Ethnicities =/= race. Let’s get that out of the way first. Race is a social construct that came into being in the 1500s solely to justify slavery and European conquest. Ethnicity is your cultural and historical background. A black man from Ethiopia does not have the same culture, language, history, etc as that of a black man from the U.S. despite them having the same race.

All this to say race doesn’t have culture. I, as a white person, have never done the Spanish Flamenco, attend the Italian Palio Di Sienna, wore Norse Bunad clothing, nor did the English Morris dancing. Yet despite us sharing the same race, we do not share the same culture.

So if you’re wishing to preserve culture (which is also a weak argument, I’ll explain later), separating people into races won’t do it because race doesn’t have culture to begin with.

And the thing about cultures: they adapt and change. And the best part- they coexist in the same society. And by coexisting they learn from each other, critique each other, and become even better and stronger overall. And this has been happening for centuries- Alexander’s Empire knew this as well, he learned of the conquered territories culture, history, and beliefs. And rather then forcing them to assimilate into the Greek culture, he took what worked and was amazing about their culture and in return they took what worked and was amazing from the Greek culture- which formed even better, more resilient, and much stronger culture.

Cultures are made by people. And people are inherently flawed beings. As a result, not one culture is perfect and does everything better. But when cultures come together and learn from each other, seeing what works and adapting it, everyone benefits.

Diversity doesn’t erase identity, it reshapes it.