DIVERSITY SHOULD NEVER BE DIVISIVE

by Amelia Zalubas

agag is a device put over someone’s mouth that is used to prevent free speech and loud outcries. In the past gags have been used as part of punishment or torture. Recently this seemingly medieval form of restriction has begun to quickly grow in its new form, gag orders through law.

Gag orders can concern a plethora of topics and are primarily used to prevent schools from teaching students about everything from LGBTQ+ identities to critical race theory. Just because you don’t personally believe in a concept, belief, or personal identity doesn’t mean you have the right to prevent others from learning about them and having genuine discussions.

Teaching about the diversity of identities and their cultural experiences in the United States is not an attack on already acknowledged individuals, but it is about eliminating the constant feeling of otherness in this country and including everyone in conversations about the past, present, and future.

As a white high school student, I am constantly prompted to read books by white people and learn about white history.

Because I am in a progressive school district I have seen more incorporation of culture in the curriculum than most, but I’ve mostly learned about other identities of my own volition.

Despite not looking around for it, I can clearly see a brightening of hope in people when teachers acknowledge accomplishments done by people who are like them. This doesn’t hurt me in the slightest, it actually strengthens the conversations we have at school and relationships within the student body.

Other people also clearly believe this, as there has been a lot of rallying recently regarding diversifying school curricula, ensuring more widespread resources to thrive in school, and a general fight for history to be peeled back in layers like old wallpaper rather than whitewashing everything.

This year I attended the National Book Festival and had the opportunity to listen in on a talk with Samira Ahmed and Sabaa Tahir called “Rage Against the System: Teens Who Won’t Back Down”. These two Muslim American authors provided their personal perspectives on the absolute necessity for diversity in literature and the acceptance individuals feel when they are seen.

A couple of recurring themes in the talk were there being no “valid reasons to ban a book” (Samira Ahmed) and the necessity to ensure that “kids… feel like they are seen and they are witnessed. And whatever their truth is, it is accepted and witnessed and there is love for them there” (Sabaa Tahir).

These two women came from small towns that didn’t have many Southeast Asian people and grew up with nobody looking like them in the media, and no Muslim American women successfully getting promotion for their work. It takes a lot of bravery to speak up about issues that don’t directly affect you, but when you take your time to fight for your dreams and share your experiences, you are sharing a part of your soul with strangers.

If other people are willing to stand up on a stage for you to understand the hardships their communities face, it is not enough to just read a book and educate yourself, you need to make sure that the people around you are also learning. If you are born with a metaphorical mic in your hand, share it with the people who have to shout to be heard after fighting for a voice in the first place.

So much division between people is caused by a lack of understanding due to less experience and knowledge about others. Also, as only hearing one person’s side of the story is the cause of this inequity in the first place, we need to make sure that the community is displayed rather than use a spokesperson for millions of people.

If we allow curriculum to be banned, and gag orders to win, community divisions will widen, and advancements in self-understanding and solidarity between people will diminish.

If one group of people is upset, society feels the echoes of those cries even if they stick them into the deepest caves. Amplifying cries makes them into empowering speeches that bring change to society and commonalties between people to unite them. Future history is as we make it so we need to be teaching hard history now.

As the saying goes, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” But if all of the ink is taken in the fear of controversial ideas, who gets the last word?