Bianca Bosque

Dr. Bump

FS 301

3 October 2006

Since I can remember, diversity has been a part of my life. On our street lived many different types of people. We were a close-knit neighborhood, always having cook-offs, barbeques and parties. All of us children played together and we were blind to anything and everything else beside the fact that we had fun with each other. My school was quite diverse as well. Though the population of San Marcos is seen as pre-dominantly Mexican, this is actually untrue. There are many other races as well and this was reflected in school. I still remember the day I first heard the “N” word, a word I have come to hate. I was in the sixth grade and a boy had just transferred from Fallbrook, a city about 20 minutes away, to our school. Fallbrook is notorious for allegedly being home to an influx of Ku Klux Klan members. This boy was referring to another boy in our class when this terrible word just spilled out of his mouth. I remember feeling so shocked and seeing the looks surprise and even disgust on everyone’s faces. The worst part was that he said it so nonchalant, like using any other word in the dictionary. This was my first lesson in tolerance.

I believe that this is a topic that needs to be dealt with in our everyday lives and want nothing more than to make a change in how people view others who are different from them. Even if it happens to be the smallest change, I know that it will mean something in the long run.

“Intolerance is a thing that causes war, pogroms, crucifixions, lynchings, and makes people cruel to little children and to each other. It is responsible for most of the viciousness, violence, terror and heart and soul breaking in the world” Francie Nolan writes in her diary in Betty Smith’s novel, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. The quotation is a perfect description of intolerance. If there is one thing I am passionate about, it is tolerance, or the lack thereof that still exists today.

Growing up in Southern California, I feel that I was exposed to much more tolerance of people and cultures different from my own. If I had grown up anywhere else, this probably would not be the case. Maybe we are just blind to the true cruelty of the world, as Petey points out to Sunshine in one of the restaurant scenes in the movie “Remember the Titans.” Or, we are, and have always been working toward becoming, a diverse state. I cannot say that everyone in California is tolerant of everything and everyone different from their own, because this is far from true. However, California seems to be a colorful place. Take San Francisco, for example. It is still being highlighted in the controversial battle over same-sex marriages. Back in August, San Diego, and Hillcrest in particular, held the annual Gay Pride Week. Just recently, city officials have begun participating in the parade and activities that happen during Gay Pride Week. This year at the event, there was a gay-bashing incident in which six men were attacked. Police chief William Lansdowne vowed to have the suspects in custody as soon as possible and announced that two of his officers had worked forty hours straight to catch the alleged attackers. This is a good message going out to San Diegans and it lets the rest of California, and the country, know that San Diego will not tolerate intolerance. Occurrences like this are the reason I believe that living California—Southern California and San Diego specifically—gave me an advantage growing up.

So true.

The importance of having many different kinds of friends seems almost lost on many people I meet from other places. Having familiar variety and diversity in our everyday lives easily breeds tolerance. I think it is important to experience many different people. So many times, we, as young adults, tend to forget there are other people out there. We gravitate toward people who are just like us. This is not necessarily a terribly bad thing. My two best girl friends and I happen to basically be carbon copies of each other. However, we do have a pretty diverse group of friends. I am not here to say that we are saints and are the most tolerant people you will ever meet. I just try to emphasize in my personal experiences to make friends with a variety of people. However, I do not think people should acquire different friends for the sole sake of being able to preach tolerance. It is important to have a true connection with new people, not simply because one wants to be looked at as “well-rounded.”

Traveling is also an important aspect of being able to be tolerant. There are many ways to experience different cultures. Through my own experiences though, I have found that the only way to get the full advantage of exposure to another culture is to be completely submerged in it. I have been blessed to be able to travel to many different places, including traveling out of the country occasionally. Lifestyles, traditions, even clothing styles can be so different from one place to another, near or far. As important as traveling, and experiencing differences in an environment contrasting to one’s own is, there are tolerance issues to be dealt with as close as next door. At least in my hometown there are. My sister was the first to teach me about this.

Adrianna Elizabeth Bosque—Rebel to the core.

Adrianna Elizabeth Bosque was born on March 8, 1991. I cried. Needless to say, as a two and a half year old, I was not happy to be an older sister. But that day changed my life forever. My younger sister has taught me so much about the importance of having a “random” group of friends and acquaintances and how important it is to accept everyone. I look up to her. She showed me what amazing contributions can be put forth by people I never would have thought to start a conversation with. She has introduced me to “punks,” “metal-heads,” even “goths,” all of whom I would have kept away from had she not done so. People tend to shy away from reaching out to individuals different from them, especially when given labels. With my sister’s help, though, I have made some amazing friends that I would have seen past if Adrianna had not introduced us; if they had not been at our house every weekend; if we had not gone to see their bands play. I respect that my sister is willing to reach out to anyone and everyone, and though she is three years younger than I, I have so much to learn from her. I think that part of her ability to be so tolerant of others stems from the fact that she is a “metal-head” herself, though newly converted. She has really made me realize how important it is to embrace other people, people who are not all the same as you.

In the end, it comes down to people judging other people, no matter what the circumstance. We had a program called Challenge Day at our high school in which a group of students were locked in the gym for a school day. Here, the Challenge Day coordinators did different team-building and tolerance-building activities. It shows students that though they might be part of different groups, different grades, different races, they really do have things in common. We had time for “confessions,” where we got into small groups and told the other members of our groups things that normally we would not say to complete strangers. I was amazed at how many people have had such terrible problems. I have been lucky enough to have lived such a beautiful and blessed life. It was hard for me to realize what they were going through. It was hard for me to comprehend how they even got up and came to school everyday. Challenge Day taught me much about myself as a person and how much we tend to judge people that we do not know. We believe we know everything about a person according to their outward appearance. As many times as we preach and hear “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” how many times do we actually follow this rule?

I would like to make a difference in the world. I know that I probably will not become a famous, worldwide philanthropist. I will not be the Mother Teresa of my time. But I do know that this—leading by example—is the best way to lead. Small changes are important. They pave the way for bigger changes. If I can live my life the way I see everyone in the “perfect” world living, I will be doing what I feel is the best thing I can do for myself. I will feel like I am contributing to society. I know I will be teaching an important lesson to the people around me and hopefully, everyone I come into contact with. And if this touches one person, in some small way, to be even the smallest bit more tolerant, then I will have succeeded in doing my part to save the world. I think Faveur Clothing’s slogan sums up what I would like to be—“Blind to ethnicity and culture. Blind to politics. Blind to socio-economic boundaries. Faveur is the gift of power to the broken, the bridge from weakness to strength. A compass for the crooked roads. Don’t get lost in the rear-view mirror, the journey is ahead!”

Betty Smith, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. (New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001), 127.

Faveur Clothing, “Faveur Clothing Slogan,” Faveur Clothing. 2006. http://faveurclothing.com

“Adrianna Elizabeth Bosque,” Author’s own picture.

“Tolerance starts young.” Ian Magruder. 2005. http://www.blueflamepolitix.com

Word Count: 1,621