Reflective Writing on Diversity

This reflective writing discusses the importance of diversity and how it can bring unity among people. It also highlights the negative impact of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors. The author shares a personal experience that changed their outlook on diversity.

Running head: REFLECTIVE WRITING ON DIVERSITY
Reflective Writing on Diversity
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Introduction
I am a person who prefers interacting with lot of people around me. My love for
travelling has taken me to different places and therefore I have many adventures both bitter and
sweet. One such incident where I went through an experience that has made a bitter impression
in my mind. This incident has also changed my outlook as a person. People always learn from
their experiences and hence, I learnt how diversity plays a great role in dividing the people.
Therefore, people should widen their horizon of thinking in order to adapt to the diversification.
Discussion
I prefer travelling to hills that give me immense peace and one incident that occurred
while I was staying in a hotel will always be fresh as a wound in my heart. One fine evening, I
was having dinner at the hotel when suddenly a group of young women in their mid 20s entered
the room. They were dressed in fine outfits and it was apparent that they were belonging to a
wealthy class. I was sitting there alone when suddenly one of them came to me and started by
greeting me. Instantly, my extrovert nature gave in to the amicability and I invited them to sit
with me. Little did I know that this would turn to something bitter. Once they started interacting
with me, I could sense arrogance in their tone. Suddenly, one girl, youngest in the lot asked me
the price of my dress. I hesitated a bit and laughed it away. They started whispering among
themselves about how dull my dress looked and how improper it was for the place. I was
completely taken aback by their sudden sarcasms regarding my dress and my dark tone of skin.
The only thing I could manage to do at that time was hold my tears back. They threw questions
at me regarding the current world affairs and somehow I felt they were judging my merit too.

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They placed opinions on me that I was dumb and ugly and could not reach their level of intellect.
I could not bear anymore and ran away from the place. Later that night, I calmed my nerves and
thought about what could have actually gone wrong, the only thing that sparked as a fire in my
mind was how different they were from me. Suddenly, I went back to days when in schools,
colleges, markets and other places that I travelled to, I have witnessed such similar incidents
where people are being judged for their looks, colour, language, family status and other issues.
These incidents usually take place because of the presence of different values and thoughts in the
world. Each individual is different from the other. We can work on this only when we respect the
values and cultures of others. There are many incidents where people have been given more
preferences because of their good look. People who looked less beautiful are often termed as
‘ugly’ and people are even judged on what they wear, whether be it ‘burqa’ or any short dress.
There are certain other aspects on the basis of which different treatment is given. One main
factor is racial discrimination in which people are given poor treatments if they belong to some
particular race (Yusuf and Zain 2014). This was practiced against the Africans for long period of
time. Another factor is sexual orientation. There are laws in many countries which do not
legalize same sex marriage, many organizations still do not offer jobs to gay or lesbians (Barro
and Hebl 2013). These hamper their basic rights. The other factor is geographical background,
people come from different places and regions and have different cultures and outlook. This is
another reason why they often face discrimination. Language and lifestyles are other factors
which affect the people. Therefore, it can be said that diversity should be maintained so that it
brings unity. There should be existence of oneness among everyone in order to fill the void
(Friedman and Miyake 2017). Even multi-national companies are welcoming diversification in
their workplace as this would give them benefit (Podsiadlowski 2013). The world should work

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on achieving the diversification. After this incident, I have learned that it is not my fault and
there should not be any embarrassment because we all are unique in our own ways and we
should learn to accept different cultures, values and opinions. This would help us to grow as a
person at personal level and also assist in the concept of globalization (Totten 2013).
Diversification can be achieved only when people learn to keep similar views and respect for
each other (Banks 2014). Equal treatment should be given in work places. Both men and women
should be given equal wages. People from all regions having separate languages should be given
employment (Williams and Williams 2016). The countries should provide protection to different
races and no person should suffer. It is the duty of every citizen of the world to unite to improve
the conditions prevailing in the world. Once such issues are dealt with, maximum problems of
the world will get sorted. Harmony and unity can be maintained among dissimilar groups of
people (Harvey and Allard 2015). When tolerance is practiced by everyone, it enriches the
interaction among humans. I believe only proper education from the grass root level can solve
the issue of discrimination and people should be encouraged to come forward and work for
diversification. This incident has encouraged me to fight back for my rights and make people
aware about diversity each time I come through such incident.
Conclusion
My experience has led me to the understanding of how people should become aware of
the diversities and work to unite with different cultures, languages, organizations, sexual
orientation and other such factors. This incident has taught me that criticism should always be
taken as a feedback and improvements can be made on it. It is not a big deal if I differ from some

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other person in terms of any aspect. Not every individual can be the same and bridges can be
built if we unite and ignore the differences. This will help to grow a better world.

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References:
Banks, J.A., 2014. Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Journal of
Education, 194(3), pp.1-12.
Barron, L.G. and Hebl, M., 2013. The force of law: The effects of sexual orientation
antidiscrimination legislation on interpersonal discrimination in employment. Psychology, Public
Policy, and Law, 19(2), p.191.
Friedman, N.P. and Miyake, A., 2017. Unity and diversity of executive functions: Individual
differences as a window on cognitive structure. Cortex, 86, pp.186-204.
Harvey, C.P. and Allard, M., 2015. Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and
exercises. PearsonKivel, P., 2017. Uprooting Racism-: How White People Can Work for Racial
Justice. New Society Publishers.
Podsiadlowski, A., Gröschke, D., Kogler, M., Springer, C. and Van Der Zee, K., 2013.
Managing a culturally diverse workforce: Diversity perspectives in organizations. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(2), pp.159-175.
Totten, H.L., 2013. The Advantages of Diversity. The Library Quarterly, 83(3), pp.204-206.
Williams, G. and Williams, G., 2016. Unity in Diversity. In Language, Hegemony and the
European Union (pp. 271-301). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Yusuf, B.N.M. and Zain, A.B.M., 2014. The Effect of Cultural Diversification on Working
Performance of Expatriates in the Higher Learning Institutions. Adv. Environ. Biol., 8 (11), 978,
986, p.2014.