When I heard the words “Ew, why would you ever give your phone number to a Mexican?” come out of one of my co-workers mouths, I almost smacked the girl.  Instead, I remained composed and fled from the waitress station before she or anyone else could say anything more on the subject.

That was definitely one of the more ignorant comments I’ve heard at work, but it certainly wasn’t the only one ever made. This girl’s comment was more discriminatory than usual, but other equally demeaning comments are made on nearly a daily basis, all virtually baseless, mostly about how the guys “suck at their jobs” and “are so annoying.” I feel like much of the dislike stems from their inability to accept the Spanish language or even broken English.

I’m convinced that this attitude is not uncommon for individuals around my age. If I were paid for the number of times I’ve heard, “Why should I have to learn Spanish? If you come to America you should accept our language and learn English,” I’d be rolling in it. That’s sad. Same with jokes about African Americans and Jewish individuals, or any ethnicity or religion for that matter. They’re not funny.

The most messed up part about it is that the girls who make these narrow-minded comments are generally all between the ages of 15 and 23, with the majority being on the lower end of that range.

Looking back, I should have stuck up for the Latino guys I work with. I should have shot back, “‘Ew’? ‘Ew’ to you, this pretty little 17-year-old girl who thinks she’s the center of the universe because she’s white. ‘Ew’ to the fact that you don’t like them because they’re different than you and came from another place. How unattractive that makes you.” But I was just too shocked to even do anything besides walk out.

There was no logic or reason to back up her opinion and no additional explanation about why she felt that way either. The girl next to her nodded in agreement. I was livid.

This is something we all need to overcome.

Diversity is vital. As an online Q&A responder put it, we need diversity like we need cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and croutons in a salad. Otherwise you’d just have lettuce, and how exciting is that? Not very.

Diversity expands our growth and intelligence. With different experiences, beliefs and perspectives, we are able to think more critically and develop ourselves into a more wholesome society
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The talents and characteristics of individuals from different backgrounds contribute vastly to our complex civilization, allowing us to achieve, create and develop more in our country.

It’s good to be well-rounded. If this country functioned solely on the ideas of white Americans, we’d probably be at half of where we are now.

There’s no use having a bad attitude about diversity or being fearful of it either. We are descendants of immigrants, after all. The problem is that many individuals do not like change. They don’t want to adjust. They’re happy with how things are, and new languages, beliefs and customs scare them.

But whether you’re happy about it or not, the white American will someday be the minority in the United States, they’re actually saying 2042.

The Census Bureau announced last May that white births are no longer the majority in America. Non-Hispanic whites ranked at 49.6 percent in the past year (ending in July). Hispanics, Asians and African-American minorities reached 50.4 percent. It’s certainly strange to think about, but it’s happening.  So why fight it?