Hoping Racists Are Wrong -- But Fearing They're Right

[IanC]

yes, there has been quite a bit of research showing diverse neighbourhoods being less involved. 'bowling alone' and all that.

back when the UofMich was in the news for affirmative action there was a study of the students there asking their opinion about how useful/necessary diversity was on campus. first year students were very positive about it, and then there was a steep drop off of support the longer a student was attending.

its funny how the negatives can be precisely defined and quantified but the positives are only fuzzy concepts that defy actual measurement.

Fuzzy "rose" colored concepts. Everyone getting along and appreciating one another always sounds good for sure.

hmmm...does everyone get along and appreciate each other? and how much do we pay for people to get along and appreciate others? would we start not getting along and become unappreciative if there were no 'depts of diversity' in schools and businesses? we can count up the cost but how do we estimate the benefit? you yourself brought up that diverse communities have problems linked to diversity. if you add up the massive financial costs and the societal negatives together, and compare it to the 'benefits of diversity', does it still seem like a good deal?

actually I am still looking to find a comprehensive list of the benefits of diversity if someone out there has one to share.

 

[editec]

Having any kind of rational discussion about race and ethnic is difficult, without doubt.

Some people are just waiting for the chance to call others racists.

But let's face it, we are all racist to some extent or the other.

Are you proud of being some enthnic or the other?

Well, ethnic pride is one of the less toxic forms of racism, isn't it?

 

[Conspiracist]

Discussion about race has to be between somewhat rational people. I put myself in the position of someone that advocates diversity and realize that the only thing they have for argument are usually good intentions or someone's or some company's warm and fuzzy outlook. When you get down to it, how often do we have people of differing races to our home for dinner? How many people of differing races do you know that would invite you to dinner at their home?

I know it happens, but how often do we see it?