Do They want diversity?

Note to self: some cultures and some households do not wear street shoes indoors. Make sure you wear clean and no-hole socks or stockings in case you have to take off your shoes. Luckily, I did.

Yesterday's dinner was in a home that did not wear shoes indoors. The last time I was at a school parent gathering where this was the case, it was a family choice, not a cultural practice. I remember how much conversation surrounded this request to remove ones shoes and also how disarming it seemed to the group. Women, usually raised up by heels, were suddenly eye to eye with other women; suddenly noticeably shorter than some men. Some people were uncomfortably undressed in their bare feet. Last night, in stocking feet, bare feet or slippers provided by the host, everyone seemed to take it in stride without a comment.

We settled in for the "presentation" part of the evening, a formal introduction of the school personnel in the room and expressions of appreciation to all who had helped with the evening. The respect for the process was palpable in the silence that embraced the speaker. Everyone sat with a view of the speakers and listened as each spoke in turn. It was such a familiar scene from my childhood when my parents would gather with friends brought together by a common group membership for an evening that often included some kind of formal discussion or presentation by members of the group.

During the question and answer portion, one parent asked the question, "Do They want the diversity we bring to the group? How do They feel about having us in the school?" It was a question raised by an Asian parent who described his Asian peers as a homogeneous group, but as a minority group that brings diversity to an institution that has purposely increased its racial and ethnic diversity in recent years. Now, with a student population identified as made up of 30% students of color (non-Caucasian), this parent raises a question that reveals his personal lens and reminds us that diversity may be a good thing if it gives you access, but not necessarily if it reduces Their access. There was a bit of uncertainty in his voice that may also have been asking, "Do we belong here?"

Homogeneity is an interesting thing. The face of a group may give it the appearance of homogeneity - same race, same color hair, same dress - but once you get inside the group the homogeneity loses a bit of its sheen and shows a texture that lives below the surface. Dig a little and small differences begin to distinguish individuals in the group. Dig deep enough and you discover the diversity within the group.

If we can get to that more permeable, more fluid texture below the surface, can we shift the conversation from Us and Them or Majority and Minority to something that better represents the complexity of the question at hand?