Diverisity

Diversity

D Susan Epstein

HRMG 5000 OC, Webster University

Summer, 2013

Dr. Steven Huntley

Abstract

Diversity; the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: variety; especially: the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization (Webster, 2013) 

Among these individual human characteristics are demographic differences, such as age, gender, sexual-orientation, race and ethnicity, and religion.   Diversity and demographic differences can impact individual behavior by creating discrimination, stereotypes and prejudices.   The differences that most impact individual behavior are age, gender, sexual-orientation, and race and ethnicity.

Diversity

I am fortunate to have grown up in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, a very culturally diverse environment. In Latin Philadelphia means “the city of brotherly love” it is also the birthplace of the United States. As a young child, I remember going to touch the Liberty bell, walking through Independence Hall and reading the Declaration of Independence. The founding fathers of the United States understood diversity. They outlined their vision of the new government, basing on the principal that all men had the same rights. The Declaration of Independence 1776 stated; “The Government of the people, by the people.” “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The words of the founding fathers did not discriminate.

Only in the United States could I be raised as a Catholic, attended a Quaker school and marry into the Jewish faith. As a student in a Quaker school, we embraced tolerance and acceptance of all races, religions and cultures. We studied the...