we live in a time where diversity is
more important now than ever and
prevails in almost all aspects of our
lives
I found college to be a place where your
cultural ideas habits and tendencies
find a new audience and are often met
with different and exciting perspectives
in the few short months I’ve been away
from home I found couch would be more of
a so-called culture shock than anything
until I left for college diversity was
not something I was exactly used to so
you can imagine people’s surprise and
sometimes utter dismay when I tell them
that I was the only relatively black
person in my graduating class let alone
one of the only black people to attend
my high school at the time for those of
you who do not know I am an alumni of
Hull High School and my family and I
have called the city of how home for the
past 14 years and as you probably
deduced this is a photo of my family at
graduation next to me is my mom and then
my dad and my little brother Ian since
I’ve been a part of this community
pretty much my entire school-age life I
am not naive to the fact the howl is not
exactly the most diverse place in the
world in fact the city of howl as it
stands now is comprised of approximately
9,000 539 people and of that 8,000 774
of those people are identified as white
which is around 90 92 percent of the
city’s population while Hispanic people
will count for 2.6 makes people account
for 2.6 as well Asian people account for
1.4 percent and all of the races make up
0.8 and black people only make up 0.6%
of the population I don’t know about you
all but to me that statistic is rather
off-putting after a while you begin to
bear the brunt of the so called bad
reputation that how will the name howl
carries with it growing up as a
bi-racial person I was aware from an
early age that there would always be an
inherent cultural disconnect between me
and my peers
a constant struggle of finding the
balance between my two ethnic identities
at times I find myself having to choose
a side people often find comfort and
conformity and tend to seek out the
people or things that they similarly
identify with more times than not
growing up I found the one thing I could
always always find a way to relate to as
music regardless of your race age
sexuality religion or any other dividing
factor that makes unique music is the
great equalizer a while ago I came
across a song written by an artist by
the name Earl Sweatshirt that I thought
described what it is like to be a
bi-racial person perfectly this is from
the song called chum and the line goes
like this
to black for the white kids and to white
for the blacks oftentimes I found this
to be a good description for how it
feels to be a bi-racial person and in a
community that can oftentimes be hard to
relate to growing up I struggled a lot
with my ethnic identity and was often
bullied because of it imagine being a 13
year old kid riding a bus to school all
while having to hide behind your seat
and dodge the aim of pencils being
thrown my way
while a group of boy is mocking me and
chanting monkey in my direction or when
racial slurs become a way for not only
people to single you out but to surely
make you pick aside when it comes to
what race I am this is nothing someone
let alone a kid should be subjected to
countless times I felt as if being a
bi-racial person has somehow put a
target on my back with such a lack of
diversity it almost makes people of a
minority stick out in a way thankfully
I’ve had the great support of not only
my parents but former teachers faculty
and other people in our community as
well when it came to standing up to
adversity but unfortunately not all
people who face discrimination are as
lucky as me because diversity is such a
vital role in our culture today I find
the most important thing when it comes
to continuing our growth as a society is
to also talk about the other
essential parts that make diversity work
but first we must understand what that
includes diversity is defined as a range
of different things kind of a broad term
with that or which includes thinking
about diversity as more than a skin
color equality the state of being equal
especially in status rights and
opportunities that means creating an
environment where each diverse
individual has the same opportunities
when necessary
and lastly inclusion the action or state
of including or of being included within
a group or structure in the words of
Verner Verna Meijer diversity is being
invited to the party
inclusion is being asked to dance
according to the Pew Research Center in
2015
6.9 percent of the u.s. adult population
were found to have at least two races in
their ethnic background while that in
the United States alone 350 languages
are spoken in homes nationwide with that
is now important is more important than
ever to provide equal opportunity
because these cultural ethnic and racial
differences are truly will make America
great furthermore I believe it is
crucial that we as people not only
acknowledge these differences but
celebrate them as well I challenge you
to consider for consider a person for
more than their race religion sexuality
or even disability look beyond the
things as people we cannot we cannot
inherently change but rather focus on
one thing as people we do have control
over our thoughts in closing as the
world around us becomes continually more
diverse and the ideas and standards of
culture race and even politics begin to
broaden and in some cases clash with the
people in your life around you I
encourage you to not only diversify your
lifestyle or the way that you live but
diversify the way that you think as well
be open understanding and most of all be
the voice for those who can’t and with
that I leave you with the wise words of
dr. Martin Luther King jr. himself I
have a dream that for my four little
children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content
of their character thank you
[Applause]
