As our nation of 312 million citizens sets aside special family time during the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of our many blessings. Like our neighbors in the Americas, we boast enviable natural resources and a proud pre-Columbian heritage. Like more distant lands in the Old World (Africa, Asia and Europe), we enjoy tremendous biodiversity and an ever-growing multiculturalism. With more than 1,000,000 persons now obtaining permanent resident status on an annual basis, immigration has long been one of our greatest assets.
When I think about the global population of seven billion souls, I am mystified about the many ways in which we are all different from one another. Not only are we different in our physical, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds, we are different in our beliefs, in our ideologies, and in our passions. In some parts of the world (and certainly in the greater Boston area) we are fortunate to enjoy great freedom of choice: simple things like food and fashion, more complex things like political affiliation and family structure. Sadly, both for political reasons and for economic ones, in many parts of the world such freedoms are almost unimaginable.
The demographics of human migration are profoundly exciting, but they also give rise to an unexpected paradox: as much as modern anthropology has encouraged us to pay closer attention to the uniqueness of indigenous peoples, we have also come to value the transformative power of cultural mixing. I believe that this paradox makes itself manifest itself on multiple levels. Homogenous urban neighborhoods are easily critiqued in a society that cares about multiculturalism, and yet isolated native populations that are equally homogenous are actively and legitimately admired. The blessing (and curse) of contemporary life is that we want to have it both ways.
I’m not sure how easily or how soon the 21st century global community will learn to reconcile the tensions that arise from the constant mixing of cultures, but I am confident that the strongest local communities are those that are comprised of families of difference. This applies equally to complex urban settings and to small private schools. Neighborhoods filled with local merchants are invariably more interesting than those dominated by national franchises, just as classrooms filled with children of difference are automatically more energized than those filled with overly similar ones. The presence of such difference is just a small part of what I value about CHS and certainly to be counted as a holiday blessing.
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Ami Maniar Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 07.28 am
Wonderful thoughts on Thanksgiving and community. Perhaps the most unique aspect of this holiday is the inclusivity. On this day the phrase “why don’t you join us?” appears rampant. At a thanksgiving with family and friends the “spread” ranged from Turkey to indian vegetarian options to allergen conscious desserts. On this day, welcoming others and their traditions to one’s own comes naturally. We see the faculty and families of CHS work to recreate that in ourselves and for our children each day. For that, we are thankful.