Diversity and Variety

I watched the State of the Union speech last night (1/27) and will admit that Clinton made one statement on praising our diversities that might have brought me to my feet had I been there. A second thought, and a load of doubt on my part, I would immediately have tried to figure out what does he, and his liberal power, really want.

After reading several conservative discussion boards, many (not all) feel this word "diversity" is a bad idea all the way around. We are, of course, talking about people, American people! I got involved in these discussions and my desire was to find out why they felt threatened by variety.

One theory shows that the threat stems from the fear that the federal government will follow their usual overly intrusive habit of getting into everybody's personal data to search out our differences, catalog, classify and log them into the big database "on the hill." This fear I can understand considering the census looming on the horizon. (Read Eric Jay's articles)

If this is not the fear of our frightened, and threatened conservatives, then I cannot figure out what is the fear. The people living in America are not all the same color, religion, or even share many of the same values.

When I associate with my neighbors, who are a different color, it doesn't affect my color. Others religious beliefs have no effect on me at all. What I find fascinating about my diverse friends is the difference in their music and art. I studied ethnic clothes, art and lots of music styles for my own pleasure and it is wonderful to hear this first hand.

The study of comparative religions can take a lifetime of research. I don't think one can understand religion without studying the physical history of the believers. The oldest civilizations had very different concepts of a higher power. The evolution of these faith-based civilizations is fascinating! The Greeks had fun with their gods and praised the human body. Sadly, this is considered hedonistic today. These are entertaining subjects but, again, they have no effect on my life.

I spent years working in the classical theater. The cross section of other interested Shakespeare buffs is truly a sampling of diversified people. These years were pure pleasure for me. We had a lot of free time between rehearsals to discover our true variety. We shared food, songs, and what brought us together in America, California and the theater. Wonderful years! Doing the costumes for these folks allowed me to get even closer to the actors and I was privileged to be able to share their personal lives as well as their roles. Many were gay and many were straight. Someday I would love to share my impressions and respect for my gay friends, but not here.

The point is, outside of the pure joy of knowing all my actors, and being fortunate to have made many close friends, the effect of their variety had no impact on my life.

I cannot figure why some fear diversity. The only possible explanation is ignorance. Actually this is not a derogatory statement when you think about it. We are all products of the society in which we live. The desire to learn more about each other is not a priority for many. That's okay and has no impact on my priorities. Of course, I'm 4th generation Californian, and you all know what that means...

Published in the February 1, 2000 issue of Ether Zone. Copyright © 2000 Ether Zone Online. Reposting permitted with this message intact.