In the midst of tireless teaching that diversity should be celebrated and cherished, I came to believe that my gender and the color of my skin were incurable shortcomings. Being white and a man were my greatest socio-economic crimes. They were crimes committed without choice or consent. The penalty was lifelong and guilt never alleviated. It wasn’t until adulthood that I became aware of the inconsistent consequence of such teaching and concluded that no racial education which forces someone to apologize for the factors beyond control shall ever achieve its intended purpose. There can be no equality when one race is held with higher regard than another. This remains true no matter which century it’s applied and no matter which race it refers. To have equality, all diversity much be championed, even if such diversity looks like a plain white man.
