Running Header: ESSAY TWO - RACIAL DIVERSITY 1

Mitch McCallum

Instructor, Dr. Bernice Olivas

English 1050

13 November 2019

Essay Two - Racial Diversity

Living in the state of Utah, we often are not exposed much to diversity, whether we are at

school, the store, work, etc; that being said, there are still many areas in our state as well as our

country that has a beautifully diverse community. Diversity is all around us, all in different

cultures, ethnicities, genders, beliefs, race, etc. However, it is unfortunate that often times the

minority groups are at a severe disadvantage when being compared to the majority. While racial

diversity has come a long way in the past century and even in the past decades, there are still

many individuals who hold prejudice beliefs and discriminate against individuals of different

races; whether it is a conscious decision or not, individuals who are “white” are often given the

jobs, accepted to the schools, and given the opportunities over minority groups. We are able to

see profound examples of racial inequality and the lack of diversity in our everyday lives yet it

seems to continue to be a taboo topic. Throughout this essay I hope to address some of the issues

our country is facing such as racist ideology, lack of racial diversity in the workplace, and

relevant prejudice against minority individuals and what can be done in our own communities

and our country to create a healthier human connection with all those around us regardless of

their diversity.

We commonly see many examples and reminders of segregation, racism, and othering, in

radical forms in writings and stories from the past; throughout the course we have been given
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many opportunities to read, study, and discuss text and ideas from the past amongst one another

as a class. During our week four module, we viewed some very powerful pieces that revealed

some bitter truth of racial diversity within our country. Frederick Douglas, an individual who

was previously born into slavery and was forged into an intellectual of his time, put his foot

down in protest on the Fourth of July of 1852 in Rochester:

But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity

between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your

high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us

(Douglass).

He was speaking from his own heart with passion and purpose to let the white people of America

know that him nor any other African American at this time could celebrate this “glorious”

anniversary; the same freedoms being celebrated did not exist for Douglass and others. This

timeless speech has stayed a reminder to the individuals in our country in hopes to allow unity to

prevail and to highlight the issues we had to ensure we do not repeat mistakes from the past.

Additionally, the PBS video “The Origin of Race in the USA” explains how race was not always

defined and understood to be a biological factor. It also explains that enslaved individuals, who

then began being grouped due to physical features, were not considered human; this is yet

another example of how far racial diversity has come when being compared to past examples

(2018).

While racial segregation, prejudice beliefs, racism, and other forms of othering may not

be as prevelant today as they once were, there are still instances in which minority people are

segregated, othered, treated poorly, given no opportunity, etc, often due to their racial diversity
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among the general population. Often times, individuals are still othered and thought of

differently due to their diversity, which is associated with physical features. Some sociologists

and scientists claim that this is more of a primal trait that humans have kept from prehistoric

times, however, there are still other factors that influence this belief such as naivety to one’s

culture. During the same week of readings as Douglass’s speech, we contrastly were given the

task to read a speech given by President Barack Obama. Obama, like Douglass, was speaking to

a public audience pushing for some sort of unity. Obama spoke during his presidential campaign

and shared stories of his parents and their parents origins to explain his diversity;

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story

that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the

sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one (A More Perfect Union,

2008).

In efforts to unify the country even more, Obama was giving his audience examples from his

own experiences where he had felt that collectively we[citizens of the United States] were all

one. To begin the speech he referred to the Preamble, the text that unified the country in 1787. I

think that this was a very effective introduction to the speech for Obama to relate to our founding

fathers to then elaborate on his own ideas and visions for our country moving forward.

Another common trait that comes with the profiling of individuals and certain racial

diversities are the different ways people talk and how they present themselves to others.

Throughout this semester, I have gained an increased understanding of the many ways language,

food, ethnicity, belief systems, and color, may diversify our country, both in negative and

positive ways. During week five, we were given the opportunity to study language and how it
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shapes the way we think intellectually as well as the way we think of others. In the video “A

Quick Lesson on Southern Linguistics”, the speaker explains a common misconception made of

individuals from the South:

[M]ost people don’t realize that the [A]merican southern accent is not a sign of

ignorance but actually the fact that according to linguists we’re the only people

left in the [U]nited [S]tates who generally still sound like our ancestors (2012).

This proves that if individuals are letting their naivety get the best of them and are thinking

poorly of individuals solely on their accent, individuals likely can do the same thing to one

another based on their background and racial diversity. During our discussion for these week five

readings, we evaluated and discussed the different Englishes as well as how othering is produced

from them. Elizabeth Schafer highlights an important point made by one of the authors in the

readings:

I didn’t know that people have been encouraged to not speak a different language

at school and were being taught how to properly speak. This is hurtful and

suggests one culture/ language to be domina[nt] (2019).

In conclusion, racial diversity should be and is one of the most beautiful things that our

country has to offer; it is what makes our country whole and unique giving individuals of all

kinds opportunity. It is unfortunate that racial diversity, in some cases, are negative and hurtful

toward these individuals. Diversity is beautiful and gives our communities character; diversity is

truly one of our greatest strengths. That being said, negative effects of racial diversity will likely

always be relevant. Throughout this semester, photos, essays, videos, speeches, etc, have all

given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge on such important and sensitive issues. The
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third threshold concept I feel has been the most beneficial to my learning; being able to read

stories and feel emotions through captured moments in photographs has enabled me to

understand cultures around the world to a certain extent without having much experience with it.

Before taking this course I was fairly naive and uninformed on most of these topics. These

concepts I have been taught and the learning outcomes I have achieved I will carry throughout

my life to better react and understand diversity in writing, movies, cultures, communities, etc.
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Works Cited

“Barack Obama's Speech on Race.” ​The New York Times​, The New York Times, 18 Mar.

2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18text-obama.html.

Frederick, Douglass. “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” 5 July 1852.

M, Rob. “A Quick Lesson on Southern Linguistics.” YouTube, 3 Nov. 2012,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=mNqY6ftqGq0&feature=emb_titl

Schafer, Elizabeth. Week 5 Discussion. 16 Sep. 2019.

“The Origin of Race in the USA.” ​PBS​, Public Broadcasting Service, 7 May 2018,

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-origin-of-race-in-the-usa-wbm41s/.