Diversity, Segregation, and Discrimination
Diversity is inclusion and variety. Diversity in humankind is inclusion of every person regardless of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, or any other perceived difference. Segregation is the antithesis of inclusion.
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks stood up against segregation on public transportation. She lost her job and received death threats as a result of her defiance. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life in the fight against segregation when he was assassinated. Since 1967, Gays and Lesbians have been marching for equal rights and the end to discrimination, including discriminatory housing practices. In 1977, Harvey Milk, a gay activist, was elected to the San Francisco board of Supervisors. He was assassinated in 1978. Because of the courage of these people and many others, segregation and discrimination awareness came to the forefront in the United States and we became a country of inclusion.
In 2018, in the United States, black college students at UC-Davis and UC-Los Angeles demanded and were given the option of segregated housing. In 2018, a transgender cultural district has was established in San Francisco. After decades of fighting for equal rights, these two groups have chosen to segregate themselves. I doubt Rosa, Martin, and Harvey would be impressed. There is no difference between blacks being refused service at a white’s only restaurant or heterosexuals being excluded from trans-gender housing. It is all discrimination.
On December 15, 1791, the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was adopted. Among other things, it gave citizens the rights of Freedom of Speech and the right to peaceably assemble.
In 2018, conservative speakers were met with riots, shouted out, and banned from speaking on college campuses. The mainstream news media has blocked and openly attacked conservative views.
Our country of diversity and inclusion has fast become a country of division and discrimination. Scapegoats for this new climate of hate include those with conservative view points, white men, women who voted for Trump, Christians, and heterosexuals. They are the new victims of exclusion.
How long will it be before we go back to separate water fountains for blacks and whites, neighborhoods separated by race and national origin, and laws against certain types of sexual orientation? The future may find heterosexuals hiding in the shadows.
The climb up the mountain of diversity has been long and perilous. It is a fast slippery slope down the other side.
