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Diversity: Advantages and Challenges

Jeremy Jones

ETH/120

April 30, 2018

Judith Rozarie
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Diversity: Advantages and Challenges

The United States have always been a place where there are many different people, races,

and cultures, that have been living amongst each other since this country was founded. Diversity

is describes as having different people from different races, and cultures and should be taught to

young people as they are growing up. Diversity has many great advantages but can also have

many challenges as well.

My Own Racial, Ethnic, or Cultural History

I really do not know a whole lot abut my own racial, ethnic, or cultural history in all

honesty. I can really only say that I am an African American male, I am not sure exactly where

my roots start from, but I do know where my mom and dad are from. I have lived in Detroit MI

all my life, but my mom and dad are southerners; moms from Tennessee and my dad is from

South Carolina. The only language that I have ever know is English, and that goes for the entire

family. I do plan on trying to find out more about my heritage and where my descendants

actually came from, it is going to be a challenge, but I am very interested because after doing this

assignment it shows me how little I know about my own ethnic or cultural history and where I

come from. I’m not even really sure if I am from a mixed race or not. In my daily life, I am

surround by many different cultures, but only at my place of work,

Diversity Information in the United States

I do not think that I have ever had a real problem with diversity, whether at my job or in

my neighborhood, or anywhere, I welcome everyone. Diversity can come in many forms:

variations of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, customs, style, and age; almost anything

that sets people apart and creates difference amongst a population or area. Gladly I have never
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had a problem with this, you are who you are. The only thing that I did learn is that although I

am not surrounded by it in my neighborhood, I know that people are different everywhere, and

diversity is always going to be a part of your daily lives. I also learned that you have to be

respectful of those that are different and that no matter what, people are to be treated equally

despite the differences in language, cultures, gender, religion or more; no one is alike. I do not

know a lot about my own culture, but I have learned about other diverse people and the

challenges they have experienced.

The U.S. Population in 2050

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In the year 2050, there will me any changes in the Unites States that will shift religion,

life expectancy, and race and ethnicity. According to Bump; a writer from the Washing Post,

suggest that the Hispanic population will grow drastically. The life expectancy age will go up

and people will be living longer, and most people will identify with unaffiliated and consider

themselves categorized with any particular religion. (Bump, 2015)

Diversity Challenge in the United States

The biggest challenge that I can see with diversity in the United States is that because so

many people So many people feel entitled to a certain way of life or feel they need to be treated a

certain way because of their beliefs or how they were brought up It causes a major problem with

how people live amongst each other and get along. Society is still filled with people who have so

much hatred for others because of the colors of their skin, religion, culture, or whether they are

male or female and it makes it hard for people to maintain any type of unity toward each other.

According to Rosegrant (2015), “"The United States is in the midst of a pivotal period ushering

in extraordinary shifts in the nation's racial demographic makeup," Frey said. "With the right

planning, these demographic changes will let the country face the future with growth and vitality

as it reinvents the American melting pot for a new era." This means that the United States will

possibly continue to face challenges because there is so much more diversity that this country

has coming in the future.

Benefits of a Diverse Society

The benefits of having a diverse society allows people to be able to learn different things

about another person’s life, beliefs, and their culture. Being diverse means to recognize that

everyone is different so some way or another, and that it is ok to have differences and that we
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have to learn to respect them and with the differences and learn how to live amongst each other.

Having diversity around you is beneficial in many ways and can be a great learning experience

from religion, language, arts, food, to just simple everyday living which also allows another way

for people to interact with each other by learning something that has never been experienced, or

in most cases never even heard of. Its hard in the beginning to know anyone but to keep an open

mind about learning another person’s life and their way of living can be a good way to stop a lot

of discrimination amongst everyone.

Benefits of a Diverse Workforce

People working together in the workforce have to learn how to maintain a work

relationship, and when you add several different diversities amongst each other, it could possibly

create a good working environment and provides many benefits to a company just by the

different skills and ideas that are presented. According to Deering (n.d.), “Here are a few of the

top benefits or diversity in the workplace.” Good benefits to help an organization is very

important.

 Talents, skills and experiences - Individuals from diverse backgrounds can offer a

selection of different talents, skills and experiences, that may be of benefit to the

organization and their work performance.

 It creates innovation - By working alongside people of different backgrounds,

experiences and working styles, creative concepts can be born from bouncing ideas off of

each other and offering feedback and suggestions.

 Language skills can open doors for a business - Representing a number of nationalities

within your company can also help to make it more relatable

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 It grows your talent pool - A company who embraces diversity will attract a wider range

of candidates to their vacancies.

 Improves employee performance - Employees are more likely to feel comfortable and

happy in an environment where inclusivity is a priority.

Acceptance and Cultural Pluralism

Acceptance and teaching how to accept starts early in life. If this is taught to children as

they grow up in their early school years about the differences in people and their cultures, they

will understand that its alright for people to have different colors, and personalities, and beliefs

and live different and they will know that it is accepting and normal. We can also foster a climate

of acceptance and cultural pluralism by being civil to one another. People feel that they have the

right to do and say whatever they want to people, whether its is disrespectful, or discriminative,

or rude and it should not be acceptable. One people learn this, then acceptance and cultural

pluralism will be easy.

Reduce Prejudice and Increase Appreciation

Unfortunately, prejudice has a very strong influence on many people and how they react

to others; especially because of differences they may have. It isn’t something that is going away

anytime soon and can not be ignored. In order for prejudice to be reduced people should just

once put themselves in another person’s situation and think about how they would react and

maybe they would get a better understanding of what another person goes through in life. To

increase appreciation of each other people need to focus on being kind to one another and get out

of the comfort zone that allows only one way to think about others that are different. Recognize a

persons full worth oppose to knocking them down, and letting them know that they are fully
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appreciated. Letting a person know the value within themselves shows great appreciate and can

make a world of difference of how people in the United States get along professionally and

personally on a daily basis.

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References

Bump, P. (2015). What America will look like in 2050, in 4 charts. The Washington Post.

Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/04/03/what-

america-will-look-like-in-2050-less-christian-less-white-more-gray/?

noredirect=on&utm_term=.5234961630e0

Deering, S. (n.d.). What Are the Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace? Undercover Recruiter.

Retrieved from https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/benefits-diversity-workplace/

Rosegrant, S. (2015). Opportunities-and Some Challenges-Face More Racially Diverse United

States. Michigan News. Retrieved from http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/22710-

opportunities-and-some-challenges-face-more-racially-diverse-united-states