Diversity requires respect

Diversity is a crucial ingredient in a free and progressive society.

The U has several diversity offices that enrich educational experiences, enable individuals to progress without barriers and encourage everyone to participate in the effort.

Every day we are fighting a war of diverse ideas, and America is losing. With monumental challenges to overcome in our economy, the environment, national security, energy, health care, crime and equality, we tend to fight rather than look for solutions and compromise. Some march in protest while others sit in frustration.

It seems as though diversity is a double-edged sword—we want to be tolerant of different ideas, yet not at the expense of our own self-interests. In this battle, some voices are louder than others.

In New York after California’s gay marriage ban passed, protesters in lower Manhattan stood behind barricades, holding signs. “Love and Unity not hate,” one read. “All we need is love,” said another.

In Los Angeles, thousands of demonstrators were met by counter-demonstrators. “There is nothing civil about a man marrying another man,” one protester said. “You lost. It is not a civil rights issue. It is an issue with morality.”

It is challenging enough to achieve a diverse society when both sides of a controversial issue have valid arguments and facts to support their side. However, it becomes even harder when blind, aggressive arguments enter into the equation. Until we can sort out a compromise in deciding how to move forward with the issues facing our nation, we must maintain peaceful objectivity.

As part of the “McCarthey Family Lecture Series: In Praise of Independent Journalism,” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper addressed a crowd of more than 300 at Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School in Salt Lake City on Saturday. He discussed the importance of objectivity and finding your own voice amid a war of ideas.

“You can’t allow your own fear and insecurity to alter what you see,” Cooper said. “It’s very easy to demonize those with a different opinion from your own, but it’s harder to walk in their shoes. Strangers reaching out to strangers is what makes the difference.”

There are no clear answers as to how to facilitate and encourage diversity, but the process is certain. Rather than get lost in the heat of emotion and angry words, we must foster an attitude of understanding and desire to listen to new ideas.

“We have to look directly into the things that scare us the most,” Cooper said. “In the hustle and bustle of daily life, we can easily forget the lives other people are living every day.”

It’s important to form opinions and have a backbone in defending them. However, when diverse ideas are presented, rather than decidedly disregarding them, it’s more important to listen while creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding—even if there is no solution and the outcome is to respectfully agree to disagree.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/opinion/1.915542