This forum post is based on the discussion held on September 18th, 2015 at 8PM EDT hosted by @Ace13 in the Guided Discussion Room on the topic: Unity in Diversity.

Unity in Diversity Discussion

Hosted by @Ace13

IceBreaker

Who is the most interesting person youve ever met? What makes them interesting?

-A listener here

-President Obama

-A boy in my English class

-My close friend. she was very interesting because she was always so positive and had a strong face all the time, she always saw the good in things.

Discussion Questions

What does diversity mean to you?

Some of the answers were; race, culture, gender, orientation, different types of people, everyone no matter who they are being able to live together in peace, being unique having good morals, difference, style,expression, unique, different, special.

-Never meeting the same person twice

-Uniqueness, a different assortment of qualities, internal and external characteristics the unfortunate and fortunate basis we distinguish one from another.

-The state of being diverse; variety. "there was considerable diversity in the style of the reports" a range of different things.

What do you think leads to diversity in a group of people?

Some of the answers were; Having different opinions, everyone being able to talk without fighting about gender race culture without making fun of them for anything, the interests others bring to the table.

-Diversity is brought by awareness, l to our surroundings and what we consider to be common and uncommon.

-It's actually a good thing to look at someone else's interests and you may end up enjoying them as well.

-Actually listening not causing a fight just listening and then saying your opinion politely.

What can be positive about listening to someone else's opinion?

-You may agree to their opinion and discover new things you may not have known.

-You can gain a general understanding of a person by hearing their views. It gives you a chance to look at yourself from another perspective.

Now that we have established what diversity is , according to you, what does unity in diversity mean?

Here is what some people said:

-Everyone being united, being there own individual selves

-It means acknowledging the cliche way of saying things because we are all different but because of that we are all united.

-People being accepted for who they are.

-It means combining all different sorts of interests, likings, dislikes, and sharing it without being judgmental.

-Coming together and learning from each other despite our differences.

-It means that we have a lot of cultural differences but we can all learn from each other's stories and beliefs

Have you ever encountered different culture in your life? Does that affect the way you behave towards them?

Here is how encountering different culture affected some of us;

-It has changed me into a better person.

-It was scary but I realized the place I'm going it accommodating and open.

-It changed me in being a more grateful person. I now volunteer in a shelter for kids and feed them, clothe them, etc. and I couldn't be anymore happier.

-To me there are certain taboos and actions, precautions that you take in anticipation when encountering new cultures, etc. Often if not all times you learn that we are similar, like different combination locks or permutation locks but overall most of us have at least one thing that bonds us

Have you ever been treated differently initially but then someones behaviour towards you changed after they got to know you better? Why do you think that is?

-Yes and because people, a lot of the time, judge based on appearance

-Yes. I was mostly stereotyped before people got to know me and also with me being a tiny bit violent that caused people to stay away from me than one of my closest friends ever actually got to know me and now she is the best person I will ever know.

-Many times. For varied reasons. Because they had impression of me, and then as their knowledge grew, they realised their error and made other judgements that made them change their behaviour.

Do you think the diversity in people can be a good thing while working in groups? Why or why not?

-I think it is amazing! like i said earlier, it can bring new interests/ideas to the table.

-When people join their opinions, something great and unique will appear.

-It will please a lot of people.

-They may disagree with your differences.

-Yes, I think so. It can help build varied perspective, potentially. Depending on what you are working on, it can be very important if what you're working on affects a diverse group of people.

-Well, for example, medicine. We do have biological differences, difference does not equal unequal... It just means that we all need to be catered for in different ways and recognized in different ways at times. We previously tested a lot of things on white males, this is very restricting as it prevented such things like risk of heart attacks to be unrecognized in females. So we need to broaden our scale of who we take into account and sometimes if the group working on these important things are diverse, they will be more mindful about encouraging a diverse range.

How do you experience unity in diversity on 7cups?

During this question, we talked about how we do not see others appearance so we cannot see the diversity concerning this, but we can actually see a diversity in personalities we encounter!

-A part of diversity isn't there. We don't see people's faces.

-By talking to people with myriad of problems, all uniting in their abilities and disabilities. their stars and their night, all meeting our own stars and nights.

-No matter who you connect to or who you listen to we are all different we. All of us are different races and culture and no one is the exact same person.

-There are many people from different countries here, who come from different cultures, perhaps we notice these differences at some points within our conversations.

-In a discussion, we might have different opinions.

-I experience diversity here because many people have different reasons they're here. some people may be here because of depression, in need of a friend, anxiety, etc. and I love how i can also connect with people who go through with what I do, which also represents unity in diversity.

What can be negative effects of disrespect on diversity?

Here are some of the answers: Lack of self-esteem, being left out, lack of belief in social justice, bullying, feeling like you are not good enough, stress, self-hate, homophobia, racism, discrimination, separated from oneself, separated from other people, wanting to escape and separate from this world.

-The person may not want to share their beliefs/interests anymore.

-Fighting race slurs stereotypes put onto people. More people not being able to put up with the world and the people they are forced to see everyday. More people now not wanting to leave their homes or go to school because of bullying and people disrespecting them.

-It depends on the person whom is being disrespected. Some may experience and undenying form of motivation to see change. Others might experience the negative effects that can result in low self esteem, intolerance, exclusion, loneliness, and some may resort to violence.

How could we deal with disrespect towards diversity?

Most suggested solutions were around education and awareness! ❤️

-You can talk to the person getting disrespected, show them that they aren't trash.

-Maybe letting them know how you feel about what they said and hopefully they'll understand.

-Educating people is definitely a big step, opening their eyes will make them see diversity as more of a positive thing I think

-By standing up, being aware, and educating is the key, but some people have different points of view and ended up not realizing so you must be able to stand up strong.

-You can educate yourself, find peers who can offer you support - especially those who are comfortable with who they are if you can, and let them inspire you. Remembering that it is not about you, it is their issue. Help them with it if you can. You don't need to change their minds, just offer perspective.

-Even though we may be diverse in our own right there is always that room for opening our minds a little more. Starting with ourselves is a good place.

-Self-awareness is key. For us all. People that worry me the most regarding all of this are those that say they do not have any judgements and do not need to learn. It tells me that they likely cannot see all the issues around them, taught into them, etc.

What are different things that can influence someones respect towards diversity?

Some of the influences that were mentioned: Their home life, their social life, our origins, etc.

-Sometimes truth whispered is louder than a lie shout.

-Standing up strong with no fear. Don't be a cat be lion that roars louder than anything.

-A lot of us were raised around something so we assume it to be right but old people tend to be more stubborn so they miss the opportunity to learn.

-Make it relate to those people so they understand it on their terms rather than not trying to understand it on yours. If they hear it in a way that they will better understand, like through religion or something then it might have more impact.

-Learning more, having experience within diverse communities, be aware of that which dehumanizes a group, understanding how you can play a role and accepting what role that is (e.g., becoming an ally but remembering not to speak for, but to speak with the LGBT community), etc.

Thank you everyone who participated in this discussion!

Participant list: @yisselmorales @pandabear22 @sensibleWatermelon3010 @BMTH4life @Puppeteye @Isthisreallylife @LiveLikeGlass @fanspiration @Openarms5 @YourAmericanPepehh @QuickJazz @TellYou @scarletsecret4400 @peaceofmoon @mikaelaap

(Listeners - If this was the first discussion that you attended, please take the time to nominate yourself for the Aristotle badge, which you can do by going to the My Impact page, and then pressing 'Apply for special badges', below your list of badges)