Cultural Diversity is often perceived as an ideal concept. The word that's usually associated with this is "respect." In our perfect little world, that should be the case.
Now, here comes reality stealing our precious little dream. In a world where Neo-Nazis and white supremacists can walk unscathed after causing serious trouble, it hurts to be a part of this reality. This is not even something that you'd want your children to see.
In this day and age, where racism is rampant, and diversity is barely tolerated, how can we find peace and assurance?
Even if it looks futile right now, diversity still fights for equality.
Let's take Edeka as our latest example. Edeka is a company in Germany, and it is known as the country's largest Supermarket Chain.
In 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Germany's gates to let immigrants into the country. Here's the big issue: some Germans were not too pleased about the sudden increase in foreigners within the country.
What does Edeka want to teach us?
Huffington Post reports that the store removed all foreign foods in their shelves last weekend to emphasize the importance of equality and diversity. The customers who visited the outlet located in Hamburg found themselves at a loss when they were only able to buy a couple of local items.
Olive oil, pasta, and wine from different parts of the world were taken off the menu. There were signs all over the shelves, and one even read, "This shelf is pretty boring without diversity." True statement. How will people cope without diversity?
The Edeka spokesperson even shared that a lot of people appreciated this act.
It drew attention, and it garnered support from people over the Internet because of its anti-xenophobia message. This signifies the company's interest in pushing this point across every person who visited the store.
Before anything else, in order to fully grasp the concept of diversity, tolerance should be strongly differentiated from acceptance.
There is a stark difference between the two and to be honest, the world isn't ready for the latter.
Each individual must find the human essence in variability. Different people and cultures matter. Respect is more important than hate. Love is far more important than hate. Edeka represents this big step, and hopefully, other businesses may follow their example.
It's still a long way to go, and it may take some time, but people seek comfort in knowing that the world is capable of changing. There is still hope.
