BY JIM TAYLOR
Have you ever seen any evidence that diversity has merit?
Many of our institutions keep telling us that there is some great value in diversity, without telling us exactly what diversity means or what its value is.
Our U.S. history is full of examples wherein diversity was a goal which allowed the exclusion or inclusion of ethnicities considered (by the elite) to be in either excess or in deficiency.
It is now common knowledge that Asian students have superior test scores in U.S. universities in comparison to scores of other ethnicities.
It is also common knowledge that a bias against Asian students has been instigated in some universities to permit more students of other ethnicities to enroll.
Were I permitted to oversee admissions, my priority would be to admit those most qualified to succeed, regardless of ethnicity. Thus, my university would see its prestige soar at the expense of competing schools.
Could it be that the universities are protecting themselves against the racism or prejudices they
perceive in those who might hire their future graduates?
Or is it the prejudices or racism within the university itself that discriminates in admissions?
Our court system has ambiguously proclaimed that racial quotas are banned as a criterion of admission, but that universities can use the word diversity to achieve the exact same goal (You can have racial quotas if you don’t call it by that name?).
Diversity could mean diversity of race, belief, gender, political affiliations and/or preferences, etc. If we consider these either individually or separately, I am at a loss to see diversity as any benefit to any culture or nation, if there is free communication between individuals of all cultures.
It should be for the individual to decide what culture best fits his criteria of reality; the university staff and admissions faculty should clearly state the policies and criteria regarding admission, which may or may not be related to diversity.
Diversity has an influence of dividing a group into factions according to the differences between the factions; thus, the group develops divergencies weakening the cohesion and effectiveness of the group in those endeavors where unity is important.
Diversity between cultural factions regarding fundamental beliefs can be intolerably incompatible. Islamic belief is incompatible with Western values as reflected in the Declaration
of Independence, the Constitution of the USA and the laws of the various States therein. American values demand individual freedom economically and personally which cannot be realized by those who adhere to the Koran and/or Shariah.
As Forrest Gump might say: Diversity is as diversity does; some things just don’t mix well. One of the defining differences between humans and other animals is the human power of discrimination. It’s what we do! There is no escape from this power if we are human. The more we are told not to discriminate, the more we do it.
Either we do it accurately or inaccurately; but we will discriminate.
Present public policy seems to discriminate against white men, even though these will be a minority by year 2050. I see in the news where even the Boy Scouts are to be no more, even though the Girls Scouts will continue.
The wish of thought police to control what we think is doomed to failure, no matter what ridiculous numbers they try to force into any given population or university.
You should check out what my mentors, Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell have to say about diversity.
Jim N. Taylor is a local resident who regularly is published in the Valley Morning Star.
