Diversity Worksheet

1. What is diversity? Why is diversity valued?

Diversity is the state of fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness. It is the differences in backgrounds and traits. It’s the variation from person to person in regards to their age, race, ethnicity, physical capabilities, religious beliefs and more recently sexual orientation. Diversity is valued because as a society we’re in search of enrichment, experiences, and acceptance. How many times have you applied for employment and on the application it states “Equal Employment Opportunity”? It’s because of our diversity that businesses are able to thrive; we’re able to reach communities that were otherwise unreachable. Diversity is valued because it’s what makes our communities unique; it’s what makes our communities successful.

2. What is ethnocentrism? In what ways can ethnocentrism be detrimental to a society?

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture. Ethnocentrism can be detrimental to a society because it leads to cultural misinterpretations, premature judgments and irrational thoughts. Take for instance the case of the suicide of Tyler Clementi. His roommate Dharun Ravi bullied him via social media based on Clementi’s sexual orientation, one of the many groups used to identify people. Ravi’s ethnocentric belief that he was better than Clementi because Clementi was homosexual and he was not is what may have pushed Clementi over the edge causing him to commit suicide. Ethnocentric beliefs are harmful to our society.

3. Define emigration and immigration.

Emigration is the act of leaving ones country or region to settle in another, whereas immigration is the act of coming to a country, usually for permanent residence. An extremely high percent of Americans are decedents of immigrants who came to the United States. In 1994, my parents, my sister and I emigrated from Trinidad and immigrated to the United States.

4. What are some of the ways groups of people are identified?

There are several ways that groups of people are identified. For starters, and probably the most obvious, is the racial group. The racial group is where people are identified by the physical characteristics, whether the person is white, black, Asian, etc. Then there’s the ethnic group. Many people confuse ethnic and race. Ethnicity is based on the person’s origin, therefore in this group we’d categorize people according to where their ancestors are from. For instance, the person’s race would be white, but ethnically they are Polish American. Thirdly, there’s the religion grouping. The religious group is self explanatory; the group is divided into different religions, whether it’s Christianity, Muslim, Hinduism, Catholicism, Judaism, etc. Last but certainly not least, another way groups of people are identified is gender. Obviously, there’s the difference between men and women, but more recently now we have transgender and transsexual. Other groups include age, disability, and social class.

5. Why do people label and group other people?

People label and group other people because throughout our lives we grow up experiencing the adults that surround us doing the same. There are many groups that teach their children to hate other groups. For instance, after the 9/11 tragedy I’ll never forget walking into the grocery with my parents and a little boy pointing to my father and calling him a terrorist. Rather than his mother explain to him right at that moment that not everyone that is “brown” is a terrorist, she just looked at my father, rolled her eyes and pulled her little boy away. I believe people label and group other people because they are uninformed to the facts of the other’s culture, religion, race, etc. grouping they’re categorizing people in. Rather than learn facts, they’d rather assume.