American Cherishes Diversity Analysis

A common debate around the world is whether or not America cherishes diversity. Authors such as Edward Patel and Jena McGregor have differing view points on this topic and numerous amounts of points to back it up. Patel argues that America cherishes diversity because political leaders such as George Washington and Martin Luther King fought to have a country with all groups of people that are willing to demean themselves as good citizens and help the country grow. On the other hand, McGregor believes that American industries like Hollywood limit high roles to white males. In the discussions of whether or not America cherishes diversity in my class, one controversial issue has been that America was once a slave country. On the one hand, fifty

percent of the class believes that America cherishes diversity. On the other hand, the other fifty percent of the class opposes that America cherishes diversity. Others even believe that America doesn't want diversity in the country. My view is that America cherishes diversity because leaders like George Washington fought to have different cultures in the country, and today we have schools and jobs that hire all different kinds of people to work together to help the country grow.
America cherishes diversity because leaders like George Washington have fought hard to bring cultural groups together.

According to Patel in, “ Making the Future Better, Together,” he states that, “ Washington came to his views through both principle and practical experience. As the leader of the continental army, the first truly national institution, Washington recognized he was going to need the contributions of all willing groups in America. Back then, it was a common anti-catholic practice to burn the pope in effigy. Washington banned this... and brought this ethic to his private life. When seeking a carpenter and a bricklayer for his Mount Vernon estate, he remarked, If they are good workmen, they may be of Asia, Africa, or Europe. They may be Mohometans, Jews or Christians of any Sect, or they may be atheists.” In other words Patel believes, America has been built for diversity by leaders like Washington because they believed that as long as people demeaned themselves as good citizens and followed American principles that they could join the country. Since the country has followed this idea, Patel believes that today many groups of people are in this country based on these principles because they love the country and want to watch it grow. I agree with Patel because we have many different groups of people in America that are interacting with each other and love it here. Granted, our country discriminated blacks in the past, but our country has learned from Washington

and Martin Luther King that different cultures need to be brought together and be treated equally so that this county prospers and is an example of what a loving environment is.
In our country we have billions of people that are white, black, Hispanic, Jewish, Asian, Russian, German, and more.

This means that our country has people of all different races in it, which supports the idea that America cherishes diversity. It is true on the other hand, that our founding fathers like Washington were slave owners. However, that doesn't change the ideas Washington fought for according to Martin Luther King. According to Patel, “ What strikes me about King's use of George Washington as a symbol of Democracy is that King's great grand parents could well have been owned by George Washington. The man who welcomed Jews and Catholics into the nation, the man who spoke of a government that gave bigotry no sanction and persecution no assistance, he was a slaveholder. King new this, but it neither paralyzed him nor made him cynical. He didn't tie himself into knots trying to untie that mother of all contradictions. Instead, he committed himself, body and soul, to shaping the future. America's genius is to give its diversity of citizens a stake in the well- being of the nation. That's what keeps us facing forward, seeking inspiration from the past when possible, correcting mistakes when necessary. This nation could very well have been a house divided, but today we stand as one...” In this quote Patel's message is that even though leaders like Washington were slave holders their ideas are what matters. King understood this and used Washington's points to justify that

blacks and whites should live together equally and happy. Because of these leaders, we have a nation that stands together with groups of different people around the world. Nevertheless, critics like Jena McGregor argue that the nation doesn't cherish diversity because of the problems at The Hollywood Academy. She states that at least 93 percent of the cast of the Academy are white and 76 percent of the cast is male. Admittedly, it is true that industries like Hollywood have bias about the race and culture of their work places, however, an industry like Hollywood doesn't effect the beliefs of the whole country. Also, fifty percent of my classmates argued that America is full of people that are racist to others and don't accept principles of others religion. However, every group of people have their own religious beliefs. It is law that every citizen has a right to defend their religious beliefs to others so racism isn't the main issue. Like the other fifty percent of the class said, America is full of people that work together and go to school together. We have billions of people on this planet that come here to work. We have all different races at schools from most of the year where kids interact with each other and learn to get future jobs that help the country grow. This evidence proves to the naysayers that our country is based on principles that cherish all different groups of people in the country.
Therefore, I conclude that America cherishes diversity and welcomes any religion or culture in as long as they choose to follow American principles and be a good citizen. My claim to this topic matters because it expresses the meaning of this country. Although my claim seems trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today's concern over bias. The country was founded on the idea that anyone could join if they followed American principles. Today we have many people of all different cultures in our country that work to watch it rise. This is important because many believe the country contains bias. While it does, part of it is because certain religions don't like the principles of another religion so they hire or work with people that agree with them. This doesn't mean the country doesn't cherish diversity since everyone has a right to defend their culture and believe what they want. My claim matters because it supports the idea that America loves different cultures coming together. Religious differences don't change this and it is important for people to understand that a group's principles don't have to be the same as another's to be non bias. Our country does support diversity and continues to grow from this concept as time goes on.