Different opinions part of diversity

Members of IU's Black Student Union are offended. A mural, which now hangs in a classroom in Woodburn Hall, is to blame. Created by Thomas Hart Benton in 1933, its depiction of what was then contemporary Indiana life, complete with Ku Klux Klan members gathered around a burning cross, is apparently unacceptable. Under the familiar guise of diversity, the BSU and its members have requested the IU Administration to cover or remove the offending display.\nBut doing so would be a mistake.\nDiversity means difference. To remove the Benton mural or to conceal its message would be to abrogate the very principles of difference and tolerance that diversity necessarily entails. Opponents of the Benton mural claim to advocate the kind of free and open marketplace of ideas that diversity requires, but their true intentions are to censor and suppress the expression of a history they find objectionable.\nIt is understandable that one might be made uncomfortable by the image of Klan members burning a cross, but real diversity requires discomfort. Confronting opposing views is never an enjoyable experience. As a nation of immigrants, we must be prepared to tolerate and to learn from a wide range of speech and expression. \nIf IU were to suppress those differences, it would create a world that doesn't exist beyond the confines of the University. In the real world, we will not always have the luxury of removing those views that we find offensive. We will not be free from the conflict that results when competing views collide. Better to accept and learn from our differences now than to leave IU unprepared.\nSome have said the mural is exhibited out of context; that it would be more appropriately displayed in a museum where it would not interfere with the University's ability to educate its students. The Benton mural is itself an education. Although it was created well before the American Civil Rights movement took to the streets of Birmingham, Ala., its image of Klan violence is a powerful reminder of the injustice that African Americans were once forced to endure. It is a testament to the strength of our institutions of government and their ability to adapt and change through time. It is a testament to the strength of the African-American community, which has overcome such tremendous adversity and oppression.\nBy focusing more on the image of hate and less on Benton's larger message of tolerance, BSU members have allowed themselves to be victims of racist intentions that do not exist. They complain about context, yet they point to only one of many images contained within the mural. \nThey vehemently oppose the background images of Klan members and their cross ablaze with hate, yet they are unable or unwilling to acknowledge the foreground. There, in sharp contrast to the glow of the Klansmen's cross, Benton placed the image of a white nurse tending to a black child. His message was one of tolerance, not of hate.\nIf Chancellor Sharon Brehm and the administration are sincere in their efforts to promote diversity on our campus, they will keep the mural in Woodburn 100. IU should be a place where we embrace our differences. It should be a place where we tolerate ideas and expressions that we disagree with. It should be a place where we are encouraged to rise and challenge opposing views and learn from the exchange. IU has a choice: Diversity or intolerance. We should choose diversity.