My taxi driver in Washington DC was from Eritrea. He had asked where I came from and how it compared with my country; and he told me how different he found it from his. So I braced myself and asked the most politically incorrect of questions: where was he from?
Turns out he had won the Diversity Lottery, and he asked if I had heard of it. I realised that I had as one of my Uber drivers the previous year had mentioned how he had won, what I thought was a euphemism and took to be the ‘diversity lottery.’ Turns out it’s a real thing!
The Diversity Lottery, correctly termed the Diversity Visa, was introduced in 1995 following the Immigration Act of 1990 under President George W Bush. The act was the brainchild of Democrat Congressman Bruce Morrison, but had bipartisan support. It was designed to allow 50,000 immigrants into the United States from specified countries where immigrants were considered to be underrepresented. The ‘lottery’ aspect comes into play, because people from these countries can apply at no cost and are selected randomly. Thus, those whose name comes up consider that they have ‘won the lottery.’
But the question remains, ‘why?’
Why diversify?
I cannot find any justification for the need for diversity per se, other than that around the time the lottery was introduced the main beneficiaries of the existing programme were people from Ireland and Northern Ireland. The numbers from the Island of Ireland were eventually restricted, and the Diversity Lottery was created. But it is hard to fathom why any country would wish, deliberately, to increase the diversity of colour and culture among its population. Why turn your back on people who are well educated, can speak your language, are largely Christian in one form or another, and who probably already have family in the country? Unless it is the case that America continues to wish the world to send it its ‘huddled masses’ but, still, it is not clear why.
Unless…
I have been visiting Washington DC regularly for years. Not once have I taken a regular taxi or an Uber that was not driven by a person of colour or a European immigrant, usually from countries that were economic basket cases. They benefit enormously from their move to the United States and, of course, some will live the American dream: settle down; get married; make money; and send their kids to Harvard. But the benefits to America and Americans are also obvious; they import an underclass which lives to do the menial jobs that native and largely white Americans do not want to do. There is remarkably little diversity among the taxi drivers if judged by the fact that they are almost universally poor immigrants.
In the same vein there is absolutely no diversity, certainly in Washington DC, among the restroom attendants, street sweepers, rough sleepers, the unemployed and the beggars. They are almost universally black, and almost exclusively non-immigrants. They may well have life and liberty, but they seem remarkably deficient in happiness.
Britain
Reflecting on our situation in the UK, the profile of Uber drivers (but not, of course, London taxi drivers) is very similar. The US is not the only country to benefit from importing an underclass. On the other hand, the profile of our street sleepers is almost universally white; at least we dominate in one sector.
I am not sure what my conclusion is regarding the US Diversity Lottery, other than the logic of the scheme escapes me. It may well be a good thing, but someone would have to explain that to me without using the words ‘multicultural’ and ‘menial’; those aspects are as plain as daylight. We have no diversity lottery in the UK. Ironically, UK citizens will be eligible to apply under the US Diversity Visa scheme in 2025; it will be interesting to see not just how many UK citizens apply, but what their economic and ethnics profile is, given the ease with which those arriving on our shores can apply for citizenship.
While we may not officially have a citizenship lottery this side of the pond, we do allow hordes of illegal immigrants to invade our shores on a daily basis, with little to no knowledge of where they come from and what their intentions are. I suppose my conclusion therefore, is that it is us who is playing the diversity lottery.
Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.
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