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DIVERSITY: A NEW DEFINITION FOR AMERICA – HOW YOU SEE IT!
By Usha Murthy, AWSCPA 2008-2009 Vice President Publications

Being in Los Angeles for over 8 years, has led me to believe that there exists a whole new definition for diversity. As I understand, diversity means different things to different people. Most commonly, it fits into the following definition.

1. the state or fact of being diverse; difference, unlikeness.
2. variety; multiformity.
3. a point of difference.

In the early 90s, diversity was the buzzword in corporate America. Corporate culture learnt early on that with globalization of the IT sector, outsourcing to the East, and with expansion of the import-export businesses, the ever changing face of diversity took new forms. Corporate America sent its business leaders and office managers to diversity awareness trainings, hired diversity managers within its company in an effort to better manage diversity in the workplace. Businesses were encouraged to embrace people from various cultures and ethnicities into the workplace. “Being different” was no longer scary, it become acceptable and appreciable.  Immigrant cultures along the East and West Coast realized that diversity in numbers was indeed strength in numbers. In Los Angeles County alone, 93 different languages are represented from over 100+ countries, in a population of 10 million residents. As one drives through the county, one experiences the rich food and culture of “Little India”, “Little Thai”, “Little Tokyo”, “Chinatown” and the likes of it.

On a global scale, the world has seen diversity in leadership, where women have represented their country’s leadership, for example, the commendable Margaret Thatcher to Indira Gandhi.  Even in our own backyard, the political race was down to choosing a woman nominee or an African-American nominee. The VP in running is a woman. The governor of Louisiana-Bobby Jindal is of Asian descent. The question remains…Is America merely following suit of many other nations in politics or are we merely redefining the face of diversity? Are we becoming the copy-cat culture in a big way? Although there is no right or wrong answer, the trend for recognizing diversity, appreciating it and living through it has become the norm and acceptable.

I am often asked by friends and co-workers—what was it like to live in a highly populated country with few resources. In a split second, my answer has always been, “it isn’t the number of people around you, and it is how you fit into working with people with diverse backgrounds that makes it fun!”