It’s time to add diversity to the curriculum of middle and high schools, nationwide. Each of us is unique in our own way, yet folks fear those differences and set policy, or argue past each other, or shoot to kill or maim, based on those differences.
Are you American (or foreign)? A Northerner (or Southern)? An urban condo owner (or rural rancher)? A senior citizen (or a millennial)? A woman (or a man)? A Caucasian (or black)? A black of Ethiopian heritage (or the child of former slaves)? “Straight” (or gay)?
The only way we can get past our inevitable differences is to recognize that they are there to begin with –that first impressions based on those differences are inherently suspect. That each of us has basic human functions and needs and that these bind us together far more than our differences divide us. It is too easy to attribute malice or ignorance to someone who is different; we need to teach our youth to look past tribalism of any sort and embrace, rather than question, our differences.
