Diversity and Social Changes

To me, diversity means how different people are in terms of race, religion, culture, language, gender, class, and age. Social changes are ideas or practices within a society that undergo reformation. For example, the Civil Rights Movement, which integrated black and white people in schools and other public places, was a social change.

I think diversity is important in my personal life, my profession, and my academic life for several reasons. I love to learn about different cultures. Just yesterday I met a man from Nigeria and it was interesting to hear what he had to say about his life. I know that with familiarity comes acceptance. The more familiar I am with people who are different from me, the more willing I will be to accept them. I believe this is true of everybody. I think it is important to work with different people in groups for school projects for the same reasons: to learn about them and to become familiar with and accepting of their practices and beliefs. As a teacher, I may encounter students from different backgrounds. It is important to me to teach students about different cultures and such so that they too will be accustomed to and accepting of different people. Diversity in the student population can help my students and me learn about people's differences.

Since I am a white person who, for the most part, speaks the same language and shares the same morals with most of the mainly white people around me, the most important social changes I have experienced deal with gender. These social changes, however, happened before my time. I can vote and go to school, and I don't have to settle for being a housewife if I don't want to. Women's Rights movements have created social changes that allow me to be, for the most part, equal to men.

I already mentioned the Civil Rights movement, but it is a good example of promoting diversity through social action. Integrating blacks and women into schools promoted diversity. It is actions such as these--those that bring many different people together--that promote diversity.

On a daily basis I don't experience any issues dealing with diversity. I always experience diversity but I never experience any problems with it. I chat and ride the bus with foreign people. They speak English so there is no language barrier.

I really like to learn about the inequalities that women face in society today and I am actually taking a Women's Studies course this semester that is partly devoted to that. In my Educational Psychology class last year I learned a lot about diversity and social issues that arise among elementary school students. So whatever is left can hopefully be explored in this class. Other diversity and social change topics I'm interested in are: poverty, universal healthcare, immigration, sweatshops, and climate change.