Are We Really Embracing
Diversity?
Comment by Diversity Speaker Clint Cora
If
you ask most people whether we should embrace diversity or not, the
vast majority of them will probably say yes since it seems to be the
most politically correct response these days. After all, very
few
people want to appear racist or ignorant. People might even
say
that we should embrace diversity because it’s good to have different
cultures around.
But the question is, are we really embracing diversity? If
you go to a typical workplace or school
cafeteria and see segregated groups of people all sitting in their
separate racial groups by choice, this may indicate that as a society,
we really haven’t embraced diversity as much as we think we
have.
If people still prefer to be with their own kind, then perhaps a
diverse environment is something that we try to just tolerate, rather
than embrace. Embracing and tolerating are very different
actions.
It
is really too bad if this is the case in reality. Diversity
can
be a positive or a negative depending on how we approach it.
And
in the case of merely tolerating a diverse environment, then the
situation is really more of a negative rather than a
positive.
Diversity then becomes much like dogs in the park for folks who do not
like dogs. The non-dog lovers will tolerate the dogs as long
as
the animals are leashed and they remain at a distant.
However,
diversity can certainly become a huge positive rather than a negative
that is just tolerated. There have been many
examples where
a diversified setting has been truly embraced with success.
We do
see some groups of school children playing together that are quite
multiracial. We also see some very diverse groups in some
business circles. I have personally worked in companies where
pharmaceutical sales representatives
of different cultural backgrounds
work together as well as socialize together at corporate functions.
The key to successfully embracing diversity is understanding the value
and benefits
of doing so. This will help people realize that a diverse
society
can be beneficial to their lives. If people do not see the
value
in people’s differences, then it will always remain a negative rather
than a positive. This realization is often the first step
that is
required in any good awareness program.
The second step will be to help people develop diversity skills
since interacting with different people from different backgrounds may
very well be new territory for many individuals.
Educating
people with such skills will definitely help them become more effective
in a diverse environment whether it be on a professional or personal
basis.
Introducing diversity awareness or educational programs are a
positive step in the right direction for any organization whether it is
a company or
a campus. Forward thinking organizations can help
their people thrive in a diverse environment both internally and
externally.
It is important to use people who are qualified to facilitate such
programs. These individuals, such as diversity speakers
or seminar leaders, should have experience working with very diverse
environments. Such experts are able to use real world
examples of
successes to illustrate important concepts to the
organization.
This will ensure that diversity is truly embraced.
There is also a short video
version of this embrace diversity topic.
See descriptions of my Diversity Speaking
Programs.
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