Viability, not strength

Re “What if diversity isn’t our strength?

Initially, if somewhat wistfully, American society was built on the notion of e pluribus unum — “out of many, one” — presuming the desirability of diversity. Nothing about that notion demands total renouncement of one’s heritage as the price to be paid for assimilation to “Americanism.”

Jonah Goldberg does a semantic dance around this truth. He focuses on the proposition that “diversity has always been our strength,” as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.

If only Goldberg instead had considered whether diversity promotes viability. Whether a country can project strength through military or economic power doesn’t guarantee its viability nearly so much as a diverse, democratically governed populace.

America’s existential challenges stem from ever more oligarchic rule, not from demographic diversity.

Sandra Perez

Santa Maria

Our raucous American society is diverse because that’s the way we have historically rolled. We native born have never known anything but this diversity and, given our national egomania, of course it is glorious and better than what other successful countries have.

We must extoll diversity if we are to remain true to our belief in equal opportunity, redress international historical injustices and maintain an intact social fabric so that differences of opinion on contentious subjects are limited to wars of words and not something more damaging.

While basing my belief on moral and pragmatic grounds, I call on our social and political betters to explain just why residential, campus and workplace diversity is a force multiplier in and of itself.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati

Goldberg may be correct in questioning the validity of Graham’s “diversity has always been our strength” statement. But I doubt that many people would argue with this statement: “Making diversity work has always been our strength.”

Paul Burns

Granada Hills