Narrative on Social Diversity and Multiculturalism

           Narrative on Social Diversity and Multiculturalism

            I define social diversity as interacting with and accepting people that are different than you even though they do not share some things such as race, gender, or religion. I define multiculturalism as the idea that people of different cultures can successfully live and interact with one other in the same country, state, and so on. Social diversity is very important in my life because I am a college student. In college, there are many different cultures and types of people that you must be able to successfully interact with in order to excel in your education, make friends, and meet acquaintances. The issues of diversity that are important in my life are race and lived experience. Now a days, race is irrelevant. We have a black president, so all of the previous race issues should be over. No longer should the white ridicule the black and visa versa because we are all equal in the world we live in. Lived experience is a big part of my life because I am in the construction field, which focuses on lived experience

            My family, my friends, and my educational experiences have been influential in shaping my ideas about social diversity and multiculturalism. An experience that I had which helped me better understand the diversity issues in my life was coming to Illinois State University for my first semester. I was required to live in a dormitory and I was assigned a random roommate. When I got my room number, I walked to the room and opened the door. My roommate was sitting there and he was black. I thought to myself "oh we're not going to get along" because I am Caucasian and that is the way I was raised. After living with my roommate for a year, all of my previous perceptions had changed. I no longer believed in all of the stereotypes and other things associated with blacks that I had believed the year before. My roommate and I were able to become great friends despite the differences between our race, our culture, and our past experiences. Ever since this event, I have been much more open to social diversity and I now believe in multiculturalism. The rule to live by is the golden rule; Treat others as you would like to be treated."

            Some of the social justice issues that I am interested in investigating this semester are gun control and the legalization of marijuana. I think that gun control is an important topic because without guns you can't protect your home and because many people love to use firearms to hunt. I think that the legalization of marijuana is an important topic because the plant is extremely useful for those with breast cancer, AIDS, brain cancer, and many other illnesses. Neither of these issues relate to my major, but they are both topics that I am very interested in and passionate about.