Picture Perfect Diversity

Graphic by Anika Dua

We all know the ice cream social that happens the first few days after freshman move in. Everyone is eager to make new friends, and twenty minutes in you already have 50 new followers on Instagram. 

So there I was, enjoying ice cream with some other girls, when two girls approached us. Giggling and laughing, they requested to take a picture with some of us. Feeling like celebrities, of course we agreed. 

The flash went off, and introductions followed, but before long the two girls were already moving on. I was a little confused when I then heard one of the girls say: “We got a picture with the brown girls; we can post this.”

That’s when it dawned on me; this was your average diversity picture. We all know it. You stick a few people of color in front of the camera, smile wide, and pretend you are friends without any real conversation. This, however, was a new experience for me. One that left me feeling like some kind of tourist attraction. 

And honestly, no shade to these girls. Perhaps they really just wanted a picture with us without ever considering race. But, it does raise the question: are all the pictures you see of diversity real? Or are they just a false attempt to look diverse? 

It is important to recognize that not everything on social media is real, and embracing diversity means more than just posing for a picture.