Diversity is NOT a strength

Thank you for your reply and your perspective. I'm going to take a second and evaluate what you said, and we'll see if it matches up under close scrutiny. I'd like to start by addressing your first statement. This isn't me offering an argument so much as me questioning what you said. Your exact words were 'what you said sounded nice, but it's not reality'. You followed this up with examples of how people have abused diversity. However, this only proved my point. My point is not to prove that diversity is encouraged in society today. It's to prove that it SHOULD be encouraged in society today, and if it were already achieved, we wouldn't have to be discussing this. This debate is (as shown by its title and opening statements) discussing whether diversity is something that should be considered a 'strength' or an 'attribute'. Whether it has been achieved is irrelevant. The examples that you gave about diversity being abused (namely whites moving out of Baltimore, and blacks killing white farmers in South Africa), actually prove my point. They prove that diversity has been horribly misused and there is a gross need for it in today's society, which again suggests that diversity should be more valued, and should, therefore, be a strength. As for your next statement, you said, and I repeat, 'blacks have much higher crime rates, much lower IQ averages, etc...'. Let's look at each of these specifically. (You'll notice that in the next part, I'm going to state my opinion mostly through other quotes, because I want to show that my views are supported by well known people who have done research and effort on this topic.) IQ averages: An Oxford Biologist, John R. Baker, said it very clearly: "There is no evidence that any gene concerned in the control of skin-color has any effect on the mental capacity of human beings. In the course of evolution, particular races or sub-races might evolve to higher average levels of intelligence than others: but if so, there would be no necessary correlation with the color of the skin." There is actually proof that African Americans have on average a 15 point lower IQ than White Americans, but close study proves that genetics may not be the cause of this so much as the environment that blacks are currently living in. To go into this deeper, I'm going to quote a man named Kenneth B. Chiacchia, who I believe said it best. I found this quotation on this webpage (http://psychology.jrank.org...) "A number of researchers have undertaken studies to uncover the source of the 10-point IQ difference between the races. One type of study measures the IQs of children of different racial backgrounds who are raised in similar environments. African Americans, on the average, have 70% African and 30% European ancestry. If whites were genetically more intelligent than blacks, we would expect black children with more European ancestry to have higher IQs than those with more African ancestry, even when they're raised in the same family. Psychologists have used three ways to estimate white ancestry in African Americans. (It is worth noting that there are no "pure" racial groups.) Skin color is an imperfect measure because not all native African peoples have dark skin. Also, children with lighter skin may be treated differently, even in the same family. Family histories of white ancestry may or may not be accurate. Possibly the best method tests blood groups; different racial groups have different rates of certain blood groups, allowing one to make a statistical estimate of ancestry. The results of these studies suggest little, if any, intelligence difference between the races. The skin-color studies do tend to show a slight advantage for lighter skinned children"with all the reservations about children with the lighter skin getting different treatment. But family history and blood group studies show no difference in IQ, apart from the skin-color effect. Another approach to these studies measures the IQs of black children brought up in white families. In one study of black, interracial, and white adopted children raised in white families, the white children showed the highest IQ scores, with interracial children scoring in the middle. But it's not clear whether the white families treated the black children differently; whether the black children had suffered from IQ-reducing environments before they were born; or whether the older average age of adoption for the black children in the study prevented a fair comparison. Another study, of black West Indian (Caribbean) children and English children raised in an orphanage in England, found that the Caribbean children had higher IQs than those from England, with mixed-race children scoring in between. But where the black children given more attention by orphanage staff? Were particularly intelligent Caribbeans emigrating to England for better economic opportunity? Finally, a study of black children adopted by white versus black families in America showed that the black children raised by whites had higher IQ scores than those raised by blacks"suggesting an environmental cause. When the studies are taken together, the many caveats involved with the role of genetics and environment make it hard to draw firm conclusions. But the balance of data suggests no racial difference in intelligence." Crime rates: You are indeed right again that blacks do have a higher crime rate, at least as suggested by all of the research I found. But strong evidence suggests that this may not be because of skin color so much as because of white biases and privilege. Listen to these statistics (pulled from this website: https://www.nytimes.com...) : " "Whites are more punitive than blacks and Hispanics even though they experience less crime." " "White Americans overestimate the proportion of crime committed by people of color and associate people of color with criminality. For example, white respondents in a 2010 survey overestimated the actual share of burglaries, illegal drug sales and juvenile crime committed by African-Americans by 20 percent to 30 percent." " "White Americans who associate crime with blacks and Latinos are more likely to support punitive policies " including capital punishment and mandatory minimum sentencing " than whites with weaker racial associations of crime." I think your assesment of both of our views is fully accurate and certainly helpful. I'd prefer not to talk verbally because I don't want my location tracked, but it has certainly been a pleasure to discuss this with you, and I hope that we can continue to talk and be friends even after this debate is over.