Multicultural benefits

The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article this week showing the results of a study that found “white students at the most racially diverse medical schools are more likely than students at other schools to report being prepared to serve people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.”

While the findings of this result are not surprising by any length, the fact that such a study is still newsworthy highlights the inherent obstacles minorities still have to confront on a day-to-day basis. Of course, our society has made great advances in the past year alone. One of the major political parties has nominated a black man to its ticket, and the other responded by choosing a female running mate.

The severity of the barriers that divide racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups is clearly diminishing. As Hillary Clinton said, she and her supporters “put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.” What’s still concerning is the response of the majority, which does not always recognize the extent of the benefits they derive from an integrated society.

Of course, the fact that all people should have equal opportunities to make the most of their lives should be enough to convince anyone of the necessity of having a diverse student body. But the real key to having a deep appreciation for diversity comes from recognizing that one really can become “prepared to serve people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.” In other words, the most powerful force for complete integration and appreciation of people who are different than us is realizing that we need them and can’t be as individually good as we’d like to be without them.

The real challenge continues to be applying this to our own lives here at IU. We all know our campus can be both incredibly diverse yet homogenous at the same time. On one hand, it can sometimes feel like our population is primarily white and Midwestern. But at the same time, our campus can be applauded for doing a fantastic job at extending a welcoming hand to all groups through student support meetings, cultural-awareness events and Bloomington’s general focus on appreciating differences. If the AMA study is to be believed, that’s what will really count in the end.

A diverse campus alone is not sufficient to gaining broad comfort interacting with people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds, according to the study. “Unless they regarded their schools as committed to promoting positive interactions among racial and ethnic groups,” AMA medical students were no more likely to be “prepared to care for people from other backgrounds.”

We might not live in a utopian society, but it’s safe to say we’re on the right track.