I got some insight this evening to the whole “diversity” thing, regarding the difference in approach by those who lean Left and those (like me) who lean Right.
I was talking with a friend and the subject of Walmart came up. She is quite a bit more Liberal than I am. She hates Walmart and all (she thinks) it stands for. I don’t. We agreed to disagree. But one of the things she said really stood out in my mind. She said that she values a place that is culturally diverse.
I thought about that, long after the conversation ended.
One of the Holy Grails of the Left is “diversity.” At first, it was a guilt trip, that WASPs had it too good for too long, and we were using our position to punish those who are different. Phase Two was “celebrating diversity” in all it’s many forms. We’re now in Phase Three, where the majority is maligned, diversity is cherished, and those who do not put minority viewpoints first are ridiculed, criticized, punished, and ultimately ostracized.
The whole premise of “diversity” is historical fiction. If you bother to study the history of the USA, you’ll learn that this country was built BY and FOR immigrants. (If anybody has standing in this argument, it’s the American Indians…whoops…I mean “Native Americans,” but only because by giving them special status, we’ve consigned them to lifetimes of poverty.) See, once upon a time, there was something referred to as the “melting pot,” where foreigners came in, assimilated, and brought with them the best of their cultures to add to the mix. Nobody was “separate but equal.” There was certainly ‘ethnic pride,’ but we were all AMERICANS first. Not hyphenated Americans. I’ve NEVER thought of myself as a Czech-American. I’m the third generation on my dad’s side born in the USA. I’m an American. I know exactly two words of the Czech language – and one of them is for food. It’s not that I’m not ‘proud’ of my heritage. It just doesn’t affect me much, one way or the other. But you see, that’s because my ancestors worked hard here to learn the language, fit in, and bring what they knew to add to this great nation.
Some time in the 80s or 90s, we got this notion that we weren’t ‘celebrating’ our differences. Why would we want to do that? Screw our differences – let’s talk about what we have in common, and work on that. If you’re from another country, good for you. If you want to make it here, learn the language, get a job, and work hard – just like you’d expect me to do if I immigrated to your country.
By the turn of the millennium, “celebrating” wasn’t enough. Now we had to put these other cultures first, and make ours take a back seat, in order to make it a “level playing field.” Affirmative action. Hiring quotas. Minority-owned businesses. Name your aberration, and it all came down to one thing – trying to ‘atone’ for white guys running things and the idea that this was somehow ‘unfair.’
Here’s the thing…the Left seems to think that by pushing “diversity” and putting minority values/traditions/customs FIRST, that will somehow make up for their feelings of shame for WASPs running the show.
I look at diversity as “Wow…neat idea…can I try that?” It’s called “assimilation.” “Blending in.” “Contributing.” Or the “Melting pot.”
I live in a small city that is part of the DFW Metroplex. You can’t tell where one city ends and the next begins. I live in a nice, crime-free neighborhood. It’s also racially-mixed. I’ve got a family across the way – nice folks. They happen to be black. Don’t care. My landlady’s Asian. Don’t care. We have other neighbors who are Latino, and others who are white. NOBODY FRIGGIN’ CARES.
Some restaurant up in Colorado recently raised a stink by giving discounts to white people for one day. You’d have thought they’d shot MLK Jr. Turns out, the restaurant is Latino-owned. They figured if Blacks get a whole month to celebrate “Black History Month” and Latinos get a “Hispanic Heritage Month” that they could at least give the white guys a day. But nooooooo! It made the news for all the wrong reasons.
I find studying other cultures interesting. But I don’t see it as a moral obligation. And I resent when anybody plays this moral superiority card crap, insisting the “diversity is the way.” Why? Because you feel guilty you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth? Swell…give it to the first disadvantaged minority you find, and leave me alone.
The difference between Liberals and Conservatives on “diversity”? Liberals wrap themselves in the diversity flag and go “Hey…look at me! I’m morally superior because I celebrate diversity.” Conservatives roll their eyes and go “Um…wow…nice to meet you. Wanna come over for a beer or something?” Look at it this way…would you rather be pandered to and put up on a pedestal, or would you rather be invited to join the club. For me, I’ll vote for joining the group.
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