I’ve been following some content creators of diverse origins. One of them is Muslim. Another is Native American. Their content abruptly responds to the cultural white supremacy of the United States of America. I’ve learned a few things from their content that opened up a rabbit hole that led to some googling, then to reading, and more research. I’m thankful for their honesty, and frankly I find their take on things refreshing. Our algorithms align I guess.

Why refreshing? I love abrupt honesty. Hearing their thoughts and voices without the filter of a white apologist is awesome. Their perspective and voice needs to be heard and respected. These creators are human beings. Their people have done great things culturally, economically, artistically, scientifically, and sociologically

I need this diversity. I need diversity, like I need air. Frankly, if all I had were people around me doing the exact same thing I was doing culturally I would suffocate. I find stagnant attitude of micro-cultures suffocating. They do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. They call it good. I call it boring. This simple embrace of sameness lacks progress. There is a smug arrogance to their hold on traditional values. Their inability to recognize anything outside their experience as valuable is unimaginably weak. There are many ways to get to ten, why can’t they recognize that?

I like to reflect on my personal history. I look back on particular moments and I can easily point out influences that changed me for the positive. There are many diverse experiences that have made my life better, richer, and acculturated.

The first crossroad is a love of reading. I have devoured fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, mysteries, memoirs, and biographies. Each book is a diverse playground of possibilities or factual realities depending on the content. Isaac Asimov’s writing had a profound effect on me. I have returned to his work several times throughout my life and he always opens up a new perspective. Khalid Hosseini and Salman Rushdie both provided a new perspective of a people I did not understand culturally. I am in their debt for providing me those different lenses. Upton Sinclair and John Steinbeck showed me the degrading nature of poverty and exploitation. James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison helped me understand oppression and invisibility. Kurt Vonnegut provided the glaring sarcasm and ugliness of micro-cultured capitalist and religious dogma. Bill Bryson put everything into historical context, and then he walked the Appalachian trail too. I owe every author a debt of gratitude for steering my empathy and morality. The guilt I feel from my privilege is real. Destroying ignorance is the key to true freedom. Whereas tax cuts give you the illusion of choice.

(Special note: After proofreading the previous paragraph I realized I need to add more women to my reading list. I apologize for this lack of diversity.)

The second diverse crossroad is becoming a music major in college. Growing up in a lower middle class family doesn’t come with a lot of advantages when you enter the conservatory. The cultural gap is stunning. I learned just how closeted my view of the world was. Once I saw the various possibilities, my conversion from indoctrinated conservative to socialist liberal began. It was here that I learned how music developed through the Catholic church. I learned to value the libraries of knowledge, scores, and recordings of all things musical. I became a regular visitor to those libraries of knowledge. It was there I heard Asian, African, and Aboriginal music for the first time. I heard the same fundamental processes at work across the different cultures and styles. I listened to the artists who developed their own style of Western music by infusing Eastern music within it. Most importantly though, were my peers and teachers of diverse backgrounds. I learned how to real be an empathetic human that could embrace our differences with respect.

The third diverse crossroad was actual sociological, political, and scientific research provided by graduate school. When you read studies by current and past scholars and how they measure a variable or a policy’s effectiveness at achieving a solution. You begin to theorize how that research could make life better locally or wider. Research works better than beliefs or biases (Someone needs to tell $47, the Bad Catholic, or the Speaker that.) This crossroad changed my philosophy of teaching. It changed me. I owe professors and fellow scholars gratitude. I just wish I could grasp statistics better. Mathematics was not my best subject, and the way it was taught in grad school crushed me… I fall short here… in scholarship. Grad school did teach me a love of writing though, so not all is lost.

The fourth diverse crossroad are the people I have engaged with throughout my life. I have been blessed to have students from all over the world. I have engaged with musical and cultural artists from all six populated continents. I’ve learned how to be patient in communication. I have also regretted not learning a foreign language when I was younger. Maybe in retirement, I will go to a community college and try to learn Spanish, French, or German… I like learning new things, and the rich diverse group of people that I have met, taught, or commiserated with have made my life more diverse, richer, and far more interesting than I could ever imagine. Just so you know, “Russians love their children too.” – Sting.

I look back at the childhood I experience, and I am surprised how different I am compared to the stagnant influence of my family. My brother and I might as well be from two different families, because of the cultural influences I have experienced versus the lack of cultural influences for my brother.

What makes the United States interesting isn’t the current governance. That is thinly guided arrogance masked as being superior. Our diverse differences make this country interesting. I like that our immigrant groups can come here and acculturate rather than assimilate. I want my Hispanic neighbors to be proud of their heritage. I want my Islamic neighbors to feel comfortable practicing their faith as openly as many Christians do. I appreciate that my African neighbors still use traditional tools and methods for growing food in their garden. I admire the Native American for preserving their culture and language. Without them, we would never understand the names and history of the land we live on. I also find it fun to see my African-American counterparts jamming to rap music very loudly in their mini-vans with their children. I’ve done the same thing, but I used the Dave Matthews Band. Celebrate the differences!!!

There you have it. Diversity makes a life richer. Well at least mine, anyway. I dissent with those that say otherwise, or fear those who are different to them. I support DEI initiatives too. A diverse workplace brings more collective cultural knowledge to the table. Why do you think everything is going to hell in a hand basket in the USA currently??? Must be their lack of diversity….

…so it goes…