Exploring Our Cultural Diversity

• Objectives
• 1) Heightened awareness of our cultural lenses and the impact of these lenses on
•     individuals of other groups
• 2) Develop strategies for being allies
• 3) Recognize the importance of cultural diversity

• 1) Diversity is an inclusive concept
• 2) Diversity is a journey
• 3) Diversity is a "personal work"
• 4) Diversity is tied to the success of our community, organization, town, society

• Choir Practice -
•       working with people of like-minded
• Missionary Practice -
•       working with people who are different than you

• Evolution of Diversity Work
• 1960’s focus was "right " (key word)
• 1970’s focus was "representation"
• 1980’s focus was "relationships"
• 1990 focus was "responsibility "
• 2000’s focus will be "results"

Americanization

• The "American way"
• The "three generation process"
• 1) First-generation
• 2) Second-generation
• 3) Third-generation

• In terms of national origin, most Americans cannot trace their ancestry in America more than five or six generations

• Differences in power of the groups
• Majority - the most powerful group
• Minority - groups that are less powerful than the most powerful group
• Minority groups may be subject to social, political, and economic disadvantages
• When the minority group becomes numerically larger than the majority, the majority may erect social barriers

• In-Group - a group of people who share certain traits and characterize themselves as "we"
• Out-Group - the members  of any group that lies beyond the circle of those who   characterize themselves as "we" and as referred to as "they"

• The transformation of a person’s identity from foreign to American
• Factors Affecting Inclusion
• 1. Differences in Social Power
• 2. Voluntary or Involuntary Entrance
• 3. Group Size, Concentration, and Time of Entry
• 4. Ethnic and Racial Similarity
• 5. Race and Ethnicity

• 1) American Indians
• 2) African Ancestors
• 3) Ancestors of Mexican Americans
• Why have some groups in the past not merged uniformly into American society?

• Racial Group - a category of people mainly based on aspects of a person’s biological and physical heritage
• Refers to one’s genetic makeup
• Ethnic Group - refers to aspects of a person’s sociocultural heritage
• Based primarily on nationality, religion, and language

• Average yearly income - 70% that for Whites
• 3 to 4 times as likely to be in poverty
• Underrepresented in skilled blue-collar and white-collar occupations
• Less education
• Life expectancy
• 3 times more likely to live in dilapidated housing
• Death due to disease and accident is higher

• IS AN ATTITUDE
• An unfounded generalization
• Judging on the basis of preconceived stereotypes
• A learned attitude
• Associated with social status and personality types
• Prejudice tends to be translated into action - discrimination

• IS AN ACTION!
• Unfair or unequal treatment of people or groups
• Treating various categories of people differently

• Unprejudiced Nondiscriminator -  All Weather Liberal
• Unprejudiced Discriminator - Fair Weather Liberal
• Prejudiced Nondiscriminator - Timid Bigot
• Prejudiced Discriminator - Active Bigot

1) Minority person attends a poorly financed school
         Possible results -
            - MP drops out
            - MP is pushed out
            - MP performs poorly

2) Minority person has less job opportunities
           - Minority person works at a low level job
           - Minority person earns less money

3) As a result the Minority Person:
          - Has poor health
          - Shops at less attractive stores with higher price
          - Lives in poor housing
          - Is more likely to be a victim of crime
          - Is more likely to be involved in crime

4) Therefore the Minority Person is judged inferior by cultural success measures

5) Minority Person judges self and has self-doubt

6) White taxpayers don't want to waste money on the "no goods"

7) Minority Person attends a poorly financed school

WHAT CAUSES PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION?

• Scapegoat Theory
• Authoritarian Personality
• Built into the Culture
• Social Conflict Theory

PATTERNS OF MINORITY RELATIONS

1) Acceptance
       1) Assimilation or Integration
              Works better when -
              1) Immigrants conform to dominant culture
              2) Blending and mixing of cultures
              3) Minorities are physically or culturally similar
        2) Amalgamation
        3) Cultural Pluralism

PATTERNS OF MINORITY RELATIONS

• REJECTION
• 1) Annihilation - Genocide
• 2) Expulsion
• 3) Partition
• 4) Segregation
• 5) Voluntary Segregation

• Economic Institutions
• Educational Institutions
• Criminal Justice System
• Bureaucracies

• The Dogma that believes -
• One Race is biologically superior and other races are biologically inferior
• The hope of civilization depends upon eliminating some races and keeping others pure
• One race has carried progress throughout human history and alone can ensure future progress

• The South - the Blacks and the Whites
• The North - Ethnic Groups
• The West - Native Americans & Whites
• The Southwest - Hispanics & Whites

• Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
• Aryan Nations
• Liberty Lobby
• National States Right Party
• Power of the Country

  CENTRAL PLATFORM OF WHITE RACIST GROUPS

• Patriotic Americans
• Bible-believing Christians
• Their message is pro-Christian, pro-American, pro-family
• Segregation of the races is God’s will
• There is a conspiracy in our country perpetrated by the Jews
• Blacks are outright enemies and unwitting tools of the Jews

• Our kids pick up prejudices that we are unaware of passing on
• Kids and categories
• Negative influences of groups
• Expressions of bias
• Encouraging openness

• 1) Accept their situation
•          - Can become a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• 2) Manipulate the system to their advantage
• 3) Resist
•          1) Peacefully
•          2) Verbally
•          3) Violently
• 4) Self-Segregation - Separatism
• 5) Acculturation

• The Educational Approach
• Reflects a lack of education
• More education a person has, less likely they will be prejudice or to discriminate or hold to stereotypes
• But stereotypes learned in the family are hard to overcome

• Vicarious Experience Approach
• A program of intergroup education based on films, plays, TV, biographies, novels, and other modes of communication
• Presents the members of all groups in a sympathetic way

• Intergroup Contact
• Contact with members of different racial/ethnic groups promotes tolerant attitudes
• People working cooperatively
• Intergroup contact in schools
• Understand the social-psychological processes
• National survey support the idea

• The Legal Approach
• For more than a century, Americans have tried to control intergroup relations through laws and judicial decisions
• School Busing
• Affirmative-Action

• Political Participation
• Consensus approach
• Conflict approach