Let’s Put Our Heads Together

Two heads are better than one.

– English Proverb

Gene StoweMany members of the dominant group in a society might consider the focus on diversity an unwelcome imposition, a superfluous “right thing to do” that interferes with the efficient functioning of institutions, and a burdensome layer of politically correctness that hampers the once-easy flow of camaraderie among themselves. Like the tree-hugging sector of the environmental movement, some diversity advocates exacerbate the problem with moralistic attempts at motivation, appealing to emotions and “values” that they imagine all human beings share. But like energy sustainability, diversity offers high returns on an investment that is vital for our economic and social future – the countdown is close for the day when we become a majority-minority country – far more important than the self-satisfied or annoyed feelings it might now engender. Diversity is as critical for the well-being of the dominant group and of the society as a whole as it is for the well-being of the minority groups included.

The benefits for minority groups are perhaps more self-evident. In many cases, they have been systematically marginalized, their pressing needs and their potential contributions ignored. The long American history of oppression and exclusion of the Other – Native Americans, African-Americans, Chinese, Irish, Japanese, Mormons, Catholics, Muslims – by the dominant northern Europeans has deprived those people of basic rights and dignities, including the dignity of opportunity to make a positive impact on the larger society. Ending segregation and discrimination, treating each person as an equal citizen, is worthwhile in itself. But it is far from the only benefit of embracing diversity.

The dominant group has much to gain from interacting with minorities. Learning happens in an exchange of ideas – new answers come from new questions, and new questions from encountering new perspectives. When a single group dominates the society with its ideas unchallenged, without the occasion to develop and deliver a fresh account of its enduring identity in each generation, those ideas fossilize and atrophy. The hierarchy of importance in a set of beliefs begins to collapse, and issues that might have been considered trivial in the presence of vigorous challenged become outsized. Try to imagine Jesus or Paul, in the face of Jewish and Roman opposition, contemplating how many angels could dance on the head of a pin, as their claimed successors did in a Europe where basic beliefs, unchallenged, had become wallpaper. Over time, unquestioned authority becomes the source of its own rot, as restless and bored minds warp the original values all out of proportion, pursuing ever more hairsplitting topics for argument because the arguments for vital ideas have long been settled. Intellectual stimulation from the outside – inclusion of the Other in the dialogue – can help maintain perspective. Even if the men standing next to the elephant are not blind, they do not have the ability to see the whole in the way that the observer at some distance can describe. The creature is not only not wall, spear, snake, tree, fan or rope – it is also not all side, tusk, trunk, leg, ear or tail. The handlers can gain much by talking to each other, and they can gain another dimension by talking to the observer who is both disinterested and interested.

The society as a whole has much to gain from embracing diversity, and not only because both the minorities and the dominant group benefit individually. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The modern world faces challenges too big and too complex for any one person or any one group to solve. No mind, no perspective, no set of experiences should be excluded from the conversation – all must be given a fair hearing, even when the eventual solution lies elsewhere. Failure to include is a luxury we can no longer afford.  The problems are global, the solutions must come from all over the globe, and the benefits of discovery must be distributed globally. The United States has a strong competitive advantage in this enterprise: we are the closest to a microcosm of global diversity of any country on Earth, both because of our breadth of citizenship and because of those we welcome to our universities and workplaces. Leveraging that diversity, putting those persons together in an environment of respect and dialogue to understand each other and the world in new ways, would unleash creativity and innovation that would go a long way to solving our problems, and the world’s.