Subscribe
to the E-Star!

Stop teaching diversity, start teaching sameness

By Theresa Wilson / Guest Commentary

(Updated: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 4:26 PM)

Rights -- we all have them -- I'll call them human rights. We have the right to breathe the air, we have the right to drink earth's water, to farm its land -- we have the right to pursue our dreams, the right to liberty, the right to live where we want, the right to freedom of speech, to work in the profession we choose, listen to music of our choice, and to go to the church, synagogue or mosque of our choice.

So, why is it that we think it is now OK to openly segregate ourselves and claim discrimination so easily? How have we gotten here?

Segregation ended when Rosa Parks got on that bus Dec. 1, 1955 ... yet here we are today in 2012 returning to segregation, this time self-induced. And when we segregate ourselves whether we are African American, Asian, gay or lesbian, disabled, rich or poor or somewhere in between, Christian, atheist, Catholic, Republican or Democrat, and so on we further decimate our rights as human beings.

Each time we work to be politically correct we are chipping away at our freedom of speech -- is that what we want? As children we were taught to place nice, put things back, say kind things and when we did something wrong we were appropriately reprimanded. Can we go back to that please?

Every industry seems to do it, from the various Association of Realtors which I am a member of, to the unions, schools and churches. I believe the intent was good at the onset, however the segregation is clear: we have the Asian group, Hispanic group, gay and lesbian group, and so on. If we all came there for the same reason, to protect personal property rights, how did we venture so far as to segregate ourselves internally, hence adding to the overall segregation of society?

I believe that in order for this to stop, we need to revisit the Preamble of the United States Constitution and reincorporate it back into our daily lives:

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

So how is it that the unions have survived? Haven't they outgrown their needs if we all have human rights and the right to equal employment and fair compensation under the law? If that is so then the unions have outlived their usefulness and in fact have become top heavy. Has anyone looked at the compensation packages of those leaders? Perhaps the self-interest will become evident and those paying those hefty union dues would instead decide to have that money in their pockets to do what they desire with it, whether supporting a particular candidate or not and so on.

I also believe that the two party system has outlived its usefulness ... all we have done is created two ways of thinking, now isn't that restrictive? We have far more ideas and ways to do things, but we are afraid of change as evidenced in a third party, whether Independent, Libertarian or others not being able to succeed in elections, why is that? Well my opinion is that we are forced with picking what I term as the lesser of two evils ... how sad is that?

Now having said that, we all need representation in one form or another for one reason or another and I believe that it boils down to this:

We as human beings also have responsibilities that go along with our rights. We have the responsibility when we take a job whether in the private or public sector to do our best, be fair in our practices, and be honest in our dealings and to put our individual desires/egos aside to better serve those that have elected /hired us to represent them. We have strayed so far from this I realize that it will take a number of years to correct our course. It starts with one of us saying it out loud ... I am doing my part ... can you do yours?

Do you really want someone to represent you that has their own agenda, in essence someone that has not been totally honest with you, told you what you wanted to hear in order to garner your support?

And why are we spending so much money on campaigns to smear one another? The politicians are essentially buying your vote. In the end, are you really getting a good return on your investment?

The distraction it creates does not allow us to really see what that person can do. It is written: let those that live in a glass house cast the first stone. We have all made mistakes of some kind. We must look at the issues in addition to the candidates, and they must be honest with us or they cannot be allowed to serve. It is time for each and every one of us to get honest and demand honesty from those that serve us as our elected officials. It is time for us to agree to disagree when our views are different and not be hurtful or vengeful or try to cram each other's idea's or beliefs onto each other.

Thomas Jefferson had it right when he warned more than 200 years ago:

"In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Let us all look at the big picture, how what we do right now will affect our future generations. Let's take the time necessary to make the right decision and then make it. If we are truly working for the good of all mankind then that decision we made will surely prevail in the end. We need to stop segregating ourselves from each other and it needs to stop now!

I have friends/associates from all walks of life, from different ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, political beliefs, gay and lesbian, rich and poor, I do not look at them differently, I look at them as people, are they are good honest people, empathetic, genuine, someone I want to spend time with, work with, learn with. I say we need to stop teaching diversity and start teaching sameness.