On Being Diversity Neutral

Thank you for rejecting the politics of race.

Viewing someone primarily as a "Latino" or an "Asian" is revolting and un-American.

With God's help we'll eliminate such ignorance.

Keep up the good work.

I think it is naive (as well as historically ignorant) to believe that racism or racial awareness suddenly cropped up because of cultural sensitivity training. It is unfortunate but true that racism has been around much longer than that and has historically had an impact on people getting jobs, housing, etc. Although you may have perceived that there was no racism in your workplace, I don't think this is historically the case overall. From my own Mexican family's perspective, things were much different.

My mother was the first (and only)in her family (5th out of 6 siblings)to go to college where she received a teaching degree, yet to get a job in a public school she had to get a list from the dept of ed of schools that would hire bilingual (i.e. Mexican) teachers. Most wouldn't. She ended up starting her teaching degree way out in the Mojave desert teaching Mojaves.

Yes, she did move up, earned a master's degree and became a respected person in her profession, but the starting line was not the same as it was for others who didn't deal with discrimination.

Now I'm glad for the civil rights movement, the bringing out into the open of hidden biases to be examined and hopefully purged. Since, in my opinion, racism does exist, I think it is a good thing to address it.

Does that mean that 'cultural sensitivity training' is the best method for addressing it? Probably not (mostly because it evokes the kind of response as the one above), however, there ought to be something. What do you think ought to be done?

Thanks for reading my post! I think this makes five of you. Thanks also for your thoughtful reply. Assuming you're a good person and are calling me neither naive or historically ignorant, let me offer the following.

The point of my post wasn't to suggest that racism has never existed or doesn't exist today, with or without sensitivity training. The general theme of the post was twofold: one, that I was viewed as a person prior to the training, and afterwards I was viewed as a Mexican, with all of the attendant stereotypes. Which is better in your eyes, to be viewed as a Mexican person, or just a person? Isn't the goal of eradicating racism for everyone to view everyone else with colorblind eyes? Two, that I learned that race only matters if one's ideology is consistent with what liberals (of all colors) think of race - that all people of color are victims and need white help to better themselves. I find this thinking insidious, and as racist as it gets. If I, as a Mexican, espouse conservative views, my color is discounted as white male thinking. That's just absurd, but very prevalent in today's race debate behavior. Witness the treatment (from both blacks and whites) Michael Steele received in his run for the US Senate in Maryland.

My grandmother emigrated to the US as a 13 year old to live with her sister. She left home at 16 to strike out on her own. She raised her daughter as a single parent. My father, the first of six children, was also the first and only sibling in his family to graduate from college. He fought in WW II, earning a bronze star for courage under fire in combat. My parents have been denied service in restaurants in spite of his service to this country. There has been no shortage of racism experienced by my family.

Your mother's story is a great one, and it is unfortunate that what she experienced was the behavior of the day. But she dealt with it (rather than whining about it) and went on to build a successful career. And it probably required legislation to force changes in institutional behavior. Legislation is more problematic, however, when it comes to attempting to force a change in individual behavior (hate crimes, hate speech laws, etc.).

So what do I think should be done about it? In no particular order, ethnic leaders should start encouraging their constituents to stop acting like victims and get on with the business of educating themselves and building lives, such as the example of our parents. They should teach their constituents that education is the way to get ahead. They should preach the pursuit of excellence, not victimhood. They should stop asking for affirmative action and race-based quotas (what I refer to as a Mexican dividend in my post). They should encourage achievement and independence through hard work and self-improvement, not government dependence. They should encourage common-sense behavior and good decision making, not the current celebrated rap and gangsta culture. Bill Cosby has some great thoughts on this, though his comments are not generally appreciated by the black community. I think people of color should move beyond preying on white guilt and get on with their lives.

Will this cure racism? Doubtful (I don't think any government law or action will cure racism, it's too individualistic in nature), but it will certainly change the outlook of people of color. And since racism will probably never be completely eliminated, people of color should follow our parents' examples - work hard, build their lives, and have the content of their character speak for them, not their color.

Maybe I am naive after all....