At no other time in our country’s history is our population more diverse but as two stories that have emerged over the last several days illustrate, no one still really grasps the importance of diversity.

To those who don’t understand diversity, the word is nothing more than a federal mandate for employment hiring, school admissions or scholarship selections. Of course, those who lose out in these selections wag the finger and complain that those who trumped them for these coveted spots didn’t deserve them.

To others who don’t understand the concept, diversity means nothing more than achieving a “racial balance.” Yet, no thought is given as to why it’s important to have that balance within an organization or campus.

Diversity has greater ramifications than satisfying any federal mandate or employment/school balance. It is hoped that with a truly diverse workforce/school campus people will, if they don’t become more tolerant of people different from themselves, will at least become informed and learn about one another in a “civil” environment.

This learning about others different from ourselves hopefully opens the mind to such a width that there is an increased sensitivity to how we talk about and to one another; a greater appreciation of our differences and of those elements that make us more alike to one another; and an enlightenment that our shared patriotism for the same country unites us all in a special brotherhood and sisterhood.

Read the full story at Latina Lista