High: °
Low: °
Chance of precipitation:


Friday, October 20 Opinion

Dante Minichetti op-ed: The beauty of diversity

Editor’s note: Greenwich High School junior Dante Minichetti won third place in the town’s eighth annual diversity writing contest.

Diversity, as defined by Merriam-Webster, states that it is “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements.” The English Learner’s Dictionary says that it means, “the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.” One definition connotes race and ethnicity, while the other conjures up workplace and data. The word “diversity” triggers anxiety and conflict these days because it is most commonly aligned with politics and the social issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. It is a term that positions the white, male American against all the other people. These days, the emphasis and obsession with identity has us embroiled in contentious situations that allow the word to take on different definitions depending on who is doing the talking; the context dictates the meaning.

As a racially mixed person in Greenwich, it is easier to be noticed than it is to blend. My mother’s nickname for me when I was little was “Nabi,” which means butterfly; a butterfly flutters between being noticed and being camouflaged against its environment because of its colors. Each day, I flit back and forth between attractiveness and invisibility, for better or for worse, because of my physical traits. I can be just as easily the center of attention as I can be anonymous and overlooked; some people embrace me for who I am, while others ignore me because I am not white enough, not athletic enough, too studious, too creative, et cetera, et cetera. Hence, the word “diversity” is more like a chameleon than a butterfly. A chameleon changes its color according to its surroundings.

The National Population Census is an interpretive document that allows us to choose the race and ethnicity we personally identify with. Despite the many more boxes to select from, it is still a collection of data that ties us to politics and socioeconomic brackets. Many of the countless demonstrations that we see today showcase messages about social correctness. They are a reflection of how people are feeling when they have been given a choice to choose who they are, but then are made to feel like that information is separate from the choice made for them because of their physical traits. In a New York Times opinion article, Allyson Hobbs includes this statement from Rachel Dolezal, leader of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the NAACP, “It is a fiction, a social construct based on culture and not biology. It must be ‘made’ from what people believe and do. (Hobbs). Race is performative.” As intermarriages and trans-racial adoptions become more common, true identity is becoming more ambiguous and difficult to define. We are rapidly becoming a majority minority, as the National Population Census will soon reveal.

Read Full Article 

The outcome of the recent presidential election is another example of how people feel that their choices did not really matter. They were given the right to vote, but conspiracy pervades in that the decision had already been made even before the polls even closed. We see the diversity politics going on within the selection process for the White House Cabinet as well; House Democrats and Republicans struggle against one another, even within their own parties, on every issue for fear of consequences if like-minded or non-like-minded members are selected. Diversity is clearly better suited for an intellectual platform than it is a political one.

When I was in preschool, there were days when I just didn’t want to go; it was hard for me to go because I felt very out of place. My mother, however, insisted on my attendance because it would make me a better person. Today, I continue to be enriched by science, math, literature, history, foreign language, and the arts, and I am grateful for this. I draw upon the inherent cohesiveness of these classes to make healthy and independent decisions. Each day tests my ethical and moral soundness, but it is good to practice civility and selflessness every day. The broad foundation of my knowledge keeps me aware of social and global concerns at all times because it is part of who I am.

We are smarter because of diversity. It makes us think more creatively and work more diligently, and it challenges our passion and perseverance to come up with novel and alternative ideas; this can only happen when we engage with people who have different and new perspectives from our own. When we want to develop an idea, we want the very best minds to participate in helping us to achieve that goal. We work hard to gather information, and we work even harder to find the people with the expertise we need. Innovative ideas cannot be born from homogeneity.

I am unique and I am diverse. My family embraces the uniqueness of the individual, and believes in accepting diversity in all its forms. I firmly support that the goal of good education is to build good character. It is crucial that we continue to learn so that we can understand diversity for all the positive strength and power it holds as it relates to what it means to be truly human. Therefore, a tolerant and compassionate acceptance for diversity will promote world awareness for the good of all human beings.