionalism like the founding fathers railed against the Federalist Papers. A homogenous society is better able to vote on issues that benefit ALL society. Look at what Democrats are able to do with a diverse society, rather than being one nation, we are now more akin to several warring tribes thrown together. Each group votes for whats best for them as opposed to the other groups. The only group that at least makes an effort to vote in the best interests of everyone is whites, but I doubt that will last long due the constant victimization and discrimination they are starting to suffer. Instead of letting the best most qualified candidates into school, we're forced to penalize intelligent asians and whites in order to make room for less qualified students. Police are unable to enforce order in inner cities because of the us vs them factionalism.
This may be somewhat true for racial diversity but it ends there. Muslims do not always look different from Christians or Hindus. Gays do not typically differ in appearance from straits. Clarence Thomas shares the same skin color with all Black Panthers and the nation of Islam but they sure do not think alike. Viva La Raza" is sheltered under the umbrella of diversity when, on it's face it's just plain old vanilla racism
Our Nation will be stronger only when we share a single culture and dump the hyphenated fill in the blank-Americans. Diversity is just a form of division and segregation by label, even if, self imposed.
Hey, you're more likely to die, but at least you're doing the morally right thing, so can you really complain? Its racist to want to best people regardless of race, can't you see that???
Diversity through MULTI-Cultural Societies vs. Diversity through MULTI-Ethnic Societies. Needless to say, I believe in multiculturalism.
My arguement goes as such: We already HAVE a culture based on Western Civilization. Moreover, I've never heard of any of the people that wrote our founding documents (Madison, Jefferson, Adams et al.) ever seeking concordance with the Bagavadgita, Buddhist texts, The Koran, etc. when they formulated our government and society. They based their political philosophy on our Judeo-Christian Heritage passed to us from Europe, British Common Law and The Magna Carta and the key intellects of The European Enlightenment (Voltaire, Rousseau, Bacon, etc., etc. etc.). Additionally, the best of the Roman and Greek civilizations were thrown in for good measure. So, why do we need any other culture, when we already represent the best in the entire history of mankind?
NOW..............for the second part: Multi-Ethnic. THIS, IMHO, is where all the problems arise.
If people want to come here to BECOME Americans (ie. accept the existing CULTURE), then fine. If they want to practice another culture then they are more than welcome to move to Cuba, North Korea, Tibet, Iraq etc. If they want to merely cook spaggetti, pierogis, falafel, chop suey and burritos............ok. Also, there is a concept in biology called "hybrid vigor".
Most people down in South Texas speak Spanglish decently. That is an element of diversity that is helpful when dealing with those who don't speak English very well. How is that harmful to the Anglos down there to know how to get by in another language? It isn't.
When an Air Force Sergeant says "We're in deep Kim Che", everybody knows what that is due to contact with the Korean culture. How is that a bad thing?
Those behind the counter are
1. Working - which takes away the "they are only here for welfare" argument about immigrants.
2. Are learning English by taking orders in English - which takes away the "they don't want to be part of our culture" argument.
Do you hate 2 year olds as well because they don't speak English very well? Do you hold stroke victims in contempt? What about 80 year old Swedish women who still speaks only Swedish after having lived here for 50 years? Do you hold her in the same light as Enrique who has been here 2 years and is trying to learn English and has a job at Chic-Fil-A?
Something tells me that poor Enrique, who is working and trying to learn English, holds a special place of contempt in your heart.
You also must remember that Affirmative Action is not something new. It was actually practiced in America for the last 200 years however; prior to the last 40 years Affirmative Action simply gave preference to white males for jobs and college admission.
When and if this truly happens, the country is through. If whites were as focused on their race as blacks are and considered race as the primary factor in decisions they made (as black currently do, i.e., 95% voting blocks, etc.) this country would be a warring mess in no time. Let's hope that there is something more magnanimous in our culture (and less provincial in out mental processes) that will prevent this condition from taking hold.
Yes, and Japan practiced affirmative action for Japanese, and Arab countries for Arabs. Your system of holding innocent kids of today responsible for the acts of the past is not only unfair and racist, but an EXCELLENT recipe for perpetuating an endless cycle of racism, stereotypes, and hatred. Congratulations.
Do you hate 2 year olds as well because they don't speak English very well?
Yes, all of them, naturally. Of course, the difference is that a vast majority of two year olds have not made the requisite mental development yet required to speak any language with skill. See the difference? If one has the faculties to master one language, learning another is merely effort.
What about 80 year old Swedish women who still speaks only Swedish after having lived here for 50 years? Do you hold her in the same light as Enrique who has been here 2 years and is trying to learn English and has a job at Chic-Fil-A?
No, more so.
Something tells me that poor Enrique, who is working and trying to learn English, holds a special place of contempt in your heart.
Not at all. If Enrique is open to and is working toward assimilation, I have nothing but respect for him. If he is not, I believe that he should leave. Oh, and please also note that I am a legal immigrant who has assimilated quite nicely. Not without some pain and not without some stumbling blocks along the way, but assimilate I did.
I tried your experiment and you were right. I learned a great deal. Everyone wanted the same two donuts. My good friend, Al Sharpton was there and he felt that he should get them because his ancestors were slaves. A Ceasar Chauvez felt that he should have them because he was deprived of his heritage when the U.S. took half of Colorado from Mexico. There was a lady there who thought that she should have them so she could defy the sexist male stereotype of how women should look. A white cop was there who put up a fine argument for white European preference (as well as a nice history on donuts) A North Korean, motivated by US oppression, threatened to blow up the room if he couldn't have them. My Grandmother was a Full Blood Creek Indian so naturally I should have them and a couple of the others too.
My dog ate them all while we were deciding who was the most oppressed and deserved the two favorites.
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