Diversity 2: A Correction

My friend and Keloland Colleague, Todd Epp, has this:

If you're not white, male, and Christian, the South Dakota Blogosphere can be a pretty ugly place.  Read these recent "gems" of anti-diversity blogging (I really hate to give traffic to these sites, but you need to read them to believe them):

• The racism of multiculturalism (Sibby Online)
• This Is Why I don't Like Going To The Grocery Store (SD Potty Break)

• What Public 'Charity' Really Breeds (Dakota Voice

• The Downside of Diversity? (SD Politics)

Now I will let the other bloggers speak for themselves, but I do have to wonder if Todd read my post at all, or whether it simply went over his head.  For anyone who did read it, were he of sound mind and unclouded judgment, would surely recognize that I came down on the side of diversity.  I did begin by acknowledging a study that showed the downside of living in diverse neighborhoods. I then tried to show that this didn't mean what racial and ethnic isolationists like Pat Buchanan think it means. 

The odd thing is that I seem to be saying exactly what Todd himself is saying.  Here is Todd:

Are [there] sometimes problems dealing with diversity?  Absolutely.  But diversity is what makes us unique--and strong--as a nation and state and city.  America picks the best from many cultures and makes it its own.

Here is what I said:

It's easy to imagine that the United States could be like South Dakota: comfortable and homogeneous.  All you have to do is forget how all the Norwegians and German Russians and Irish got here and what the adjustment was like.  And you have to forget how empty many places were until these immigrants arrived, and how empty they will become if we try to lock the doors and seal the windows.  And you have to believe the unbelievable: that we can lock out diversity.  It's coming, whether we like it or not.  Our ability to manage it, like we did in the past, will determine our future.

Now I am a bit more honest, I think, about the challenges of diversity. But only a bit.  Besides that, Todd and I seem to be saying exactly the same things.  I knew it was a challenge to disagree with Todd. Agreeing with him is damn near impossible.