In countries all across the world, especially in the United States, there has been an increase in racial diversity due to issues like refugee crises and immigration. Although there are mixed opinions on the benefits and downfalls of the growing ethnic diversity, there is no doubt that race has a significant impact on our society.

As competition in the workplace has grown and job prospects have been in decline, questions have been raised about the effect of race on employment opportunities. When it comes to hiring and promotions in regards to race, Americans have been split into two
major groups- one group stating that race and ethnicity should be a factor in hiring practices, and another group claiming that only a person’ s qualifications should be taken into account, even if that means less ethnic diversity. This brings up the dilemma of whether or not workplace diversity should play a greater role than experience and skill
when it comes to job opportunities.

According to a 2019 Pew Research Center study, the majority of Americans favor racial diversity, with 77% of all adults stating that racial variety is either somewhat or very good for the country. Furthermore, 75% of whites, 75% of blacks, and 80% of Hispanics said that ethnic heterogeneity is a plus for our country. Moreover, specifically in regards to the workplace, 75% of Hispanics, 81% of blacks, and 73% of whites consider it very or somewhat important for companies to support workplace diversity. However, when it came to actually hiring prospective workers, only 24% of all adults supported considering race and ethnicity,on top of skill level. Breaking this percentage down by race, the numbers were 21% of Whites, 27% of Hispanics, and 37% of Blacks. Racial diversity
in the workplace in the United States refers to the idea that the workplace should not be merely filled with the predominant race of white citizens, but rather that minorities should be represent in equal or similar amounts as well. This might hence possibly explain why a greater percentage of Black and Hispanic people want employers to consider race and ethnicity into account when hiring and promoting.

Although most Americans encourage employers to promote workplace diversity in theory, in practice, they seem to be more in line with the American emphasis on hard work and quality rather than racial background. This might be due to American political culture- the
emphasis on equality of opportunity regardless of background as opposed to equality of results.