Diversity SIG E-Newsletter, January 2009

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Diversity SIG E-Newsletter – January 2009 – Happy New Year!

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

“The world is full of gatherings for the like-minded. People go to a great deal of trouble to sequester themselves with people who think like them and to screen out people who are different. Instead, leave your ‘comfort zone’ and seek out diverse people who will challenge your assumptions. If you practice being present, inquiring, and listening, you world will never be the same. Before you know it, you will have crossed divides that would otherwise have been impassable.”

-Gerzon, M. (2006). Leading through conflict: how successful leaders transform differences into opportunities. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

1. Upcoming Deadlines

The deadline to submit proposals for the 2009 ACE/NETC meeting in Des Moines has been extended to 11:59 p.m. FRIDAY, January 9, 2009. So, if you didn't make the previous deadline, totally spaced off the previous deadline, had a major brainstorm and a new session idea, or just started thinking about the whole thing after the holiday haze settled...you still have time to submit. Just go to the Conference Web Site:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/acenetc2009
And choose: Submit a Proposal
Then follow the instructions and fill in the blanks!!!

We also need to start thinking about colleagues we may want to nominate and recognize for their work, efforts and service. Please submit your nominations for the Award of Excellence in Diversity. Remember that The Award of Excellence recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence in the SIG area as well as leadership and involvement in ACE. A recipient may be either a current or a past member of the SIG. Nominees may be nominated by anyone in ACE. You may read about the award and guidelines at http://www.aceweb.org/award/excellence.html. Please send your nominations to Myriam Grajales at myriam.grajales@ucr.edu by February 13.

2. E Pluribus Unum Prizes

The E Pluribus Unum Prizes are a national awards program that will provide four $50,000 prizes annually to exceptional initiatives that promote immigrant integration. The awards recognize outstanding immigrant integration initiatives of all types, whether led by nonprofit or community organizations, businesses, public agencies, religious groups, or individuals. The awards program is coordinated by the Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy - a hub for those who seek to build their knowledge and skills in the area of immigrant integration. Details at http://www.migrationinformation.org/integrationawards/index.cfm

3. Rule 1: Don't be Colorblind

From "New Demographic – Better than Diversity Training" http://www.newdemographic.com/

Chances are, you've heard a co-worker say something along the lines of:

"I didn't even notice he was black. Everyone is the same to me. I don't see color! He could be black, brown, purple, or polka-dotted, it wouldn't make a difference to me!"

What's wrong with the statement above?

Well, for one, it's a big fat lie. All of us notice variations in skin tone, facial features, hair texture, eye color, and the myriad of other phenotypic factors that cause us to draw conclusions as to what race a person is.

Then why do people insist on claiming that they don't notice color? Often, it's because they are scared to death of being labeled a racist.

But here's the thing. Noticing a person's race doesn't make you racist. What does make you racist is if you make assumptions about that person's intellectual, physical, or emotional characteristics based on the race you think the person is.

Yes, even if those assumptions you make are positive. Ideas about "strong black women" or "smart Asians" are still racist because they reduce human beings to two-dimensional caricatures and assume that race predetermines intellectual, physical, and emotional traits.

More importantly, when you proclaim that you're colorblind, what you're really implying is that race doesn't matter in America. While it's true that race is not a biological reality, it is a very real social construct that has a profound impact on our lives. Race still matters because racism is alive and well. Pretending otherwise negates the everyday experiences of millions of people of color in this country.

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said it best when he stated that colorblindness means being "blind to the consequences of being the wrong color in America today."

Also, when's the last time you saw a purple person?

4. Bridging the Culture Divide: Inclusive Extension Programming for Latinos

Our colleagues Myriam Grajales and Marusela Anders had the opportunity to attend the conference: Bridging the Culture Divide: Inclusive Extension Programming for Latinos in mid-October, sponsored by the New Hispanic South (SERA-37), the Southern Rural Development Center, and North Carolina State University-Cooperative Extension in Raleigh, NC. They learned about how immigration trends in the Southern United States, implications for Extension educators, and promising strategies for delivering Extension programming to Latinos/Hispanics audiences go beyond regions and states in the U.S.

The lessons learned by these Extension educators can be of great value to groups, organizations, etc., who are starting to work with growing Latino/Hispanic population in their communities. If you would like more information about this conference contact Marusela Anders anders.40@cfaes.osu.edu .

