Last semester, I decided to take a break from my many business courses and venture to the prettier side of campus to learn a bit about social psychology from Rupert Nacoste. For those of you who don’t know, Nacoste and his class on social psychology are renowned here on campus. I would wager that the chance of you not knowing someone who has taken this class or would like to is extremely small. In his class, we had the opportunity to discuss our relationships – which provided an eye-opening glimpse into the mistakes that all adolescents make along the way – as well as diversity.
Because of my interest in these topics, I decided to check out the Spring Diversity Dialogue featuring Howl of the Wolf. At the event, a group of students from “Wake Up It’s Serious: A Campaign for Change” performed skits and then led student-to-student discussions regarding the issues and incidents that occurred in Howl of the Wolf – most of which deal with intolerance or ignorance in the realm of diversity.
While discussing the issues of diversity, some people in the crowd suggested that the reason for rude and ignorant racial slurs might be because people aren’t always exposed to different races. It is difficult to argue this point because just walking around the brickyard, you will notice clusters of groups that have similarities, whether it may be language, religion or skin color – it is only natural. Therefore, despite the diversity that our school has to offer, it is incredibly easy to stay close to people that you find to be similar.
However, I think that saying the reason why inappropriate slurs are thrown around so frequently is because people may not be immediately exposed to those of different backgrounds, is a bit of a copout. Instead, the real culprit – I feel – is not the lack of exposure but the lack of desire to be exposed.
I grew up in an environment that lacked a lot of diversity, so much so that my half-Irish, half-Peruvian, fair-skinned self was considered diverse. Being that I went to Catholic school, I was never around people who didn’t share the same religious beliefs as me. Although I may not have grown up surrounded by people of incredibly varied backgrounds, I feel like I still received the teachings of how to be respectful and to never say any sort of comment that might be taken as offensive.
It is important to know that you can easily sit back and use the excuse that you have not been exposed to different groups of people as the reason why you might appear ignorant from time to time. But it is more important to know that you can teach yourself things – you can broaden your own horizons and better yourself by engaging in relationships with diverse groups of people. Take the opportunity to travel or study abroad, take an interest in different cultures and increase your exposure. Not only will it make you more knowledgeable about different backgrounds, but it will also make you a more respectable person.
