By Drew Holsapple

When it comes to diversity, I’m not exactly an authority, being a white, male, middle-class teenager in a rich, white town. But in my school, there is one area that is quite diverse: religion. You can find just about any religion if you look hard enough amongst the student body at the high school. Raised as a Unitarian Universalist, I was taught to be tolerant and respectful towards other religions, but there is one area of religion that I struggle with. Fundamentalists hold many beliefs that I find extremely hard to believe or even be tolerant of.

For example, one of the basic beliefs that fundamentalist Christians hold is that if you are not a part of their religion, you are going to hell. Through what teachings of the bible that I have learned, it seems to me the God that they worship would not be so quick to judge who would go to heaven or hell based on whether they had been baptized or not.

Another example is most fundamentalists’ support of war as a resolution of conflict. This seems to me to directly contradict God’s teachings, most specifically one of the Ten Commandments that states: “Thou shalt not kill.”

But through all this, because of my beliefs of tolerance and acceptance of everything, I try to keep an open mind when I talk to someone with these beliefs and try not to judge them as right or wrong.

By Leo Rose

This week just happens to be Unique Week at my high school. Every year we have one week when GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) sets up special events each day. Monday was Carnation Day and everyone gave carnations to people and hoped to pass a smile along with it. Later on there will be a Cross-dressing Day and then the day I participate most in, Day of Silence.

Day of Silence is supposed to represent all the people at our school and in this world who do not share their voice because others oppress them for being gay or different in some way. This day is not only a day of great joy for me because I’m speaking out for something I believe in, but it is a day of great sorrow.

It’s sad that in the U.S., one of the greatest and most developed nations, that we have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in our military. Why must people see diversity as a handicap or a sickness? The only sickness is oppression. “Peace cannot be kept by force, but must be achieved by understanding” — Albert Einstein.

To find peace with each other and ourselves, we cannot live in a world were oppression is all around us. When I say “us” I mean everyone, even the oppressors. We cannot force oppression to go away. People must agree, otherwise the oppressors will become the oppressed. That gets us nowhere.
Diversity is more and more accepted as time goes on, and even now you will see the children of this world not only accepting differences, but also making them. In the end, everyone will one day see that diversity, in all its forms, is something to celebrate, and enjoy.

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.“– Maya Angelou

By Colin Macarthur

I was shocked. I’m a Unitarian. Of course I support our high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. GSA doesn’t only try to bring the gay and straight community together, but tries to foster tolerance and appreciation of all diversity. Had I been intolerant? Had I attacked diversity? The question was more a mistake than an accusation. A member of GSA had asked me, as one of the High School Film Society coordinators, to attend a meeting about coordinating the upcoming, diversity-affirming “Unique Week”. GSA asked us to show a diversity related movie at our weekly film showing. Unfortunately, the organizational meeting conflicted with a previous engagement; I was trying to determine who could go in my place. The well-meaning, but battle-hardened GSA member interpreted my expression as objecting, rather than vexed.

I assured her that I actively supported GSA and promised a Film Society officer would be at the organization meeting. But I also began to wonder about her reaction. Are there students who object to diversity? GSA communicates its goals strongly; most people know its mission is broader than aligning gays and straights. Undoubtedly, even GSA’s name creates tension rooted in political and social issues. But who would attack a week about diversity? Aren’t we teaching our students better?

When students consider diversity in an educational setting, their thoughts always center on the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. Our school curriculum addresses diversity, but in a historical context. The understanding of diversity I’ve received through my schooling focuses on the persecution of Jews during World War II and the end of segregation. I can glibly state, “the holocaust was terrible” and “segregation was a dark part of American history.” Regardless of level, every student at our high school and middle school understands the significance of the holocaust and segregation. I’m proud of this; historical understanding is a key step to accepting diversity. But understanding can’t be the only step.

Our schools take a purely informational approach to diversity education. We are taught the history; it’s assumed that we will use our historical knowledge to make decisions. Some of us do. But some of us don’t. Public education is experiencing a paradigm shift. Our district is creating curriculum, which not only teaches core subject knowledge, but core subject skills. Analysis skills. Problem-solving skills. Communication skills. Many core-subjects, like history, are acquiring a behavioral education component. But none of the skills future children will be taught address diversity. They won’t be taught to evaluate the biases of others. They won’t be taught to evaluate their own biases. They won’t be taught how to respond to each other’s biases. In other words, as their academic skills move into the twenty-first century, their social skills won’t.

As a student, I constantly agitate for social as well as intellectual preparation. Our schools’ mission is to prepare our students for life; social interaction is just as important, if not more so, than intellectual understanding. Unfortunately, principles of social action are often too sensitive, too “religious” to be taught at a public school system. But if it’s currently politically impossible for our students to completely accept diversity through our schools, how will they learn? I don’t feel we are raising a new generation of Aryan-nation or eugenics-supporting people. Other learning “institutions” must take the school’s place. Our church’s religious exploration programs provide a key outlet for behavior-based diversity education. Every-day parenting also provides an opportunity for education: teach your children about what it means to act without bias. To understand their own bias. How to respond to someone with biases.

School clubs and activities provide another outlet for education. Unique Week will be held in mid-April at the high school. Film Society will be providing a free screening of Hotel Rwanda. Many other groups are involved. I believe Unique Week will be a success. All hope is not lost; youth are interested in accepting diversity behaviorally. Let’s give them the tools.

By Wellner Ahluwalia

Recently someone asked me, “You’re half-white and half-Asian–do you identify as white or a person of color?” I admit, my first thought was “person of color”, and then I realized something incredibly important. I shouldn’t have to identify as either. I am both, and I am also neither.

In this world, we should not feel we have to term ourselves in this way. The question was asked for the sake of accepting these different groups, but in the struggle to accept, we have separated people into groups and put labels on them. If we truly want to be inclusive of all peoples, then continually saying, “Let’s work towards accepting people of color,” for example, is only going to put a spotlight on that group, effectively creating more segregation. Yes, people are all different, but we need to appreciate the similarities before focusing on the differences if we wish to include everyone. So, I am tired of us all trying to point out nothing but differences and expect unity and equality.

Yes, some of us have white skin while others brown, some have ten piercings and some are afraid of pointy objects, some believe in one true God who protects and nurtures us while others believe that there is little purpose to the universe. We are all very different, but we are also very much the same. We are all people. I no longer “identify myself” as white, or a person of color. I am human, a living being; the same is true for you, and every other person. That is the only label we really need.