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Christopher G. Neily
Dr. Fiona Ramsby
English 1050
December 5, 2016
Offspring of Diversity
During this semester and throughout all of our readings and
discussions, we have examined the issues related to diversity in the United
States and the world. Diversity issues have always been present within the
history of the United States. Along with diversity comes race, gender, and
language. These ofcourse play a major role within our culture and our
diversity as a nation. These three components I believe tend to stem from
diversity as a whole. These common offspring of diversity seem to be on the
news and social media networks daily. Between black lives matter
movement, the election, and the division of our nation currently, there seems
to be no end in sight. Many people are asking why dont all lives matter?
Why keep the division going? Where is the message of unity when one race
only cares about itself? During the course of this essay I will examine in
detail some of the sources we studied and how they relate to diversity issues
today.
Within the confounds of the United States, we have been more willing
and accepting of different cultures within our borders. America is known for
our diversity. We are known as the melting pot of the world. Now, even
though this is true, we are viewed currently as a hateful nation. The majority
of Americans dont want to even accept refugees. The news airs stories daily
of hateful crimes by and against other people. The news more frequently
shows bad rather than good news. I believe this does nothing but help
keep us divided and skeptical of those wanting to enter our country.
Barack Obama in his speech A More Perfect Union stated, race is an
issue that this nation cannot afford to ignore right now (Obama, qtd. in
George and Trimbur 98, 479). He was clearly speaking about the division this
country still has. He wanted to bring to light that we all need to come

together in order to move forward. He also stated, The past isnt dead and
buried. In fact, it isnt even past. (Obama, qtd. in George and Trimbur 98,
479) This was in 2008, and is still very much a factor today, if not more so.
This statement is one we should not ignore. The racial division of this country
is at an all-time high. We had the civil rights movement and were progressing
well. But, within the last eight years, many voice their concern that we have
a President set on dividing this country more than helping bring it together.
He was criticized for praising thugs over the police officers who risk their
lives daily. He was also criticized for inviting criminals families into the
Whitehouse and ignoring the officers and their families who have made that
same sacrifice. Should both be praised? Should one side get more praise
than the other? Should they get equal light shed upon them? The President
should be for the people, not against them. I believe that we must always
make sure we think about our actions and the way we treat and think about
others. Just as Obamas words are strong, others who speak these same
words are strong as well. Whether youre on one side of the spectrum or not,
I believe we are all in this together.
Does race matter really matter? Do you believe race matters in the
United States of America? The fact of the matter is; people care about race.
When trying to get a job, going to school, receiving care in a hospital or
clinic, dining out, and first impressions, race plays a factor. These could all be
good and bad things. Because businesses need to be equal opportunity
employers, sometimes if you are white, you will be skipped over. Other
issues are that minorities have to lie about who they are and what race in
order to get a decent job or further their education. The problem with race is
that when we see anyone, we automatically notice and judge them based on
their appearance. Everyone has feature that makes them unique. Growing up
I was taught about racial discrimination being in our history, and in the
history of other societies but I never saw anything being done to combat
those same issues. I feel that we are still viewing them as different, and that

we shouldnt. There are few real "racists" out there, but the media portrays
people as if racism is still a major issue and because of this keeps it stays
alive.
When we look at race, especially at our history, we look back at the
first inhabitants of America, the Native American Indians. The Native
Americans who foraged, hunted, settled, and founded America, have nearly
been wiped off the face of the earth. When the first settlers came over, they
looked upon the Native Americans as different and savages. This is shown in
Warren Neidichs visual essay Early American Cover-Ups it clearly captures
the treatment of the Native Americans through the help of visual aid.
(Neidich, qtd. in George and Trimbur 98 456-458) From some perspective,
the Natives were treated no better than slaves, if not worse. They were
herded and carted off to their designated areas as a means of control. They
were slaughtered by the millions, raped, and sold. This was so they could be
watched without being a threat, all the while their land was stolen from
them. Neidichs photographs are perfectly innocuous and painfully
provoking (Phillips, qtd. in George and Trimbur 98, 454). These images show
the harsh violence Native Americans were forced to endure simply because
their land was of value and they were of a different culture and views
different from the narrative. Amanda Hamilton wrote that I remember
learning as a young child that as European settlers came to America, the
Native peoples taught the settlers and helped them adjust and survive in the
New World. However, as we grow and learn more, the history is much darker.
Europeans exploited, abused, and conquered the Native people of America.
Yet, that history is very much brushed under the rug. (Hamilton, Week 10,
October 24-29, Visual Discussion). This cannot be more true. Growing up was
it not a favorite past time to play cowboys and Indians? We didnt learn the
dark truth as Amanda states until later in life and many are still unaware of
these horrible events.

