University Essay: Exploring Theories of Difference and Diversity

This essay, reflecting on personal experiences, delves into the complexities of difference and diversity within society, focusing on religious, cultural, political, and class distinctions. The author recounts a childhood incident of discrimination, sparking a critical examination of societal prejudices. The ess...Read More

Running head: THEORIES OF DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY
Theories of Difference and Diversity
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1Runing head: THEORIES OF DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY
Biography
The event that I am going to narrate happened with me when I was 6 years old. We used to
live in a house that was no short of a palace, being the richest family in the town. However, I
never let our financial status or religion or caste come into the way of making friends. I had
friends who were both rich and poor.
One evening, my mother and father took me to shopping in a shopping mall that has been
built exclusively for the rich and the privileged in the city. Two of my school friends had
decided to accompany me in the journey to the mall. Everything was fine until we tried to
enter the mall. I was surprised to see that the security guard allowed my family and one of my
friends inside but did not allow my second friend to come inside. When my father questioned
him on this, the guard that she was not capable of purchasing the products that were being
sold in the mall. He said that she was from a family whose economic status were lower than
us as is evidenced by the clothes she was wearing and on top of that she was a Muslim. The
guard told us that he had been ordered not to allow Muslims inside the mall because they are
terrorists and always carry guns and bombs with them. As the doors of the mall closed behind
us, I saw the sad disappointed face of my friend with tears in her eyes staring at me through
the glass from the outside.
Later that night, I questioned my father on this and got to know the fact that the townspeople
look down upon Muslims and the fact that my friend was a Muslim was the greater reason
why she was not allowed in to the mall. Hearing this, I realized for the first time that human
beings are not as good as I have been taught from my childhood. I realized for the first time
that I am different from my friends – not only in financial status but in my caste, class,
ethnicity as well as in faith itself.

2Runing head: THEORIES OF DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY
Critical Reflection
The Biography that I recounted is one of the first shocking and ironic experiences that I have
learned from my life. Up until then, I had no idea about the racism and the prejudices that
exists in society being a young girl of only 6 years. However, the event at the mall really had
opened my eyes and now I had learned to see the world in a different manner just like most
other people have done who are similar to my age of 30. That one day in my life changed
everything for me. It not only cost me one of my best friends but also taught me one of the
ironies of life that society is much more complex that I had initially thought it to be.
Now whenever I think of that incident, I realize that not only the society, but also the familial,
social, political, cultural as well as religious factors play an important role in forming the
difference among the people that has ultimately led to the class distinctions among the people
in our society. I will explain each factor in detail to explain how the system works. First, let’s
talk about the religious factor. Religion has played an important role in dividing the people of
the society. People who are Christians think that their religion is superior to all other religions
in the world. As a result, they tend to look down upon the individuals who follow a religion
other than Christianity. This creates difference among the opinions of the people from both
groups which ultimately leads to dissent and violence between the members of both the
religions. This has happening since the historical times till the present day. In fact, this was
one of the reason why my friend was not allowed entry into the shopping mall all those years
ago.
Next, there are the cultural and the political factors which also led to the difference among
the people. Difference in culture among the individuals have always been causes of
dissatisfaction against each other. The fact that individual of one culture thinks that he is
better than the individuals from other cultures leads to racism amongst them. I feel that this is
the prime reason that Muslims are being considered as enemies by most of the other cultures.

3Runing head: THEORIES OF DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY
Being neglected for too long by other cultures is why they have resorted to such violent
activities in the recent years. I am telling this from my experience that I saw happening to my
friend all those years ago, at the mall. I might have been young and not able to understand
much but now I realize that the guard had acted like that out of pure hatred towards her. The
fact that she is a Muslim did not sit well; with the guard and he thus prevented her from
entering the mall.
Like culture, politics is another reason which causes difference among the individuals. The
political leaders all over the world manipulates people of one culture to pass hate messages to
the people from a different culture. This causes two cultures to hate each other and leads to
the war between the two cultures. Muslims have been always seen as terrorists by other
cultures, which causes them to treat people of that religion harshly. I feel that it is this
manipulation by the political leaders of the world that has led to so many wars in the world
among the Muslims and the people from the other cultures. This. I feel that the political
leaders are the ones who should be blamed for achieving their objectives by causing the
people to misbelieve each other which ultimately leads to the war among the nations.
Even I feel that the historical practices that have been carried out through the world in the
past have a role to play in causing difference among the people. History has taught us war,
and that it is important to destroy the enemies otherwise they will be the ones that will
destroy the nation. Thus, we have been following the same historical practices of the past that
tells us to kill or be killed. I feel that it is one of the reasons why people have started to hate
each other and have led to bloodshed and war against each other.
I feel that there are some other reasons why people are so hateful towards each other. This is
because of the caste and the class distinctions that are so prevalent in the society. People of
upper classes tend to look down on people who belong to the lower classes. People from the

4Runing head: THEORIES OF DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY
lower classes are treated by the people from the upper classes. Thus, the lower class people
feels that they are not being treated well and their not being taken into consideration and their
interests are being overlooked by those who hold power in the society itself. This causes
dissatisfaction among the people and ultimately leads to the problems between the two
classes.
Judging all these factors by myself, I realize that I am indeed different from the rest of the
people who lives in his city. Firstly, I belong to one of the upper-class families of the city.
This naturally gives me the benefit that most people in the city do not have. I get treated with
respect by the officials in the city which they do not do those that belongs to the middle-
classes in the city. The kinds of clothes I wear, the kind of food that I eat as well as the kind
of vehicle that I ride is indeed different from that of the common people of this city. Although
I bear no hatred towards the lower-class or the middle-class, something stops me now from
interacting with them and getting to know them. Maybe it is the knowledge of the prejudice
and the class distinctions of the society that I have come to understand growing up. But,
sometimes I still wish I was younger so that I could be friends with everybody in town
irrespective of their religion, caste or class. I wish that I could have my friend back who I lost
all those years ago.