Quotes About Diversity

I am a legal immigrant whose parents went from Russia to China to Chile to finally reach the United States and thereby give me a chance to have a better life. I served six years in the U.S. Army Reserve, went to college, have a successful career and have dedicated my life to being a good citizen.

Why can't I make up my own characters and paint the people I want to see in the world? I'm depicting the many people who existed in history but whose presence was never documented.

I'm black and Cuban, Australian and Irish, and like most people in America, I'm someone whose roots come from somewhere else. I'm a mixed race, first-generation American.

I certainly wouldn't want to be a Mini Me of any of the people whose footsteps I've followed in.

Sports is the common denominator in the world that brings everyone together. If there's any one place in the world where there is equality, it is probably sports. That was something that didn't always exist. We've come a long way in sports. Why can't society use sports as a way to bring people together and create change?

My audience went, 'Wait, why is she singing jazz? What's going on?' And then they went, 'Oh, because she can. Because she loves it.' And jazz, a music invented by the African-American community, is the greatest art form, I believe, to have ever come out of this country.

With my husband, I do really appreciate the fact that we - even though we're different kinds of Asian, there is a cultural shorthand between us, and I don't have to explain anything. I've dated guys before who weren't Asian-American, and it frustrated me when I would have to defend why beans belong in a dessert.

Real tolerance means respecting other people even when they baffle you and you have no idea why they think what they think.

I'm made up of immigrant stock. I went to a primary school in London. I grew up eating Spangles, why shouldn't I be as well placed to speak for Londoners as anyone else?

Why, if someone is good in one field can they not be accepted or given the slightest opportunity to express and be creative in other fields?

I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people - because they look like them... That's American politics, pure and simple.

Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?

I am happy with my skin, and I'm proud of my skin, which is why I wear it so boldly. But if a job wanted me to, say, try a smoky eye and cover the vitiligo around my eye, I wouldn't have a problem with that.

Why should anyone get treated differently, because of race, sex, or whatever? We're all human, we all breathe, we all have souls, hearts and I guess, all we can do is keep pushing this positive message.

I am very picky with my career. I don't need to do it for the money or the fame. I'm very choosy, which is why I haven't played the typical role that people expect to see from someone of my stature and size, as the mean jock or the preppy. It's very easy to see me like that. That's why I go against it in different roles.

Everyone goes through things; everyone has a story. That's why strangers are so interesting. I don't find a single human being boring, man.

In terms of mathematics textbooks, why can't you have the scale of a national market? Right now, we have a Texas textbook that's different from a California textbook that's different from a Massachusetts textbook. That's very expensive.

People always say that you can't please everybody. I think that's a cop-out. Why not attempt it? 'Cause think of all the people you will please if you try.

I always tried to move up the food chain. I started with cement and then moved into textiles and banking. When I was trading sugar, I added salt and flour so that then we could do pasta. And then I thought, why not make the bag for it, too? So, we started making packaging.

My parents actually ran drag clubs in Australia, which is how I grew up. It was normal for me. It was my normal. I knew the other kids didn't do it, but for me, it was life, and nothing was wrong with it. I would see nothing wrong with Beyonce having a drag queen nanny. And why not? Everyone needs one! And a great gay man in their life.

Why not mix this and that? If soy goes well with fish, how come no one does beef carpaccio with soy? Why do we have such a taste and not another? It's all about culture. There is something, however, that I really don't like: bell peppers.

I am totally fascinated by people and our history as I understand and continue to explore it. People have so much to give and so far to go and yet we have given and gone a great distance. It's really just interesting to ask: why not? And see where that takes me.

Scientology, Buddhism, the Kabbalah... if it makes people's lives better, and easier, then I'll do it. Why not? People scoffed at Christianity 2,000 years ago, didn't they?

I feel like, yeah, why not do inter-gender matches? It brings entertainment. It brings a lot of different viewers and demographics and all that, so why not do it?