William Deresiewicz, who writes from the left, has had it with the conversation about the lack of “diversity” in his city, heavily white Portland, Oregon. Excerpt:

I’m not defending Portland here. Its whiteness is the outcome of some pretty ugly history. For 60 years after statehood, Oregon excluded blacks from settling within its borders. No, what I can’t stand is the way that “diversity” has become a badge of moral superiority. Somehow you’re a better person if you happen to live in a place that has a lot of blacks and Latinos—even if that circumstance is no thanks to you, even if you live there for entirely different reasons, even if you don’t actually know any of those people, even if the groups are segregated economically (and even though your presence, ipso facto, reduces the level of that diversity). “I can’t stand Vermont—it’s so white.” Vermont’s white? You’re white, you idiot.

Precisely.

Why obsess over “diversity”? Just be open and fair and kind and curious about people as people, not as representatives of a Group, and let the rest take care of itself.