In modern times, “diversity” has changed meanings.

Currently, the U.S. Census recognizes six races and ethnicities: White, Black or African American, Asian, Hispanic and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Someone who identifies as a Black American born in Ohio may have very little in common with someone who identifies as Afro-Latino born in Cuba. But, due to the limited categories and definitions of race on the census, they most likely will check the same box.

The U.S. Census is not the only area where diversity is not recognized enough. All over the world, people who identify with multiple cultures tend to get overlooked and stuffed into a small box because of the way they look.

The reality is “diversity” has changed over time; people are more mobile than ever before and that fact alone creates hidden diversity. To make an assumption about someone simply because of the way they appear on the outside can overlook all of the things they can bring to the table.

Meet Beatriz Flor, she was born in Brazil, lived in Canada when she was a child, but now lives in Ohio.

To Flor, hidden diversity means “having a sense of multiple cultural backgrounds like Brazil, The U.S. and Canada but not fully identifying with one and having all of them in me.”

According to World Migration Report, there are 281 million immigrants worldwide. These people have experiences in multiple worlds and can provide tremendous amounts of insight that a person living in their home country may not be able to provide. These are people whose voices should be heard.

But having an in-between identity does not only come from immigration. Military families and people of mixed-race also experience the feeling of not fully identifying with one singular cultural background.

Regardless where the feeling of cultural in-between comes from, all of these populations can face marginalization. From bans on immigration, or just feeling like an outsider to their community, the cultural in-between need a space where they can be recognized.

Campaign

We are Bateman Gold, a team of Kent State Public Relations students, and our mission is to Embrace the In-Between and spread awareness to disenfranchised voices across the globe. Those who feel as though they belong to multiple cultures at once, or even none at all, belong in this world. Our client, Culturs, is the perfect place for the cultural in-between to connect.

Our client

Culturs Global Multicultural Lifestyle Network is an organization focused on amplifying the voices of the cultural in-between and the missing “e” represents the often hidden diversities of their audience. The media channels of Culturs highlight multicultural stories that may be overlooked by traditional media outlets, like the journey of a refugee, or art and fashion from another country. Culturs has something for anyone with an in-between Identity.

Contact PRSSA Kent State Bateman Gold at [email protected]. The Bateman competition is a national public relations competition through the Public Relations Student Society of America.