c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz is a Roman Catholic laywoman and professor of Christian Ethics and Theology at Drew University in Madison, N.J.)

UNDATED _ At some point within the next two decades, groups that today are racial and ethnic minorities in America will become the numerical majority of U.S. citizens. This is significant, but it is not only because of the shifting percentages that make it imperative to reconsider how we deal with diversity and differences.

It is also significant because of the tremendous harm we inflict on ourselves as a nation through deeply embedded ethnic and racial prejudices. The biggest challenge we face as we move into the 21st century is to renounce prejudice and to learn not only to appreciate but also to embrace difference and diversity.

A friend of mine with whom I worked for many years on justice for women in the church once told me she never thought of me as a Latina. She did not see any difference. On the other hand, recently I was not considered for a job because, among other reasons, Latinas and Latinos were seen as my only constituency.

These conflicting situations reflect a reality for Latinas and other members of racial and ethnic minorities in this country: We are caught between attempts to ignore and erase differences and attempts to relegate us to the role of outsider.

We need to understand that prejudice _ the belief that those who are not like us are bad or at least not as good as we are _ results in a denial of the”love one another”message of the Christian scriptures, without exception.

Prejudice of any kind results in unjust practices that not only hurt those who are different from the dominant group, but also diminish the nation by not allowing ethnic and racial minorities to contribute fully to American society. To eliminate the destruction that prejudices generate and sustain, we have to accept the fact that differences among persons are not categorical or essential. What does this mean?

First, we must understand that being different does not mean we are opposites. We can think differently about an issue and both ways can be correct. They do not necessarily exclude each other.

Second, that there are differences does not mean that there are no similarities. It is almost impossible to find people, situations, and opinions, that are diametrically opposed. It is precisely the similarities that do exist, no matter how tenuous they are, that make dialogue feasible for people who disagree to work together and even be friends.

In order not to see diversity and differences as something negative, we have to stop making ourselves the point of reference. We have to rid ourselves of what has been called”boomerang vision.” I have boomerang vision when I refer everything to myself, find it impossible to consider any other criteria except my own, compare everything and everyone to me, and never compare myself to others and to their way of being.

In emotional and moral development, using oneself as a point of reference is not necessarily wrong. But even though it may be healthy initially, as we mature we have to decentralize ourselves so as to welcome those who are different from us and to respect the way they understand and judge people, our nation, and our world.

If we all were the same, our world would be so poor, so limited, so boring! Diversity and differences are an important source of creativity and richness. They are precisely what helps us to live as social beings, as persons who need others to become the best selves we have been created to be.

If being social is intrinsic to being human, not to value diversity leads us in many different ways to negate ourselves.

It is precisely the need to have our differences and diversity recognized that has led women with strong ethnic or racial identities not to use the term feminist but, instead, to create our own names.

Latinas committed to the struggle for justice for women call themselves”mujeristas,”and like-minded African-American women call themselves”womanists.” As such, we are convinced we cannot have justice for any woman unless we abolish the ethnic and racial prejudices that keep Latinas, African-Americans and other racial-ethnic women oppressed. It is this conviction that guides us and gives us strength as we attempt to have diversity and differences recognized as gifts.

IR END ISASI-DIAZ