Celebrating Our Differences Contest Entry
The quote “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, and celebrate those differences.” by Audre Lorde is symbolic of how we must handle diversity in our daily lives. Diversity is vital to human existence because it is necessary for a society to advance. Without exposure to new perspectives, cultures, and alternatives, a society will go nowhere; essentially stuck in the same pattern of destructive behavior. The recognition and celebration of diversity, such as heritage months, festivals, and parades, all contribute to shortening this divide. Events such as the lack of racial tolerance in the United States, during the mid-20th century are all examples of how the lack of celebration and recognition for those differences has divided us.
Historically, humans have been able to differentiate between differences in our humanly features. It is not until there is a negative response to such features where conflict arises. Most of the time, these conflicts cannot be backed by any type of logical evidence. Like the quote stated by Audre Lorde, our differences should be celebrated and recognized, not tools of discrimination and hate. Once one can realize this, one is capable of viewing the world from a completely new perspective, taking in all of the “little things” that highlight and define every human being.
In the elementary level of schooling, students often learn small facts and tidbits about various cultures during their respective heritage months, such as Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Asian-Pacific Heritage Month. It has been acknowledged that these cultures are important to American History and thus should be celebrated, and the fact that a month has been designated for diversity is a step in the right direction. When students learn about various races and cultures in school, it not only promotes the heritage being celebrated, but it also diversifies their horizons, integrating new perspectives and positive emotions about “new” races. These celebrations teach tolerance to our younger generations to prevent negative repeats of our history that demonstrate lack of tolerance, hate, and discrimination and embrace the diversity in our society instead.
Conflicts with Japan in the mid-20th century lead the United States to discriminate against all Japanese and Japanese-American citizens living in the US at the time. They were forced out of their homes and into internment camps, where they lived in less than desirable quarters, chronicled in various novels such as Farewell to Manzanar and Journey to Topaz. Not all citizens posed a threat to US security, though they were all treated as if they were armed with nuclear weapons and a mission to destroy. This behavior could no longer be justified past a certain point, and because of this, tension arose between various cultures. The United States made the mistake of not recognizing that our differences are not always negative. Though we do not come from the same backgrounds, with the same beliefs, customs, and processes, we are not all the same and definitely not all threats. At the time our country was blind to the benefits of these differences, diversity, and was unable to see past a single conflict of war. Because of this event, the US has now placed more emphasis on Japanese culture, recognizing the issue with a formal apology, and also celebrating the diversity that this country has brought to the United States with incorporation of their customs and traditions into our own.
With all of this in mind, one can still question, why is diversity so important? Reflecting back on history and current events, societies void of diversity have often been the least interesting. More importantly, they were not united with other cultures; it was practically impossible for them to adapt to new situations and change their ways over time. The saying “history repeats itself” applies to this situation as well. The societies that fail to embrace diversity are bound to see repeats in their weak points, while the societies that are able to evaluate, recognize, and celebrate their diverse populations can avoid mistakes of the past and continue to evolve as a whole. This has been demonstrated many times throughout history; where we had a less tolerant society in the 50’s, we have a more open and diverse society now. People have realized that there is no significant hindrance to embracing diversity, thus they have drastically changed their ways. This change did not occur overnight, and it is not yet complete, though it is a major step towards the ideal society with a suitable balance of diversity.
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