Diversity is to be respected

The Webutuck School District's Diversity Day and the International Potluck Dinner, held March 27, dealt with important issues of our day: the equality among all people in our nation, regardless of national origin, race, religion or creed. It's an issue, along with gender, that is playing out in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

What better time to bring up and discuss these matters with the impressionable young? This is when their minds are being imprinted with what is right and what is wrong. This is when they can best learn how important it is to be tolerant of all people, to respect and embrace differences. This is when children should be exposed to various cultures, and taught to appreciate their subtle and their not-so-subtle differences.

We applaud Webutuck for its efforts, which we hope are recognized by the general public as well. Everyone can benefit from a good lesson on accepting others and on keeping an open mind. Webutuck is doing its best to instill that belief system among everyone on its campus; let’s hope it continues to do so with such enthusiasm.

The Pine Plains School District is also teaching the value of accepting diversity through its annual student exchange program with China. Students and teachers get to travel to the Far East to learn about an entirely different culture from their own.

The exposure to such a drastically different way of life can only be of benefit to the high schoolers who participate in the program, as well as to their adult chaperones. The trip offers a priceless life lesson to its participants, who would probably not have the opportunity to observe another culture at such close quarters otherwise. It’s a great program the school offers to its students, one which should be recognized for its social value as well as for its academic teachings.

The school system also welcomes students from China every year. They visit Pine Plains to learn about life in America. Just as our students do on their turf, they study our culture and customs. Again, the exposure to a different way of life can only serve to broaden their young minds. It also further improves the minds of young and old alike in Pine Plains, who can develop relationships with the exchange students while they’re visiting the Harlem Valley.

The bottom line is: Exposure to different cultures expands our minds and should make us more compassionate and understanding of our fellow humans. We should not live in a vacuum, where we are the only ones who matter. Americans have a reputation for being rather ethno-centric. We need to work hard at changing that impression worldwide, while ensuring that we remain open-minded and open-armed to people from all over the globe.

You are not alone here, none of us are. It’s good to remember that when dealing with all the other people with whom you share space on this Earth, the Golden Rule is that you want people to keep an open mind when dealing with you as well. It’s really important we accept others as they are, and who would want everyone to be the same?

Diversity is a good thing.

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