Diversity

I've been thinking a lot about diversity. A few months ago I had a conversation with a close friend about diversity. We both tried to make a point that the other didn't see to get. It went on for awhile. Eventually I said, "it depends on what you think is diverse".

I remember taking a class on Educational Policy my last quarter at OSU. There was a speaker that came in. I don't remember her name or why she was selected to speak to us. She was black probably mid to late twenties. I sat in this classroom with about 30 other students and I think all but one were white. Our discussion was based on the diversity of schools in Columbus. One student said that he was prepared for it because he went to OSU and OSU is Very Diverse. The woman said with a half laugh "OSU is very diverse-I've never heard that before". It was a lightbulb moment for me. Columbus seemed SOOOO diverse to me. I grew up in an area that was 99% white. So being at a school that had people from around the world seemed like diversity at its best. It never clicked with me that in all of my classes at OSU there were still only 1 maybe 2 black students in a room of 30 or more kids.

So what makes a city or school diverse? If you are white and you live in an area that you think is diverse ask yourself if you would still think it is diverse the racial make up were switched? I mean is an area that is 90% white diverse? It may seem so if you are white. But what if it were just the opposite? If 10% of people in your town/school were white would it still feel diverse?