Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j9RJxrG26448; Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:59:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:59:53 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <20051027195809.20190.qmail@web31002.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Lydia Criss <lydiacriss@yahoo.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3358] Fwd: Re: Re: diversity X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > Not only do I completely agree with you, Bettina, > but I wanted to elaborate more about diversity. > Americans do say they want diversity, they say they > want equality, and we have not achieved that. Many > like to "sugar coat" that our society is equal and > everyone gets the same opportunities to succeed; > however, we are just continuing to perpetuate the > problem. Until we reflect deeply within ourselves > and find where our "blind spots" affecting our > conscious/unconscious views of other cultures fall, > we cannot even begin to take the steps in the right > directions to facilitate equality, let alone > diversity. > It is my opinion that until we, as individuals and a > society, face the reality of stereotypes and racism, > still running rapid in our society, we cannot move > toward true equality, embracing diversity. > I would also highly recommend that anyone who has > not had the opportunity to watch the movie Crash, do > so. For some, it could be that first step in really > searching yourself to find what you are truly > holding in your "blind spots", choosing (again > either consciously or unconsciously) not to see. > I agree with the first line in the movie that > sometimes we are in such a great need to feel that > we crash into each other, just to touch. > Lydia Mays > > Bettina Love <bettina_llove@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Hello Everyone, > > In my opinion, diversity is a very tricky issues for > various reasons. One major reason is the meaning of > diversity, many Americans say they want diversity; > however, do not know what real diversity is and what > real diversity looks like. It has become a buzzword > word. If social structures in this country were to > diversify, to liberate individuals, they must first > be > willing to release some aspects of their power. I > believe that to speak openly and honestly about real > diversity, powerful individuals and the oppressed > must > meet face-to-face and have a candid conversation > about > diversity. People in power must come to an > understanding that the social structures that they > have created are unmovable mountains of oppression. > These powerful individuals must be willing to move > past tokenism, and empower minorities to diversify > social structures for sustainable empowerment. > > Bettina Love > > > --- Daphne Greenberg wrote: > > > Gretchen writes something very powerful: "...as > > people learn to treat each other as people first > > rather than members of groups." I agree, but also > > wonder whether our group identities help color our > > perceptions, realities, and actions. I wonder if > > both are important? What do members of this > listserv > > think? > > Daphne > > > > >>> gsullivan@atcaa.org 10/26/2005 4:21:05 PM >>> > > Daphne, > > > > Thank you, I really appreciate your comments. I > work > > in an area that has a > > large population of Native Americans and very few > > other minorities. Our > > demographics are changing and the Mi-Wuks have a > new > > casino so there is > > tremendous change going on. It is unsettling to > the > > community and much of > > our time during community meetings and during our > > adult literacy classes is > > spent talking about how to talk respectfully to > each > > other. I'm afraid that > > it will be a very long converstaion as people > learn > > to treat each other as > > people first rather than members of groups. > > > > Gretchen Sullivan > > Adult Education Coordinator > > ATCAA Family Learning Center > > Tuolumne, CA > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Daphne Greenberg" > > To: "Multiple recipients of list" > > > > Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 5:52 AM > > Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3354] diversity > > > > > > > I had an interesting experience the other day > that > > I would like to share. > > I was part of a focus group discussion trying to > > brainstorm what can be done > > about smoking behaviors and individuals who have > low > > incomes/low > > literacy/low access to resources, etc. What I > would > > like to share is the > > diversity issues that came up during this > > discussion. > > > 1. Native American culture: > > > a. Individuals from the Native American > community > > shared their offense at > > earlier panelists who cited educational attainment > > figures about various > > minority groups and claimed that similar > statistics > > were not available for > > the Native American group. The individuals from > the > > Native American > > community stated that this was ridiculous, that > > these statistics are readily > > available on the Internet, and that once again the > > needs of the Native > > Americans in our society are overlooked. The look > of > > pain on their faces was > > apparent for all to see... > > > b. During a discussion about how moving from > rural > > communities to city > > communities increases the family/neighborhood > > support that low income > > individuals can experience, the Native American > > individuals reminded us how > > for their community the opposite occurred. They > had > > much more support on the > > reservation, and lost family/neighborhood support > > when they were moved out > > of the reservation and forced to live in cities. > > > 2. NonChristian culture: > > > When talking about institutions that can help > > support an anti smoking > > campaign with individuals who have low literacy, > > many in the group talked > > about churches. When someone in the group raised > the > > suggestion that instead > > of the word churches, the phrase "faith-based" > > organizations may be more > > inclusive, others in the group didn't understand > > what was wrong with the > > word "church." She explained that Jews, Moslems, > and > > other religions do not > > call their houses of worship church and do not > > relate to that word. It was > > clear that many in the group were confused by this > > statement. > > > 3. Representation: > > > When a minority member is the only one in the > room > > who belongs to a > > particular culture, we often make the mistake of > > assuming that whatever that > > person says is representative of that culture, as > if > > that culture is made up > > of homogeneous people. This was clear when during > a > > discussion of which > > groups may need special attention, a man said "we, > > the glbt community" need > > attention. A woman objected stating that what does > > smoking have to do with > > who we go to bed with. Another woman responded by > > stating that the > > connection is that we have been told by the > > panelists that the lgbt > > community is one of the most recent targets of the > > tobacco industry, so we > > need to pay attention to our community. The other > > woman continued to object > > stating that she did not think we should be > > including sexuality in this > > conversation. The facilitator responded by stating > > that the purpose of this > > conversation is not to infuse our personal beliefs > > about sexuality and how > > we feel about homosexuality, it is ! > > > to talk about helping individuals of different > > communities. At this point > > the woman responded by saying, you don't > understand. > > I am a part of the lgbt > > community, it is just that I don't think that we > > should be addressing > > sexuality at this point. It was interesting to me, > > how there were 3 > > outspoken members of the lgbt community in that > > group, and 2/3 perceived > > things one way, and the third perceived them > another > > way. It helped remind > > us that just because we all represented different > > communities and voiced our > > opinions, it did not necessarily mean that we > > represented what everyone in > > that culture believed. > > > The above focus group experience reminded of the > > complexities of diversity > > and how learning to interact with each other is a > > lifelong process. These > > types of experiences are helpful to think about > when > > we interact with adult > > learners who may be similar and different from > each > > other in numerous ways. > > Although, most of the time adult literacy teachers > > do not have the time to > > talk about these types of issues with learners, > the > > way we look, what we > > say, and our body language impact the learning > > process in ways that we > > sometimes can see, and in ways that are often not > > seen. > > > Any thoughts? > > > Daphne > > > > > > > > > Daphne Greenberg > > > Assistant Professor > > > Educational Psych. & Special Ed. > > > Georgia State University > > > P.O. Box 3979 > > > Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 > > > phone: 404-651-0127 > > > fax:404-651-4901 > > > dgreenberg@gsu.edu > > > > > > Daphne Greenberg > > > Associate Director > > > Center for the Study of Adult Literacy > > > Georgia State University > > > P.O. Box 3977 > > > Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977 > > > phone: 404-651-0127 > > > fax:404-651-4901 > > > dgreenberg@gsu.edu > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in > one click. __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com
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