Diversity, Unity

An Argument For Both

By Andrew Meblin, copyright March 30, 2025

In the 1970’s some cars wore bumper stickers that read, “Honor Diversity.” That phrase was followed by, “Celebrate Diversity.” The first one sat just fine in my mind, but the second one, at the time, bothered me. Why should I “celebrate” differences? What was it about diversity that was good for me? I surely felt that honoring people’s differences was a laudable character trait, but did I really need to throw them a party?

The answer I felt bubble up came years later, as I began teaching at Richmond High School, a Title I school, meaning poverty and adversity were more common than at other schools. In a massive room within the school, there was the Student Center, the former auto repair classroom, with four giant roll-up doors, and giant power cords that could be unrolled from reels attached to the ceiling, perhaps 20 feet from the floor.

A huge mural decorated one wall, in the style similar to that of graffiti artist, but really good graffiti artists. It featured fierce looking Aztec warriors, if I can correctly recall. What stood out though were two words above the art work, in letters maybe three feet tall, “Diversity” and “Unity.” And just like that, I got it.

The subject I was teaching at the time was Cultural Geography, a homemade course, a product of the English Language Arts teachers and Social Science teachers, with the guidance of a consultant hired from outside the school district. Teachers had met, when I’m not sure because it pre-dated my hire date, and the curriculum was written and readings selected to create a student reader like some college classes made you buy. A collection of articles and reports, graphs, and charts, and book excerpts, and newspaper stories, were bound together in soft-cover style, printed and bound at the district print shop.

Richmond High School was at the time very diverse in student population. Contrary to the assumptions by others, the school was not a Black school, but the demographics were mixed, diverse. We had Black students, Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorans, and Nicaraguans, Hmong, Iu Mien, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino, a few Pacific Islanders, and 12 White students.

In the Cultural Geography curriculum there were 10 units created, most of which were focused on the people—indigenous and immigrant—who came and went, to and from, Richmond, the Bay Area, California, and finally looking at the entire West Coast. The first unit was devoted to topics of general geography, a refresher for some, a first exposure for others. Hemispheres, latitude and longitude, continents, the themes of geography—Place, Location, Movement, Human/Environment Interaction, and Region—as well as a basic, at first, and then in-depth look into the maps of the Bay Area, and California. We were big on projects. Teaching 9^th graders how to conduct one’s self in high school was a goal as well.

The final Unit was named something like “Bringing It All Back Together,” or some similar title. This unit was often rushed, because timing was difficult. One did not just rush over any immigrant group’s time on the table. And by the time mid-May came around, students were acting a bit zany.

To demonstrate my newly discovered theory that Diversity Plus Unity Equals Strength, I relied on the good people in the state of Oregon to help me out. From the Agricultural School at Oregon State University, I received a large, heavy, cardboard package. It was at least 24 inches by 36 inches. Inside were thin sheets of wood, barely an eighth inch thick. They were one of two components of plywood.

To demonstrate to my students, I bought some kiln-dried pieces of Douglas fir or White pine, don’t remember exactly, intended for shelving. These were nominally 1”x 10”. I had the Homer cut them into 15 inch so I had a couple dozen shorter pieces. I also had a slightly wider but thinner piece of plywood. It was probably 5/8ths, whereas the wood shelf material was actually slightly thicker than three-quarters of an inch.

With a pile of short pieces of planking behind me on a table, and two empty student desks in front of he, only six inches apart, I explained that one reason Americans and the Allies prevailed in World War Two was because we, as well as the United Kingdom had a diverse population, welded together by common bond. On the other hand, the Germans eschewed diversity, demanding conformity along with “purity of race.” Japan was similarly singular of ethnicity, having been reluctant to accept outsiders.

In America we had English, Scottish, Irish, Italians, French, Polish, Russians, Blacks, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Chinese, Native Americans, and that’s just the first line of entrants. Apologies if your ethnic group was omitted.

So the pine (or fir) board was placed on the desks over the gap, and I explained the board represented a country with a non-diverse population because all the wood grain ran in the same direction. I struck the wood with what we used to refer to as a “karate chop.” Despite the students’ doubting me, the wood popped apart very easily. Kindling fell to the floor. Next the plywood was placed on the chopping block. Naturally, I was not unable to break it with my hand, nor could any student foolish enough to attempt it.

For the rest of the class students took turns painting wood glue on individual sheets of pre-plywood-wood, placing them one on top of another, and weighing them down with large rocks. We would do this project just before Memorial Day, so by Tuesday the thin and separate pieces of wood were united, with grain that went in different directions. Attempts to break that fairly large piece of plywood failed.

The diversity was the grain of the thin sheets alternating direction. The unity was the glue and the weights. In discussion students described unity as “common goals,” “everyone pretty much wants the same thing,” “shared beliefs.” Yeah.

One giant student, a good 275-pound football-type managed to break one by leaning it against the steel doorjamb and repeatedly kicking it. Even then it didn’t break “in two” but held together by fibers, because the bell rang and it was a horses-back-to-the-barn situation.

To keep unifying our people from diverse backgrounds, we need to act wisely in implementing policy to avoid alienating people. We should focus on policy that unifies us, emphasizes our common goals, and shared values. Too often we are faced with attempts to divide us, to keep us apart by separating the layers of wood too soon, or not using glue at all. Resist all efforts to make you resent others for trivial things. Drop negativity, and project positive attitudes toward others. When driving, allow in side-traffic, stop for pedestrians, and don’t drive like an A-hole. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

So let’s get it together and keep it tight, breh.