When America was founded, freedom and equality for all people was founded, at first religious freedom, but then freedom of speech, of the press, of petitions and more. Over time, America began to be known as a “melting pot” of cultures as more and more people came because they wanted this freedom; However, the more people arrived, the more problems America had. There were too many cultural discrepancies between people, and ultimately, America, the country based on freedom and equality, faced challenges regarding diversity. So why do we need diversity? As America grows, the cultural differences between individuals become colossal. People are becoming closed-minded towards others who are different from them, which creates tension and naivety towards other cultures. “For all societies at all times have their particular blind spots, groups within their culture and even groups abroad who are treated with ignorance and narrow-mindedness” (Nussbaum). Because we live in a nation that is continually growing and will always have diversity, we must become more aware of others. If we live exclusively by connecting with those who are similar to us, no one will benefit. But “if we have more contact with people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds (or at least more contact under the right circumstances), we will begin to trust each other more” (Putnam 141). We need to engage more socially with those who are dissimilar to us so that we can become aware of the other cultures around us. Learning about other cultures is more than simply connecting with others, we must give our consent and recognize where they come from to allow us to strengthen our communities. ... middle of paper ...... resistance." King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: New York Harper, 1958. 240.Loewen, James. " Down the Memory. " Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Your American History Textbook Got It All Wrong. New York: Touchstone, 1995. 384. Nussbaum, Martha. "Cultivating Imaginations: Literature and the Arts." Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities in the Twenty-First Century The Johan Skytte Prize Lecture 2006." Scandinavian Political Studies 30.2 (2007): 137-174.St. John, Warren. Outcasts United. New York: Random House, Inc., 2009.The Lost Boys of Sudan. Dir. Jon Shenk and Megan Mylan. 2003.