di-ver-si-ty: a range of different things or variety in a community.

Diversity is a huge thing in different communities and schools. Diversity brings culture and different backgrounds to the table. Our school has many different faces from different backgrounds worldwide. We have a very diverse school with 39% Hispanic, 37% white, 17% black, 2% Asian and 5% with a mixed background. Cultural backgrounds can help people make friends and help people learn about the different backgrounds. With different culture and backgrounds, it also brings different foods.

Many people are proud of their culture like Xiana Newton, an african american 8th grader. “I am proud of my culture because I come from a background of people who were strong and confident” she says with a smile on her face. Newton says, “Diversity brings knowledge about other cultures as well as being around other people that share your culture. Stereotypes are a big thing that come with being in a diverse society, especially school. Newton has never been stereotyped to her knowledge. “It’s kind of assuming that someone likes something because of their background!” Newton exclaims. All schools should be culturally diverse, “It’s the way of the world and basically a portal to seeing what is out there in the world” Newton also says, “I have been to a school where there were only European’s and maybe like one or two black people”

Other people were also proud of their culture and had very good reasons to believe that the school was diverse, as seen below.

“I’m proud of it,” Leah Biache, 8th says when asked how she feels about her culture, Hispanic. She says she’s never been stereotyped based on the color of her skin before. However, when talking about stereotypes, Leah believes “some are true, some aren’t.” She agrees that our school is culturally diverse and that all schools should be that way. “You’re able to get to know different kinds of cultures.”

Diversity means a lot to people and brings in new stories to tell and new backgrounds to explore.

Another student Angel Phan says she is proud of her race, Asian, because she said “You should embrace your culture” She doesn’t think our school is diverse because there is not a lot of Asians at Dobie. “Stereotypes are like labels because it stand out differently,” Angel Phan says, “It makes you stand out.” Phan feels stereotyped because of her skin. “Yes, because people make a lot of jokes about it.”

Matthew Willis a 8th grader said he was proud of his European background and said “I’m very proud of my race, I think everyone should be proud of their race” . When asked about racism in Dobie he said “I see and hear it mostly in the halls’’ .

As you can, diversity is a huge thing in society. It brings people together in strange ways and inspires others to learn about new cultures.