more important now than ever and
prevails in almost all aspects of our
lives
I found college to be a place where your
cultural ideas habits and tendencies
find a new audience and are often met
with different and exciting perspectives
in the few short months I’ve been away
from home I found couch would be more of
a so-called culture shock than anything
until I left for college diversity was
not something I was exactly used to so
you can imagine people’s surprise and
sometimes utter dismay when I tell them
that I was the only relatively black
person in my graduating class let alone
one of the only black people to attend
my high school at the time for those of
you who do not know I am an alumni of
Hull High School and my family and I
have called the city of how home for the
past 14 years and as you probably
deduced this is a photo of my family at
graduation next to me is my mom and then
my dad and my little brother Ian since
I’ve been a part of this community
pretty much my entire school-age life I
am not naive to the fact the howl is not
exactly the most diverse place in the
world in fact the city of howl as it
stands now is comprised of approximately
9,000 539 people and of that 8,000 774
of those people are identified as white
which is around 90 92 percent of the
city’s population while Hispanic people
will count for 2.6 makes people account
for 2.6 as well Asian people account for
1.4 percent and all of the races make up
0.8 and black people only make up 0.6%
of the population I don’t know about you
all but to me that statistic is rather
off-putting after a while you begin to
bear the brunt of the so called bad
reputation that how will the name howl
carries with it growing up as a
bi-racial person I was aware from an
early age that there would always be an
inherent cultural disconnect between me
and my peers
a constant struggle of finding the
balance between my two ethnic identities
at times I find myself having to choose
a side people often find comfort and
conformity and tend to seek out the
people or things that they similarly
identify with more times than not
growing up I found the one thing I could
always always find a way to relate to as
music regardless of your race age
sexuality religion or any other dividing
factor that makes unique music is the
great equalizer a while ago I came
across a song written by an artist by
the name Earl Sweatshirt that I thought
described what it is like to be a
bi-racial person perfectly this is from
the song called chum and the line goes
like this
to black for the white kids and to white
for the blacks oftentimes I found this
to be a good description for how it
feels to be a bi-racial person and in a
community that can oftentimes be hard to
relate to growing up I struggled a lot
with my ethnic identity and was often
bullied because of it imagine being a 13
year old kid riding a bus to school all
while having to hide behind your seat
and dodge the aim of pencils being
thrown my way
while a group of boy is mocking me and
chanting monkey in my direction or when
racial slurs become a way for not only
people to single you out but to surely
make you pick aside when it comes to
what race I am this is nothing someone
let alone a kid should be subjected to
countless times I felt as if being a
bi-racial person has somehow put a
target on my back with such a lack of
diversity it almost makes people of a
minority stick out in a way thankfully
I’ve had the great support of not only
my parents but former teachers faculty
and other people in our community as
well when it came to standing up to
adversity but unfortunately not all
people who face discrimination are as
lucky as me because diversity is such a
vital role in our culture today I find
the most important thing when it comes
to continuing our growth as a society is
to also talk about the other
essential parts that make diversity work
but first we must understand what that
includes diversity is defined as a range
of different things kind of a broad term
with that or which includes thinking
about diversity as more than a skin
color equality the state of being equal
especially in status rights and
opportunities that means creating an
environment where each diverse
individual has the same opportunities
when necessary
and lastly inclusion the action or state
of including or of being included within
a group or structure in the words of
Verner Verna Meijer diversity is being
invited to the party
inclusion is being asked to dance
according to the Pew Research Center in
2015
6.9 percent of the u.s. adult population
were found to have at least two races in
their ethnic background while that in
the United States alone 350 languages
are spoken in homes nationwide with that
is now important is more important than
ever to provide equal opportunity
because these cultural ethnic and racial
differences are truly will make America
great furthermore I believe it is
crucial that we as people not only
acknowledge these differences but
celebrate them as well I challenge you
to consider for consider a person for
more than their race religion sexuality
or even disability look beyond the
things as people we cannot we cannot
inherently change but rather focus on
one thing as people we do have control
over our thoughts in closing as the
world around us becomes continually more
diverse and the ideas and standards of
culture race and even politics begin to
broaden and in some cases clash with the
people in your life around you I
encourage you to not only diversify your
lifestyle or the way that you live but
diversify the way that you think as well
be open understanding and most of all be
the voice for those who can’t and with
that I leave you with the wise words of
dr. Martin Luther King jr. himself I
have a dream that for my four little
children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content
of their character thank you
[Applause]
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