You know, there has been a lot of flak about diversity credits here at good ole PSU. I myself was talking with a friend of mine about our schedules and when I told him that I was taking a women studies class he launched into a tirade against diversity credits. He seemed to think that it was unneccessary to study a particular demographic of a society. He was further appalled that there was an academic major dedicated to these "demographics." He felt that it would be more beneficial to study the society as a whole, than concentrate on a particular part.

I went home puzzled by our discourse, and pondered what he had said. Should we concentrate on society as a whole? I looked around me; I saw my textbooks on the shelf, most of them written by Euro-American males; I turned on the TV and saw Bill Clinton making a speech and an economic summit of CEO's of large corporations -- most of them Euro-American males; I watched a news segment on police brutality and riots in Los Angeles; I saw people blaming immigrants for taking their jobs . . . (Although if you look hard enough you will find evidence to support the fact that immigration is actually beneficial to our society.)

Can we concentrate on society as a whole? Maybe we are just incapable of doing so, and that's why we need diversity credits in the first place. We have such a diverse culture that when we concentrate on the whole of society something is bound to get lost. In losing these diversities, we are losing a part of our culture as a whole, and in a sense a part of what we are about.

Here in the United States, we tend to place a lot of emphasis on being equal. Unfortunately, equality somehow got construed to mean "the same." But everyone is not the same. We will differ depending upon our background, race, sexual identity, philosophy of life, etc. Since everyone in our society is created equal (well, at least all men are created equal) the different cultures and races of our society are glossed over in an attempt to create an "American Identity." Everyone is considered an American, and therefore has the same values, race and culture.

Have you seen the Statue of Liberty? Do you remember what it says on the pedestal? It says something like "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse from your teeming shore . . ." Been to Ellis Island? Some of your ancestors probably went through there, especially if you are Euro-American. Some probably didn't like your ancestors coming in and taking their jobs, either. You probably studied about that in some long forgotten history book in middle school. Yet, you don't hear about the plight of the African-American, and you certainly don't hear about the plight of women in your history courses. The biggest blasphemy of all is that you never hear about the plight of the Native American (Those, if you will refer to your grade school texts, are the savages that were here in this country before the pilgrims came in to save them from their heathen ways.)

Our society is a melting pot. How can we look at it as a whole? What whole? We tend to look at society only from the Euro-American male perspective. The rest of our society gets lost in the sludge at the bottom of the pot.

That's where diversity credits come in. They let you in on another perspective. You can read things written by women (yes, women actually wrote back in the old days). You can learn about the myriad of Hindi gods and goddesses, read Chinese literature and study Buddhism.

It is not the purpose of diversity courses to make us into something we're not. Instead it tries to make us empathize a little with another demographic of our culture. Since there are so many demographics that they get lost in the whole diversity credits force you to look at each demographic for itself.

These diversity credits can help you in the real world. Suppose you have a nontraditional boss? Are you ready to handle that? What if you have a client from Japan? Will you wait until you are faced with these situations before you say "Gee, I wish I had taken a diversity credit?"

Geez, it's only three credits, and you might just learn something. Afterall, that's why we're in college. What's the problem? Maybe we're just of afraid of what we will learn.