One day I predict an African-American will be president of the United States of America and we'll all be rich.
The change in America's image from a country that resists its diversity to one that welcomes it may have unforeseen benefits. Today I read a story that noted that after a decline following Sept. 11, 2001, the number of foreign students in the U.S. is now surging again. The story contained this quote from a Chinese student: "In China you can seldom find people from the U.S., but in the U.S. you find people from all over the world."
Now, I'm all for diversity as much as the next liberal. But, you know, when the only sort of thing diversity means is a few hundred people of all different colors on a hilltop standing shoulder to shoulder, singing "I'd Like to Buy The World A Coke," it's pretty much reduced to the aesthetics associated with food pyramid posters and puppy dog calendars, and who gives a rat's ass? But you figure out a way to make money off it, you got something worth promoting.
Rich and semi-rich Chinese neo-capitalists are paying for their sons and daughters to come to American Colleges, not because we have better schools, but because there's a shortage of diversity in China. A survey done in 1977 found that just 35 surnames accounted for 70 percent of the entire population of China. One in 10 were Zhangs. Almost all of them speak Chinese! How do you get away from that? Send them to a school where people speak English and Spanglish, that's how!
Diversity is a draw. There have been times in my life when I would have been willing to pay for some myself. For instance, in 1978 I landed a plush job in Z