Northeastern Illinois University boasts of being one of the most diverse universities in the country. What exactly does that mean? I grew up in a diverse world. If I have ever been part of the majority race, it has only been by one or two percentage points.
I grew up in a small suburb of just over 5,000 residents. It is a town where the village president was also the local dentist and diversity was a part of the makeup of the city. There was no majority of any race in the village.
In grade school, my race was listed under other. In high school, I was part of the 51 percent majority in race, a very slim majority. It seemed one of the most diverse universities in the country would be an obvious fit for me. To be honest, it is.
I recently found myself thrust into living in a new city, where my own race (white) is the only one over three percent. It is a far cry from the diverse world I once knew. Everyone walks around with textbook race relations. Race brought to a science that was taught in school about tolerance and acceptance of those different than you.
My education was one I grew up with and was derived from experience. It is hard for me to look at a person and judge them based on the way they look. I always strive for acceptance, or not, based on the individual. I don’t feel I have to accept a person based on any race or religion, only the person themself. There has been such a textbook version taught in this type of society that you are not allowed to talk badly about another person of a different race, even if it is the person you don’t like.
In high school we would throw around racial slurs, not as insults but more as a mockery of what they were supposed to represent. It was common language among friends, believe it or not. Racial jokes were just that, jokes, not offensive or anything to get mad about.
I like being in a situation where race or religion don’t have to enter the mix. When I see a person it’s just a person, not a race.
Maybe NEIU should boast that it is a university where you can be yourself and not be labeled. You can like who you want, and hate who you want, knowing that it’s not racial, and that people can like or hate you for you, not your race or religion. But then again, the most diverse university in the Midwest is a lot easier to say.