Multi-culture in Longmont

On the evening on Friday, September 23, the Longmont Museum hosted a wonderful event called the Inclusive Communities Celebration. And as we wondered around the beautiful new wing of the museum, it struck us just how much the region needs events like this.O

Boulder County is very white. Like, blindingly white. A local mom recently told us that the lack of diversity causes her to worry about raising her children here, and those concerns are warranted. An extremely healthy economy and job market are all well and good, but they are only part of what makes a region great. Multi-culture, the ability to mix with a relatively even mix of people on a daily basis, is absolutely vital to an area’s well-being.

That’s why the Longmont Museum’s Inclusive Communities Celebration is so important. Here we had people with their roots in Peru, China, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Armenia and more, plus Native Americans and African-Americans, all rubbing shoulders and giving out samples of food indicative of their culture.

We saw Peruvian dancing, Caribbean drumming, a Chinese lady called Lilly Pan singing a gorgeous ballad about the grasslands of Northern China, and a modern take on Indian dancing. But it was the shoulder-rubbing, the chats with the people at the booths, that made this evening so special. The only sad thing is that an event like this is necessary. Done right, we should be running into many people of all colors, cultures and religions every day, in all walks of life. But this is a start.