The Need for Community

Does community come only from being around people like us?

The question arises from some ideas flowing around my school and around London.

Today I got an email from the Head offering a course held by the Institute for Education called "Investing in Diversity". To apply, you must be black or minority ethnic. Now, technically, since I am American, my ethnicity box is "any other white background" whilst I am in London. Still, it's obvious that I probably wouldn't be allowed to apply for this course...

In my mind, this stipulation completely goes against the entire concept of Diversity... it posits that only the "other" may apply and recognise their subjectivity. It doesn't lead to true diversity, which would include backgrounds of all people. It denies people of other English-speaking backgrounds the opportunity to invest in young people. It also suggests that people who are white either cannot or should not invest in Diversity. Even if they wanted to, it doesn't give them the opportunity... they are not even allowed to apply.

Though I understand the need for networking opportunities for ethnic minority leaders to network in London, I don't think the exclusivity of restricting race, only one indicator of diversity, is the right or appropriate way to do so.... in fact, I think it in itself is a form of racism.

I am deeply committed to diversity: though my skin is white, my family heritage reaches to 3 continents--Europe, Asia, and North America. Born in the USA, my grandparents hail from Japan, Ireland, the Iroquois, Germany, England, and Switzerland (in a mixed up intermarried sort of way).

Does this mean that because I am white that I am raceless? Does caucasian count for nothing? Does the incredible DIVERSITY of food, clothing, dancing, languages, cultures, beliefs about God, beliefs about family and our connectedness to community and life not suggest a richness just in my bloodline?... let alone the myriad of other cultures that exist which lead to having caucasian skin.

These are the kinds of issues faced in the 60s with Martin Luther King Jr., and in the 80s and 90s with Affirmative Action... I thought we had been able to get past these kinds of exclusionary issues... I am extraordinarily disappointed that we haven't.