If We Were All the Same, the World Would be a Boring Place

Saturday was a professional development day at the college.  We had a trainer come in from Newark, NJ to teach a session on How to Inspire Students.  Part of that lesson included a segment on recognizing and accepting people's differences.  The trainer shared a lesson that I will try with my class next semester.  It went something like this...

We made several categories on the white board.  They included: Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Indians, etc.  First, we created a list of negative societal impressions of each group.  We discussed the validity or the lack of validity of each.  Comments such as 'White people are arrogant' and 'Hispanics are in America illegally' were listed and discussed.  We then erased the board...except for the categories...and made a new list.  The new list was made up of positive impressions of each group.  Comments such as 'Blacks have a strong sense of community' and 'Whites are often helpful' were included. 

The session opened up a great dialogue about people's differences and similarities.  Staff, who might normally shy away from conversations like this, were engaged, laughed at certain comments and, by session's end, seemed open and comfortable. 

My friend Chaz Kellum, Diversity Director at the Pittsburgh Pirates, says, "If we do not accept people from different walks of life, then we miss out on their unique skills, abilities and knowledge."  My grandfather used to say, "If we were all the same, the world would be a boring place."  I tour many work sites around Pittsburgh.  I am shocked at the lack of diversity.  Usually, I meet a lot of 30-40 year old white guys working the line.  All good guys, but just unaware of what they are missing out on.  In this day and age, every workplace should incorporate a diversity initiative.  If not, we will continue to miss out on people's unique skills, abilities and knowledge.