DIVERSE ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION -- Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist and commentator. He is an adjunct lecturer at San Francisco State University. He wrote this opinion piece for Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
“To show my San Francisco State journalism class what diversity means instantly, I provide a visual: I draw a square on a white board. That’s the media. All white. ...
“The square could represent anything, not just the media. It could be an institution. A college. Or Congress.
“And last week we saw what having the most diverse first-year class is doing to an increasingly calcified group of Congressional Democrats.
“White square? No more.
“The new members are getting them to loosen up and listen to the new ideas in the halls of Congress. Mind you, the debate over anti-Semitic remarks by Representative Ilhan Omar could have ended ugly.
“But instead thanks to the deftness of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, we were given a lesson in diversity for our country. Instead of being a reprimand on anti-Semitism toward Rep. Omar, H. Resolution 183 became a document that more broadly condemns hate. Anti-Semitism, of course is wrong, but so is ‘anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against any minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contrary to the values and aspirations of the United States.’”