Poll: Diversity Not A Positive

By George Anderson

If the term melting pot fits any place, its fits South Florida.

The region has been a magnet for diverse populations looking to build a life with their families or simply live out their retirement years in the sunshine.

Instead of celebrating this diversity, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel pool suggests residents would just as well do without it. The survey found:

• Language remains a barrier in the state and many see it as having become more of a problem in the last ten years.


• English-only speakers are most negative about the demographic changes that have taken place, believing Spanish-speakers, in particular, are resisting assimilation. Spanish-speakers are more likely to say they are attempting to assimilate into the greater society.


• Younger people are more open to living with diversity than their more senior counterparts. “Those ages 18-49 are more likely today to have friends who speak a foreign language than they had a few years ago. Compared with a similar survey conducted for NBC 6 six years ago, far more non-Hispanics now speak Spanish well or fluently.”

Moderator’s Comment: How prevalent is the resistance
to diversity in the retail and CPG industries? How can companies better sell
the benefits of diversity to their own? [George
Anderson – Moderator]

• Poll:
  More diversity doesn’t make S. Florida a better place to live – South Florida
  Sun-Sentinel