Diversity
Recognizing the differences between us — an attempt to bring us together — but corporatized and weaponized to keep us apart.
How We Say It
di·vur·si·tee
Where It Comes From
Latin diversitas — difference. From diversus — turned different ways. Originally meant divergence or disagreement — a neutral or even negative term. The positive valence — diversity as a value — is largely a 20th-century development.
How It's Been Used
Became central in American institutional life after the Supreme Court's 1978 Bakke decision held racial diversity could be a compelling interest in university admissions. Adopted by corporations and universities as a value — sometimes operational, sometimes ornamental. Critics from the left say diversity rhetoric substitutes for structural change; critics from the right say it produces quotas.