Wouldn't it be a boring world if everyone was exactly the same? If we all looked identical, dressed alike, ate the same foods, spoke the same language, the world would be pretty uninteresting! What makes the world exciting is that we're all different. Diversity simply means differences. If there is a diverse group of pets, for example, there might be a dog, a cat, a bird, and a lizard.
People can be different in many ways. Some of the most obvious differences we may notice are age, language, culture, appearance, disabilities, race or ethnicity, and religion. Unfortunately, there are some people who only like those who are exactly like them or who look and think the same way they do. These people have prejudices against those who are different from them. A prejudice is when you think badly of someone based on something about them, such as their religion or race, even though you don't even know that person.
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Maya Angelou, a famous African-American author, said, ''It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.'' She believed that by having groups of diverse people come together to work toward the same goal, they'd be much stronger than if the groups work separately.
Another quote about diversity by Catherine Pulsifer points out that we wouldn't want to have everybody exactly the same because it wouldn't be very interesting. She said, ''We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity, life would be very boring.''
Have you ever seen one of the Star Trek movies or television show? Their creator, Gene Roddenberry, included a very diverse crew aboard the Starship Enterprise. They were from many different planets, but all had their own strengths and worked together to make their missions successful. Roddenberry said, ''If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear.'' His idea that we need to celebrate the differences among us and see them as exciting is reflected in his television show and movies.
''America is not like a blanket - one piece of unbroken cloth. America is more like a quilt - many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven together by a common thread.'' This quote from Reverend Jesse Jackson, an African-American activist, means that although we are one nation, the United States, that nation can be made up of diverse people and still be one nation, as long as we're all working together and toward the same goals.
Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who died as part of the Holocaust in World War II, knew probably better than anyone how much prejudice can tear apart families and communities. She said, ''we all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.'' She knew that no matter how different people are, they all really just want one thing: happiness.
We should think about what each of these people had to tell us about the importance of diversity. Diversity makes our world stronger. We don't all need to be the same to work toward the same goal.
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Diversity means differences. People may be different in many ways, including race or ethnicity, age, disabilities, language, culture, appearance, or religion. When someone thinks negatively about another person simply because they're different, this is called a prejudice. Many famous people have spoken out to encourage diversity throughout the world.
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This lesson introduced you to the concept of diversity, which is very important to understand. In order to increase your understanding of diversity, check out these activities.
For this activity, you will need a friend or family member. Sit down and talk with them and try to list as many things about both of you that are different as you can. Write down your list or make a Venn diagram. Once you have noted all of your differences, see how many similarities you can find between the two of you. List those as well. Hopefully, you will find that even though you are different in many ways, you also share a lot of attributes, and that both your differences and your similarities are good things about you both that should be celebrated.
This lesson gave you lots of examples of diversity in real life and lots of reasons why diversity is good. Think about your own understanding of diversity, both in your own life and based on your understanding of the world. Write a short reflection on what you think diversity means and why it is important.
Now that you have thought a lot about diversity and difference, consider making up or writing a short story. Think about creating characters who are different from one another. Maybe they are different kinds of animals or creatures, or maybe they are humans who are different in any number of ways. How can their differences help bring them closer together and understand each other better? Write down your story or tell it to a teacher or family member.
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