Diversity

  From an early age, I was taught to treat everyone equally.  The concept of "diversity" didn't enter into the picture for me.  Why were people diverse?  Aren't we all just one people?  I learned the hard way.  

 First, it was after Dr. King died.  I was riding my bike near Five Points and was attacked by some black kids.  They threw rocks at me.  I asked why they were doing that, and they said I had killed Dr. King.  I told them I hadn't been anywhere near Memphis, but they said white people killed Dr. King.  They were judging me, because I was different than them.

 Next, it was in my Senior year of high school.  There was some construction going on at Flora.  A black worker was digging a trench, and the dirt caved in on top of him.  His fellow workers tried to get him out, but they couldn't.  He died.  A rumor started going through the school that a white worker had purposely buried his co-worker and killed him.  Of course, this was untrue.  But, it was enough to start off having some black kids fight some white kids.  We didn't have many black kids at Flora at that time.  Busing had just started in Columbia.  The fights got out of control, and the police had to be called in to quell what became as a riot.  There was some broken windows and damaged property.  Some of us tried to bring the temperature down some.  I really think some of the rioters were doing it to get out of going to class, but it just got worse.  Finally, the administration stepped in and cancelled classes for a week.  We went through a series of seminars on race relations and respect for one's school.  It was called "Give A Damn".  We learned a lot about others, and what they dealt with at home and in school.  After the week of training, things kind of calmed down.  The coroner said that the worker had died from the loose ground caving in all top of him.  His supervisor was cited for not realizing that the soil was loose and could be dangerous.  The damage was repaired.  

 Fast forward to my time at Rich's Department Store.  There was an issue brought up about some people being marginalized or discriminated against company wide.  Our store was not as bad as some others, but Rich's felt that we needed to go through diversity training.  I have to say that most of us did the training to be able to get off of the floor for an hour.  

 As I have stated before, I am not a racist.  I have known many people who are, and they make me sick.  Most of them were taught that from their parents or grandparents.  Some just never knew the difference.  I have seen Klan rallies.  I have seen burning crosses.  I have seen people with different skin colors be pushed around.  I have seen people with different economic backgrounds be ridiculed verbally or physically.  I have seen people with different sexual orientations be laughed at.  I have been accused of being a racist by people who don't know me.  The bottom line is this:  we can all be proud of our heritage.  Mine happens to be German, English and French.  We can all be proud of how far we have come from our ancestors and their sacrifices.  We are a diverse culture.  We should embrace that.  On the other hand, we should always work to be one people with a common goal, and that is to love one another.  Or at the very least, accept one another for who each person is.  Life would be so much simpler.