This Is A Tossed Salad
Monday, January 19, 2009 at 6:13PM 
C.A.R. Treasurer Mabel GuzmanToday as we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and reflect upon his life and his dream of service to a movement, I reflect on a part of his “I Have A Dream” speech:
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
Quite moving, telling and relevant today. I recently attended a Cultural Diversity Committee meeting at the Chicago Association of REALTORS, where the topic of discussion was: what does diversity mean to you?
As Barack Obama is sworn in as the first Black President of the United States of America, you can’t help but think about his background. It is diverse. A Black African Father and a White American Mother, born in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia as a child. He truly is a global person, but to me, a global person is an American.
This, my adopted country, for all it faults, does allow one to dream as Dr. King did. Though we are going through some challenges, we are equally challenged to call upon each other to pull through it together as one people. You look across the globe and all the violence that persists because of differences; here in the United States, those differences are OUR STRENGTH.
Our strength is in the creativity that results from all of us working together to reach that one goal, complete that job or reach that dream. I see it everyday at the Association and all of its committees. I see it when putting a transaction together, I see it when I drive through this city of neighborhoods.
They say the United States is a melting pot… I think it’s more like a tossed salad. All of us bring that unique something that adds to the experience.
As we look ahead and the potential for a 2016 Olympics, the World Games here in Chicago. I think about the fact that every country is well-represented here already. This is a global city; the world lives here, and the world should play its games here.
If we are to judge each other by the content of our character, think about the human genome project, where the findings are .10% (a tenth of a percent) is what makes us different. We really are not that different in the physical sense. It ‘s that character, ideas and dreams that are.
What does DIVERSITY mean to you?
BLOG ON!
Reader Comments (2)
When I think of the word Diversity,I think of the word 'enabling'. I also know that practicing exclusion, curtails potential greatness in the world. When Dr. King made the 'I have a dream' speech, racial segregation and 'Jim Crow' was the law of the land. Federal and State laws were enacted, where Blacks and other ethnic groups were prohibited from voting, equal employment, assembly, miscegenation, and were even restricted from shopping, going to a theater, or drinking from a water fountain.
The result of this myopic view of the world has, for centuries, cost America the diverse and creative human resources present in every one of God's people. The Bible refers to man as 'poema'(Greek) or God's poem. Today, the US looks at it's non-White population as the inevitable majority in the not to distant future. President Obama has exposed the pitfalls of embracing blind racism, and that we all suffer when we practice exclusion instead of inclusion.
I believe that Dr. King's dream is not quite fulfilled, but we have made great gains toward removing some of the barriers of the mind that have clouded the fact that all men are created equal. We live in difficult times and great times. We must all endeavor to trust that God's grace imbues us all, without distinction of race, creed, national origin, gender, color, class or anything else that seemingly divides us.
The Presidential Inauguration demonstrated vividly, through Barak Obama, that God's grace is sufficient. Somewhere in the world, there may be a young child who will someday grow up and find the cure for all cancer, solve the crisis of HIV Aids or bring peace to the continent of Africa. We all need to give that child the chance and encouragement to seek greatness.
I would have to disagree with you on the word Diversity. I do not see it as enabling, in anyway. What was enabling were the Jim Crow laws, which allowed (enabled) people to violate basic human decency. What is also enabling, are the education standards, or lack there of, in our country. Inner cities never approach to reaching the funding suburban schools receive. This enables children not to excel, parents alike to expect less, and society to say well that's just the way it is.
Diversity does not enable but sheds light on our differences that need to be celebrated. Whether it is race, gender, sexual orientation, age, opinions, or whatever it may be, we are different and that's o.k.
Diversity makes people think about the baggage they carry around about others and themselves. There is no such thing as equality but their is equity. Equity is achieved through conscious choices and justice that is served equitably.
In this country of varied people and opinions Diversity enables us to acknowledge each other as we are and not as we think others should be.
In MY Opinion.