Diversity - American History, con't

The twentieth century historian Arthur Schlesinger wrote that “...what has held the American people together in the absence of a common ethnic origin has been precisely a common adherence to ideal of democracy and human rights that, too often transgressed in practice, forever goads us to narrow the gap between practice and principle.”

This is a realistic appraisal, acknowledging our country’s shortcomings while calling citizens to our ideals. Critiques of the US, then, should be two dimensional: how we match up or our ideals and also how we match up to other real nations, past and present.

Note America’s capacity for self-criticism. Here is Schlesinger again: The American “literary canon” does not consist of “apologists for the privileged and the powerful” but includes Emerson, Jefferson, Melville, Whitman, Thoreau.

Schlesinger adds: “There remains, however, a crucial difference between the Western tradition and others. The crimes of the West have produced great movements to end slavery, to raise the status of women, to abolish torture, to combat racism, to defend freedom of inquiry and expression, to advocate personal liberty and human rights….- When the Chinese students cried and died for democracy in Tiananmen Square, they brought with them not representations of Confucius or Buddha but a model of the State of Liberty.” Source: Arthur M Schlesinger The Disuniting of America (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992), p. 118, 126, 129


The following summarizes the role of the United States among nations. We live in a country that has a history of success and tragic failures in managing differences. However, “there has surely never been a power in history that has won so many wars and acquired, in consequence, so little territory or extracted so few reparations as the United States after 1917.” Why? Wilson’s idealism, the circumstances of our intervention in the First World war, failure n Mexico, long-term effects of anti-imperialists such as Henry David Thoreau and Mark Twain. Source: Felipe Fernandez-Armesto The Americas: The History of a Hemisphere New York: The Modern Library, a division of Random House, 2006) p. 139

In the next posts we will talk about some of the other nations of the world. After that, we will cover how the US has been able to manage diversity.

Diversity - American History

In past diversity blogs, I have summarized several points of view about the modern diversity movement. I have shown how the word “diversity” in a Supreme Court decision issued on June 28, 1978 spawned a vast movement. I have questioned the doctrine that “diversity” is somehow good for American businesses. I have talked about the Individual Differences Perspective of diversity and its lack of boundaries. I have said less about the Social Justice perspective but I will beginning in this post. I have suggested that there is a certain degree of triteness and some unhealthy stereotyping in the individual Differences Perspective.

This post begins to examine history s a guide to diversity.

The Social Justice Perspective often has within it a critique of American society and history.

Here are quotes from books on diversity:
 “This book is about the struggle against oppression in organizations and the promise of diversity....Our institutions have failed to eliminate harassment and ongoing discrimination against women of color, men of color, white women, gays, lesbians, people with disabilities, older workers, younger workers, and others who are systematically excluded….We continue to feel the effects of a legacy of oppression: slavery, genocide, indentured servitude, …..(T)he oppressed cry out for immediate action.” Source: Ellie Y. Cross, Judith H. Katz, Frederick A. Miller and Edith W. Seashore, eds. The Promise of Diversity (New York: Irwinn 1994), p. xxi

 One book is dedicated (besides to various family members) to “all the women and men who are pioneers, champions and allies in organizations, in appreciation of your commitment to creating workplaces that are liberating for your generation and those that follow.” Source: Frederick A. Miller and Judith H. Katz The Inclusion Breakthrough: Unleashing the Real Power of Diversity (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2002)

 One book claims that the “ Eurocentric” version of the American dream includes such points of views as, “War is the ultimate competition”, the “Ultimate goal: To be Number One.” “Those who accumulate the most of what costs the most are the winners…” (Norma Carr-Ruffino Managing Diversity: People Skills for a Multicultural Workplace (USA: Thompson Executive Press, 1994), p. ix, 243)

In my view, these pronouncements profoundly misread the American experience. I will try to show that to be the case in subsequent posts.

The way that I will do that is to refer to the work of distinguished historians. Then I will point out some of the egregious social conditions existing in other modern cultures. Then I will examine the American constitutional set up and what it accomplished. The point of the next several posts is that the American experience embodies Real Diversity and has much to teach the world.

Diversity - Stereotyping, conclusion

This post adds some examples of stereotyping from William Sonnenschein The Practical Executive and Workforce Diversity (Lincolnwood: NTC Business Books, 1997) p. 57-8. Sonnenschein produces a table taken from Lee Gardenschwartz and Anita Rowe Managing Diversity (New York: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1993) Gardenshwartz and Rowe contrast what they call Mainstream American Culture with what they call Different Cultures.


People in the former have “Explicit, direct communication. Emphasis on content – meaning found in words.” People in the latter have “Implicit, indirect communication Emphasis on context – meaning found around words.”

The former see "eating as a necessity." The latter see “dining as a social experience.” The former are “Linear. Logical. Sequential,” the latter are “Lateral, holistic, simultaneous. Accepting life’s difficulties.”

It is my contention that these types of generalizations are debatable and either irrelevant to workplaces or potentially harmful. Time spent on contrasting such obscure categories as "Mainstream American culture" and "Different Cultures" is wasteful of resources. The stereotypes defeat the conclusion that we are all individuals.

The next post will move from the topic of stereotyping to a view of history as a guide to Real Diversity.