What is Diversity, Really?

German intelligence: The story of Miriam and Christian Rengier, German expats in New York City, is heart-warming.

The Rengiers are affluent and highly educated and wanted to provide their kids with the best possible education money can buy. After shopping around for schools in Manhattan, they chose a Public over private schools on the following grounds: Private schools did not have diversity, whereas public schools abounded in it. Being white and “Germanic”, the Rengiers didn’t want their sons to experience more of the same.

They scoffed at the token diversity on display in private schools—in the choice of cafeteria food:

The kids were able to choose between seven different lunches: sushi and macrobiotics and whatever, […] And I said, What if I don’t want my son to choose from seven different lunches? And she looked at me like I was an idiot.

The Rengiers said they wanted “real” diversity in the lives of their children, not simply a gastronomic one.

This isn’t just about how smart the Germans are in differentiating between “real” and “cosmetic”, but about how illuminating this whole ability to make fine distinctions is.