5. Immigrant Latino Workers and the Recession

A small but significant decline has occurred during the current recession in the share of Latino immigrants active in the U.S. labor force, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Workers who are employed or looking for work are said to be active in the labor market.

The proportion of working-age Latino immigrants active in the labor force has fallen, at least through the third quarter of 2008, while the proportion of all non-Hispanics as well as of native-born Hispanics has held steady. Among Hispanic immigrants, the decrease is sharpest among those from Mexico and those who arrived in the U.S. since 2000. Also, the increase in the number of foreign-born Latinos in the labor force is much smaller than previous years.

The labor market data do not paint an unrelentingly negative picture for Hispanic immigrants. The estimated increase in their unemployment rate is not as high as the increase for native-born Hispanic workers. Also, median weekly wages fell for native-born Hispanics but not for foreign-born workers. These developments, however, could be an artifact, a consequence of the likely withdrawal of low-wage foreign-born Hispanics from the labor force.

See the report, "Latino Workers in the Ongoing Recession: 2007 to 2008," by Rakesh Kochhar, Associate Director for Research, at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, http://pewhispanic.org/

The Pew Hispanic Center is a project of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001bdo7lB8ZLmIaraFf1F2cpZ4MBZ2TZiD7DFZsIOiGr1hpFQdtLAbTonY-abJ7xRImhtmJlkBBO174OKnzIJ52_bubqHD0s8o2CDlc7cJGQ4Sd4IxYN5hwIA==

The Pew Research Center is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001bdo7lB8ZLmJdvfM0cDIU_PlDvWDbLjTGBhDo6VgBj7se-F002VxTw5Chc8MhvfrqSm90q43A0b-OobNYBLH5A-RpcUfTttrcuEuD59wmkclkRz-LfAu6Hw==

6. Latino Briefs Digest

A bi-weekly digest written primarily for the staff of University of California Cooperative Extension. It is produced by the staff of ANR's News & Information Outreach in Spanish (NOS) based on news reported by mainstream news media and reputable research institutions. http://ucanr.org/latinodigest

Vol. 4, Issue 12, December 2008
http://news.ucanr.org/latinobriefs/latinobriefs.cfm?issue=Vol%2E%204%2C%20Issue%2012%2C%20December%202008

7. “Getting Personal” Questionnaire

One of the goals of the current leadership is for the SIG members to get to know each other better in a more personal (not too personal) and fun level. Following is a series of questions to achieve this goal. We would like to invite all of you to participate in this “project.” You do not have to answer all the questions, just the ones you feel comfortable with. Are you willing to participate? If you are, please send your questionnaire to Marusela Anders at anders.40@cfaes.osu.edu. Your answers will be featured in a future newsletter. Thank you!

1. Where were you born? What do you miss most about your hometown?
2. Who is your hero/heroine/role model, and why?
3. What was the best book you ever read?
4. Where is the farthest away you’ve ever traveled from home?
5. What are you most proud of?
6. What motivated you to join the Diversity SIG?/ How did you first get involved in diversity issues?
7. What is the most unusual job you ever had?
8. What do you like to do in your free time (your hobbies)?
9. Do you have pets?
10. What is something about you that no one knows at work?

8. Our Newsletter and Wiki Site

Thanks to Ariel Ginsburg for updating our Wiki Site with the new Diversity SIG Annual Plan for 2008-09 and Tom Merrill’s bio and picture.

If you have questions about this newsletter or would like to contribute to a future edition, please contact Marusela Anders at anders.40@cfaes.osu.edu.

Topics to consider:

Recent achievements
Diversity news in your institution or area
Projects you are currently working on in the diversity area
Sharing useful tools with colleagues: new technologies, etc.
Anything you would like to share that might be of value to the group

Marusela Anders
Program Assistant
Communications and Technology
CFAES, OSU Extension, OARDC
The Ohio State University
216 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road
Columbus, OH 43210-1044
Phone: 614.292.2011
Fax: 614.292.2270
http://commtech.ag.ohio-state.edu
CommTech: Creative. Integrated. Results-driven.

Diversity SIG E-Newsletter, January 2009

From Extension Collaborative Wiki

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