Unfortunately, America is not the only country to enslave others. In

Jamaica Kincaids story Columbus in Chains we see her view of being a
native in Antigua that had been taken over by the British. Kincaids story is
from the perspective of a young girl who is a descendent of the African
slaves. She had a hard time with the history that was being presented to her
by her teachers and the history books. She despised Christopher Columbus,
you can tell when she said, How I loved this picture-to see the usually
triumphant Columbus, brought so low, seated at the bottom of a boat just
watching things go by. (Kincaid, qtd. in George and Trimbur 98, 500)
Although it was written in a time where everyone was free, she writes, But
we, the descendants of slaves, knew quite well what had really happened.
(Kincaid, qtd. in George and Trimbur 98 ,500). She wasnt fully invested in
her teachers and history books. She knew and heard from her parents and
relatives the horrors that fell upon their people at the hands of Columbus and
those alike.
These types of stories and readings really helped me see true diversity
and difference. Just like with Annie Johns perspective when she tells of the
life of a girl growing up in a society that had been put in place after her
ancestors had been enslaved, and seeing how she wouldnt succumb to the
false history she was being taught. This really allowed me to see how life
would have been on the other side. This could have happened to anyone.
Yes, we have had this same issue in America but it helps open your
eyes more when you realize it has gone on all over the world. Jake Ruben
mentioned about Annie that, She starts out by expressing the thought that
text books and the teachers tell the students or reader what happen, but
they dont place any favors or put the reader in the history. They just tell it
how it is, and for the most part nobody ever tries to place themselves as a
master, slave, or even a slave trader. (Ruben, Week 13, November 14-19,
Intersection of Cultures). As Jake makes a good point that no one tries to do
that, Annie I think does a very good job at just that. In an interesting part,
Annie expressed her anger very subtly by writing the words, The Great Man

Can No Longer Just Get Up and Go (Kincaid, qtd. in George and Trimbur 98,
501) below a picture of Columbus bound in chains in her textbook. This is her
imagining Columbus being put in the place of a slave. She was happy with
herself and what she has done. How would you react if you were in the same
positon? Do you think you would feel the same anger as Annie?
Not surprising is the fact that in 1493 Columbus with an invasion force
of seventeen ships became by his own hand the "viceroy and governor of the
Caribbean islands and the mainland of America. This position he held until
1500. He promptly instituted policies of slavery and systematic
extermination against the native Taino population. Columbus's programs
reduced Taino numbers from as many as eight million at the outset of his
regime to about three million by 1496. In 1542, only two hundred were
recorded. Thereafter, they were considered extinct, as were Indians
throughout the Caribbean Basin. This is from an aggregate population which
totaled more than fifteen million at the point of first contact with the Admiral
of the Ocean, as Columbus was known." Churchill, Ward. Indians Are Us?
Culture and Genocide in Native North America. Monroe, Me.: Common
Courage, 1994. Print. We dont talk about who started it, who kept it going,
and instead, we blame the people next to us for sin committed before out
time. Maybe if people learned the real history of the world and not just the
country they live in, the world wouldnt be as divided and would come
together to stop injustices like this physically, mentally, and verbally.
As I look throughout history, many cultures and even people have been
eradicated off the face of the earth. The Tanguts are little known to anyone
other than experts in the field precisely because of Genghis Khan's policy of
calling for their complete eradication. The few Tanguts that survived either
fled to Song China, Tibet, and even possibly India until these communities
were finally assimilated in the 16th century. "Tangut People." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

What would happen if we didnt talk about it? What would happen if we
didnt report on the issues and generalizing it to mean the entire population
of America? Because we are such a diverse society, there are instances in
our history that can't seem to disappear or be forgotten. There is no one
alive today that had a hand in slavery but yet whites seem to continuously
get blamed for the crime of others that happens many years ago. While race,
as other cultural differences will always have prejudice against certain
people, it's not very prevalent in the majority of society. I dont and we
shouldn't focus on the negative things that one particular race has done to
another race. Think about all the terrible things that races have done to each
other over the years. We should never forget what happened, but at the
same time we need to move on. I feel like once we do that we can finally
stop being racist to each other and love our differences. Every single
individual sees the world through different eyes, and to judge someone is to
assume that they should view it as you do.
Throughout these readings, there have been so many diverse stories
and opinions. I grew up in a poor city and had many different cultures around
and throughout my k12 years. I never thought about race and never ignored
or hated someone because of the color of their skin. We are a very diverse
nation with many different races, genders, and languages. This is what
freedom is about. Will we ever break through the barriers of race? I hope to
see us do that before the end of my days.
Works Cited
Churchill, Ward. Indians Are Us? Culture and Genocide in Native North
America. Monroe, Common Courage Press, 1994.
Kincaid, Jamaica. Columbus in Chains. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical
Reading and
Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Pages 498-503.

Neidich, Warren. Contra Curtis: Early American Cover-Ups. Reading Culture:

Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Pages 456-458.
Obama, Barack. A More Perfect Union. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical
Reading and
Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Pages 476-483.
Philips, Christopher. Necessary Fictions: Warren Neidichs Early American
Cover-Ups. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Boston:
Pearson, 2012. Pages 453-456.

Changes
I revised my first paragraph to better help bring my thesis about.
I added in the page numbers and indents.
I wrote in a little more of my opinions and experiences.
I added more questions to help better engage my readers.
I gave better transitions to help with the overall read and flow of the paper.
I made it seem less like a rant at times and stuck to the readings and helped
to incorporate those into the paper better.