A recent 10 page document produced by a senior engineer at Google regarding the company’s diversity policy and the writer’s criticism of that policy has the company is some chaos. The company’s new “Diversity VP” responded with her own lengthy document . They are:
http://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320
https://www.recode.net/2017/8/5/16102476/google-diversity-vp-employee-memo
Below is another take on diversity.
Diversity! Now there’s a word that evokes all manner of emotions and you had better be darn careful, lest you be labeled “BIGOT” or “RACIST”, when you discuss it. The concept of, the state of, and the oft repeated blessing of diversity has become a sacred cow in the United States and much of the western world. And in governments, schools, and large businesses, the more diversity the better! Except sometimes.
How many times have we heard the phrase, “diversity is our strength”, or some variation such as, “diversity is the
strength of the United States”, or “our diversity is what makes us a great nation”. And seldom will you hear, I suppose out of fear of being ridiculed and branded xenophobic, “really, is that true?”.
I don’t pretend to suggest that diversity doesn’t bring with it some great benefits. Anyone who’s ever enjoyed a helping of my mother-in-law’s rolled grape leaves, fresh out of the pot or her cousa or her mamool would have to agree that diversity can be a good thing, a very good thing. For those who’ve always turned up their noses at lamb, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you sample her grape leaves, tangy with lemon, with a healthy dollop of plain yogurt if you have it and sour cream if you don’t have the real thing.
How about those flat red cheese enchiladas with an egg, so hot you sweat throughout the meal, they used to serve at Hall’s Bar in Anthony, TX. Even there, we see diversity as those enchiladas are the kind prepared along the old Chihuahua to Santa Fe trading route while the rolled version are more El Paso. On the subject of food, let’s not forget that wonderful Vietnamese food at Pho Tres Bien.
From a different standpoint, as you drive through some of the older neighborhoods in El Paso, you’ll pass homes, many homes, at which a grotto honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe has been constructed in a conspicuous place. Unfortunately, to my dismay, this wonderful part of the Mexican culture is disappearing.
And though I thoroughly enjoy that soothing Mexican acoustic guitar we sometimes have at mass I have to confess I find mariachi completely annoying. Uh Oh! I said it.
My friend Tim has completely embraced his Irish heritage. His and Donna’s annual St. Parick’s day party, replete with Irish music courtesy of The Hooligans, delicious Irish stew and Irish beer are the stuff of legends. In addition, he’s made several trips to Ireland, educational and pleasure, to immerse himself in the culture.
And it goes on and on. Diversity, that wonderful blend of cultures, is what makes all this possible.
But is it really true that “diversity is our strength”, that “it’s our diversity that makes us a great nation”? I’m going to go out on a limb and state right here, right now, NO IT’S NOT! Diversity is not what makes us a great nation! Diversity is not our strength. Diversity helps us be a more interesting nation and in many cases we find ourselves “borrowing” from other cultures but that’s it. In fact I’ll go one step further and say that diversity is not only not our strength, it’s not the strength of any nation anywhere. It’s the melting pot, the process of assimilation where cultures give up much of the culture of their native land and embrace the culture of their adopted land, that has, more than anything, made us a great nation.
Now, this is not a denunciation of diversity nor is it racism or bigotry. However, a close look at other nations might support the argument that diversity is much more trouble than it’s worth.
Take Japan for example. Japan ranks among the least diverse and most homogenous societies on earth. And yet Japan is also one of the most successful. By just one measure, Japan has one of the highest standards of living of any nation. So clearly, Japan’s complete absence of diversity has held Japan back not a whit.
In fact if we want to be honest about it, diversity probably causes as many problems as any other single thing in history. Here in the United States, diversity, or at least our handling of diversity, has caused almost insurmountable problems in our public schools. Probably the most obvious example is bilingual education, a program that solves no problems, creates a host of new problems by the bushel and yet, continues on and on, a sacred cow, leaving limited English proficient students in its wake. Of course bilingual education would not exist without a deeply flawed, politically correct education establishment attempting to maintain our culturally diverse population.
Or how about “Black Lives Matter” or the Ku Klux Klan? There would be no “Black Lives Matter” movement without diversity. The Klan would not exist , would never have existed without diversity. There is no “Black Lives Matter” movement in Kenya. There is no “Black Lives Matter” movement in Nigeria. There is no “Black Lives Matter” movement in Australia. And there is no “Black Lives Matter” movement in Japan. And there is no Ku Klux Klan either.
Certainly let’s not forget the ancient religious rivalries, eg., Hindu vs Islam, Islam vs Christianity, and everyone else it seems vs Judaism. There is little anti-semitism in Israel. There is a significant rivalry in the Muslim world due to the two diverse sects. There we go again with that word, diverse.
Diversity is on the verge of destroying some of the great western European nations. Britain saw four terrorist attacks in 2017 alone, primarily caused by its seeming need to encourage diversity and discourage assimilation. France and Belgium aren’t far behind and it’s all because of “diversity”.
I can’t count the number of articles I’ve read in industry journals of all stripes extolling the virtues of diversity. Oh, CPA firms must be completely diverse and no race, color, creed, or gender may be underrepresented! Law firms the same. And don’t forget the medical associations. Homogenous CPA firms are doomed to fail according to the latest data. And seldom do the articles recommend hiring the best and brightest regardless of their religion, race, color, gender, etc. No, you’ve got to strive for diversity. Well, diversity does not a great CPA firm make. True, it makes it more interesting. True, it may help, it shouldn’t but it may help, to obtain a client of the same diverse stripe as the employee.
So let’s not, as a former boss of mine was fond of exclaiming, “celebrate diversity”. Let’s accept it. Let’s enjoy whatever aspects of other cultures we personally desire. Let’s manage it. But let’s not shove it down our own throats for the sake of achieving certain “representations”. Most importantly, let’s not, as a matter of national policy, protect it and maintain it. If an individual family wants to maintain their own culture and language then they should by all means do so. But that should be a personal matter and should have nothing to do with the rest of the population. And let’s not be afraid to speak openly and honestly about it. Diversity for the sake of diversity makes no sense, either in business or in government. And certainly not in society.
