In an email I received from Geneen Marie Haugen of the Animas Institute, she asks, ”What wildly possible world can you envision?” My answer?
I envision a world where, in every place, we cherish diversity in human cultures and the non-human world.
Let’s take a closer look at diversity – what it means and why I believe it’s powerful and essential. What is diversity? Dictionary definitions offer a glance or cursory look at a word. Merriam-Webster defines diversity as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements; variety, such as the inclusion of different types of people (races or cultures) in a group or organization.” Maybe a look at synonyms will take us deeper. They include: contrast, difference, disagreement, discrepancy, disparateness, disparity, dissimilarity, dissimilitude, distance, distinction, distinctiveness, distinctness, diverseness, otherness, unlikeness. Wow, a lot of dis’s in there. Dis is a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force. In other words, “otherness.”
What if diversity was a uniting force?
The Greater Good Magazine says that “diversity” is an obvious fact of human life — namely, that there are many different kinds of people in the world. And that diversity drives cultural, economic, and social vitality and innovation. Their research suggests that intolerance of diversity hurts our well-being and ability to thrive. Research also shows that differences do make it harder for people to empathize with each other, but this is a prosocial skill that can be cultivated over a lifetime.
Global Diversity Practice speaks about diversity in terms of empowerment and respect for differences. This goes beyond tolerance to truly valuing differences. They say there is power in diversity.
The Truth about Diversity – and why it Matters (Forbes) says that “Study after study has shown that diversity leads to more creative teams and increases a company’s bottom line.”
Diversity in the Non-Human World
“The geologian Thomas Berry saw that the universe and Earth community seem to intend, or trend toward, increasing differentiation (diversity); subjectivity (consciousness); and communion (or intimate relationship).” ~ Geneen Marie Haugen via Coursera and The Worldview of Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry was a visionary who helped me to see the non-human world in a whole new way. He emphasized that earth was primary and humans derivative; not the way we normally think or act. Diversity (or differentiation, “no two snowflakes are alike”) is one of three fundamental ways the Universe operates and thrives.
When speaking of the natural world, we often refer to biodiversity. According to this article from the Guardian, “biodiversity is the most complex feature of our planet and the mAs humans, we need biodiversity to survive as a species. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all rely on biodiversity. An ecosystem is made up of interactions that have evolved over millions of years. When these interactions are not damaged, the ecosystem stays healthy and balanced. however, we’re currently experiencing biodiversity loss at unprecedented levels, such that some scientists are calling it the sixth mass extinction. It’s not yet clear how much can be lost before there is ecological collapse. This is all to say how important and powerful diversity is to ecosystems, which include humans.
Supporters of the deep ecology movement, respect the inherent value of all living beings and the richness of diversity. This naturally leads to a critique of industrial monocultures, where the Earth is seen only as a collection of raw materials to be used to satisfy consumption and production. Monocultures destroy cultural and biological diversity in the name of profit.
Humility is an essential piece of deep ecology and a contemplative habit. It’s about adopting a stance of equanimity and seeing the intrinsic worth of everything, including ourselves. How do we demonstrate humility? Through love, respect, service, and compassion for all beings, as well as ourselves. Humility is the essence of letting things and people be as they are and we’re meant to be. Deep ecology reflects humility in its vision of humans as being only one strand in an intricate web of life. All of creation deserves care and respect. Through humility, we see all of life as gift. We know that our actions have consequences and that maximizing economic self-interest causes damage.
Racial and Cultural Diversity
So many organizations offer diversity training, yet systemic racism still exists. Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become buzzwords and, as Resmaa Menakem, a racial trauma specialist, says below, when we speak of each of these, there’s an implied norm and that norm is white culture and white spaces.
“I said, “How many people in here believe in diversity?” Everybody shot their hands up. Boom. Everybody. I said, “Answer this one next question.” And I said, “Don’t bring your hands down; answer this question. Diverse from what?” Because when you say “diversity,” that means you start someplace first, and then you diversify from it. Hands start coming down, because we all know it, intrinsically. But if you don’t say it, then it’s not operational. And white comfort trumps my liberation.“ ~ Resmaa Menakem via On Being
We live on a planet with 9 billion human beings of different colours, ethnicities, cultures, and beliefs. How glorious is that? Why do we create hierarchies of value? Why do we economically and socially exploit some over others? I believe the primary answer is greed. And that leads to a very limited and shallow life. Nature thrives with more diversity, which means we humans do too. Which brings me to Ibram X Kendi’s powerful work, How to be an Antiracist. His envisions integration as voluntary and valuing cultural differences and shared humanity. It should be about equity of resources rather than bodies. All people in solidarity would support and protect integrated racial spaces and nurture difference among racial groups.
“The logical conclusion of antiracist strategy is open and equal access to all public accommodations, open access to all integrated White spaces, integrated Middle Eastern spaces, integrated Black spaces, integrated Latinx spaces, integrated Native spaces, and integrated Asian spaces that are as equally resourced as they are culturally different. All these spaces adjoin civic spaces of political and economic and cultural power, from a House of Representatives to a school board to a newspaper editorial board where no race predominates, where shared antiracist power predominates. This is diversity, something integrationists value only in name.“ ~ Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Antiracist
This book has made me reflect more on the spaces I’ve inhabited throughout my life and the lack of diversity in these spaces. This limits my worldview on race and culture. Over the past few years I’ve tried to make my consumption of media more diverse – through books, movies, tv shows, podcasts, music, and who I follow online. Like expanding my photographic subject matter, this practice has enriched my world in many ways.
Geneen Marie Haugen followed up her question about the world you envision with a second one. “What small or large movement can you make toward that world now — a movement that does not require money that you don’t have nor are expecting to have?” Here’s what I’m currently doing to cherish diversity in nature and cultures. It’s a start.
* Focusing on the place where I live – noticing the lack of race diversity, getting to know the birds, animals, trees, and plants of my area.
* Reading books, watching movies, or listening to podcasts by diverse voices. Here are links to my reading lists for Black and Indigenous voices. Listen to Seeing White series (Scene on Radio) and Ibram X Kendi on Brene Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us.
* Donating to Black and Indigenous organizations.
* Following and amplifying Black and Indigenous voices in order to better understand the issues so that I can vote effectively to help dismantle structural racism.