As Valley grows, so does diversity

Resslin' around, by Casey Ressler

Last Monday, hundreds of Valley residents got together to celebrate and honor the life of Martin Luther King Jr. It marked the second time the community observance has taken place, which naturally leads to the most obvious question -- what took so long?

Kim-Marie Walker put a lot of time and effort into the inaugural event last year, and it was a huge success. This year's was even bigger and better, and much of that praise should go to Walker as well.

It is somewhat perturbing, however, that it took until 2003 for the Valley to finally start celebrating the national holiday by honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. It's another big step for a growing area, however.

I graduated from high school here in the Valley just more than a decade ago. The Valley has grown exponentially since that time, and one of the first things you notice when you compare the Valley then to the Valley now is that the faces on the people in the community have changed dramatically. More and more cultures are represented, and different ethnic backgrounds are becoming more common than they were a decade ago here.

When I was in high school, I could count on two hands the number of minorities that I went to school with. An overwhelming majority of students were white, and diversity was something we read about in text books, not something we saw firsthand.

When I went to college at Michigan State University after graduation, I was amazed at the multicultural environment I lived in -- and amazed at how sheltered I had been living in Alaska.

My closest circle of friends included a Persian named Omeed, a Saudi named Fahad, an Indian (from India) named Joey (I know that's weird). Our circle of friends included blacks, whites, Jews, Catholics and just about everything in between. It didn't really matter what your religion was, where you came from or what color your skin was.

Just the other day, I was talking on the phone with a man who moved to the Valley more than 20 years ago. He remembers a Fourth of July parade in Wasilla just after he moved here quite well, because his two boys were standing on the street, waiting for candy from the passing floats.

The people were depositing candy in all the kids' bags -- except his two boys' bags were still empty at the end of the parade.

Did I mention they weren't white?

Evidently, that made a difference to those who were handing out the candy that day, because all the other kids on the parade route got goodies.

He said he stood there, astonished. Undoubtedly, he had to explain that social ignorance to his children, who were too young to understand.

Now, as the Valley grows, our "circle of friends" is widening, and diversity is being celebrated -- which is a good thing. Kids now are growing up beside those of different cultures, and realizing that those differences are something to respect, not to make a joke about.

By learning about each other's cultural differences, you get a bigger view of the world as a whole, and nobody can argue that you are better off with a narrow mind.

Kim-Marie Walker and her volunteers deserve a big "thank you" for finally getting the ball rolling on such an important event for the community.

As we celebrate diversity, we realize that there really is candy for everyone in the parade of life.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.