To the editor:

Diversity is a familiar term. Our social media lives are saturated with it, but our actions stray from its definition. Diversity means variety. However, instead of a variety of viewpoints, we are working towards fewer, snuffing out views we perceive to be different from what we want to hear. In our righteous quest, this seems justified. But are the issues of race, gender and religion simple enough for two distinct sides? True solutions are likely to be somewhere in the middle. We need to listen, to value different voices, and seek to resolve our issues, not force people to sides.

Yet, every day we are choosing sides more than having dialogue. When checking Facebook, who doesn’t see a friend virtuously declaring they have unfriended someone for their “improper” beliefs. And who hasn’t done similar culling themselves? It is an inquisition. We are choosing our friends, and the viewpoints we want to hear, by silencing opinions we don’t want to hear. Social media is a community. Blocking viewpoints isolates us from diversity much the same way housing policies have blocked physical communities. We are committing the same sins of segregation in a new community.

To make our country more comfortable, perhaps it is time to embrace discomfort. Think about what it might be like in their shoes. Not what your liberal or conservative ideals tell you, but what a person in the situation tells you. Ask a stranger what it is like; they might just be your next Facebook friend.