The diversity of perception

Diversity is usually understood to be differences between race/ethnicity and cultures.
The word can encompass a lot, and I think sometimes we forget how diverse all of us really are, even when we are in the same racial category, have the same sexual orientation, socioeconomic statuses, etc. Because no matter how alike we all may seem, the way we perceive and understand things is never the same as someone else.
This is all pretty obvious, and the reason I'm writing this is because I recently had an experience that brought all of this back to the surface.

A few nights ago, while training with 15 other peer leaders at a beach house in Bodega, cultures clashed in what can be described as a prank gone too far.
It was a little past midnight, and me and the other women in my room had just turned out the light and the TV. Then, out of nowhere, a figure holding a candle and gliding by the window appeared. I didn't get a good look at them, but everyone panicked immediately, and my roommate whispered something about a white hood.

That's when I went into absolute panic.
I didn't have time to think that it was a joke, because the first place I went is that the KKK were outside. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Now while this reaction might seem ridiculous or out of line to some. I had one of my peers make a mocking joke about how I had responded. But let me ask a few questions. Have you thought about the fact that in my history and the stories I've heard growing up, the KKK were famous for lynching members of my community? Do you know that my grandfather was a civil rights leader and had shots fired into his house when my mom was growing up? Did you even think about how scary it is to be in an unfamiliar place in the middle of nowhere and have someone stare into your room with a candle and a while cloak?
The possibility that those things weren't thought about highlights an ignorance and a glaring privilege.

My roommate Rebecca was in an entirely different place than I was.
She thought the figure outside was an alien, because the stories she grew up with were full of aliens and the supernatural. Her perception of the event was entirely different than mine, but that doesn't make it any less "feasible" or "legitimate." She has just as much of a right to think that it was an alien than I had thinking it was the KKK, because both of those experiences are linked to our past and our background.

Meanwhile, the women on my staff who decided to play the prank had no idea what the impact would be on the rest of us. It was a spur of the moment thing they did to cause laughs, but it caused the exact opposite of what they had intended. I was in tears, the men were in a panic and rushing outside to respond to the situation (very gendered, in my opinion), and some of us were just frozen. My peers felt genuinely guilty and upset by the impacts of their actions. They explained to us that in their Mexican background it was common to play pranks on people and scare each other out of good fun, and that they never even thought about how other people from other backgrounds would experience it. Our entire staff got together the next morning and debriefed about it. Some tears were shed, experiences and perspectives were shared, and I felt closer to everyone than I had the night before.

I know the various thoughts people could have depending on their experience:
"Wow, I never thought of it that way."
"That was horrifying."
"People are overreacting. This whole thing is ridiculous."
"I feel terrible."
"I don't see what the big deal is."

I find the fact that we all see, experience, and perceive things differently to be a beautiful thing. Each of us bring something different to the staff or any group of people we are around. It is when we begin to question or negate each other's experiences that conflict arises.