Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Tolerating Diversity

When I thought I had the answer to tolerating diversity, something went wrong.

For the past year, I had this understanding, that in order to tolerate diversity, people just have to live together. Not live together as in the sense of live under one roof, but live together as in communicate, socialize, and just treat each other on the humanitarian level.

To illustrate my point, I'm going to bring out two young boys; Ahmed and Aaron. Aaron's family adopted Ahmed when he was 2. The two boys grew up together, playing innocently, until they reached a maturity level where they learned the complexity of their relationship. I would place my bets that the two boys would stay brothers, even if this was against everything both their cultures dictate.

I thought the answer to the Middle East conflict was to open communication channels between both sides. I thought that communicating long enough on the humanitarian level would drop all diversity conflicts so that two people could look at each other as human beings, and not on the skin they both wear. I thought that conflicting natures would fade after seeing the common ground long enough. I thought that no matter what I do in my free time, and no matter what you wear or believe is important now that we have found a comfort zone we both can co-exist in, while looking past our material differences.

What happened to tolerating diversity?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I needed sometime by my own
To release the tension that has grown
On the sand I wrote the conflicts within
Let the sea wash away the prejudice sin
End all the sadness and once more
Rely on happiness and not ignore
A simple fact about the world we live in
That change is the only constant thing
Every day spent alone I realized this;
You and I being different is a bliss
Opposites attract people may say
Understanding and acceptance is our way
Regardless of our diversity, I still believe
Along the way our common ground is the relief
More it grows each day, yet I repeat;
The answer to your question without retreat
Yes, I tolerate you fully indeed…