All posts by Editor-in-Chief

Deborah Levine founded the American Diversity Report in 2006. She is a Forbes Magazine top "Trailblazer" and award-winning author of 21 books. Her published articles span decades including: American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, The Bermudian Magazine, The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin.
DL Opinion columns

Denial doesn’t make it rain – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press 

There hasn’t been much noise from the climate change deniers this week despite data showing that there are 109 congressional representatives and 30 senators, who refuse to acknowledge the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change. That’s 25% of our federal elected officials including Tennessee’s Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn and Congressman Chuck Fleischmann.

Maybe the silence is due to the unprecedented heatwave in the West and Southwest. The photos of livestock roaming brown fields with no grass might encourage the deniers to lay low. Not to mention the pictures of Lake Mead. If you’ve ever toured Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam you know that this symbol of American scientific innovation built during The Depression was a stunning tourist destination well as providing drinking water and farming irrigation. Today’s situation leaves the water level at its lowest since the 1930s. You can now see the stone walls of the lake and we’ll see even more in the coming months.

Continue reading Denial doesn’t make it rain – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Our Mental State is Depressing – by Deborah Levine

1 Comment

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

It was a newsworthy moment when tennis star Naomi Osaka announced that she wouldn’t participate in media interviews because of her battle with depression and anxiety. The fact that the World Tennis Association fined her $15,000 got even more press. But her withdrawal from the French Open has put the issue of mental health front and center.  It’s not as if she’s the first athlete to suffer from depression and anxiety. NBA All-Star Kevin Love, gymnast Aly Raisman, and baseball’s Zack Greinke have talked about their struggles, as has Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who called Osaka’s coming forward a “game-changer… I hope this is the breaking point of really being able to open up and save more lives”.

Continue reading Our Mental State is Depressing – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

In Memory: The Ritchie Boys – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I was surprised to see on 60 Minutes recently, a segment about the secret World War II military intelligence training camp at Fort Ritchie in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ritchie Boys, like 97 year-old Victor Brombert, had never been featured on prime time TV.  The secrecy of their service and mission has been given little publicity, even after 75 years. My father never spoke of being a Ritchie Boy until I became the community and media liaison for the Tulsa Jewish Federation shortly after the Oklahoma City neo-Nazi bombing.

One of the stories he told me was about being in a parking lot outside a restaurant in Paris with one of his soldier buddies. The Nazis dropped a bomb on the restaurant and killed his friend, leaving my dad still standing. I commemorate this anonymous friend every Memorial Day and know that it could easily have been my dad’s life that was taken. But he lived to excel at what he was trained to do.

Continue reading In Memory: The Ritchie Boys – by Deborah Levine →

Academic Articles, Levine articles, Religious Diversity

Developing a Cognitive Technology for Religious Tolerance: Case Studies Documentation – by Deborah Levine

Abstract

This paper explains creative approaches to religious diversity and tolerance based on the cultural anthropology theories of Claude Lévi-Strauss. My research was conducted through case studies beginning with a 1990 pilot project in a globalization context, Chicago’s suburban technical corridor. This first case study, the DuPage Interfaith Resource Network (DIRN), pioneered strategies for managing religious conflicts due to changing demographics.

DIRN developed religious literacy strategies and administrative policies within the public schools, a major conflict arena, and were adopted by community service organizations including law enforcement, healthcare, and nonprofit NGOs. The strategies were coupled with programs based on storytelling for greater impact.

The second case study took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following the domestic terrorism of the Oklahoma City bombing. In this phase, Oklahoma’s Say No to Hate Coalition adapted the ground work of DIRN to an environment that included active hate groups.

The third case study was generated by the Women’s Council on Diversity in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A combined story-based communication, emotional intelligence, and problem solving system evolved and was field tested in leadership workshops. The resulting Matrix Model Management System emerged through my cross-cultural communication textbook and workbook.

Chattanooga’s final research phase was prompted by a domestic terrorism incident. The System became a cognitive technology built on the platform of combined coalition strategies and religious literacy. The emphasis underscored problem solving and the unconscious bias involved in decision making. The cognitive technology is codified in my Un-Bias Guide Series which has a broad applicability for corporations, NGOs, education institutions, and government agencies.

Continue reading Developing a Cognitive Technology for Religious Tolerance: Case Studies Documentation – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

The Business of Equity – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Our Tennessee state legislature has made it illegal for educators to say that systemic racism is an American phenomenon. Making sure to successfully intimidate teachers, they’ve threatened to withhold funds if the proper words in their estimation aren’t used.  At the same time, Chattanooga’s Chamber of Commerce took steps to promote the economic and racial equity that has been systemically limited. Its pledge for racial equity has been signed by corporate CEOs, organization directors, and diverse business leaders.

Was anyone surprised by the push-back to the Chamber’s pledge from the conservative organization, Hamilton Flourishing? Saying that the goal of Chambers of Commerce is to recruit new businesses to the area, not just help a few businesses and certainly not by radically changing our economy and culture.

Continue reading The Business of Equity – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Support those businesses that are using their voices on Georgia’s new voting law – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

The world has been fascinated by the arrival of the British culture wars on American shores with former Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.  Millions of people watched Oprah Winfrey interviewed them and the show was the highest-rated entertainment special since the February 2020 Oscars ceremony. While some question Markle’s integrity, most of us are we mesmerized by the comeuppance of a former colonial empire.

Harry’s brother William denies any royal racism and the U.K. government issued a report denying any institutional racism in Britain. British Black journalists blast the report while anti-Markle press says that she’s endangering the monarchy. Markle is hijacking the British government and she’s a bully, embraced by Americans who don’t know any better. No wonder Harry and Meghan plotted their escape.

I experienced remnants of the British Empire as a kid in the colony of Bermuda. We were taught the ‘Golliwog’ dance in ballet class. Considered entertainment, Golliwog was an embarrassing stereotype of its African colonies.

Continue reading Support those businesses that are using their voices on Georgia’s new voting law – by Deborah Levine →

Editor-in-Chief, Uncategorized

A shadow pandemic of gender violence – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

As we come to the end of March, Women’s History Month, we need to see this time as a wake up call regarding women’s safety. The shootings at Asian spas in Atlanta, where most of the victims were women, underscore the vulnerability of these women. Yes, the Asian-American community as a whole is experiencing a rising number of hate crimes given COVID. And Asian-American women experience twice as many hate incidents as men.

An Asian American studies professor noted that women have always dealt with harassment and public safety issues, but COVID provided another excuse to target Asian women. Bullies attack the vulnerable and stereotypes of Asian women as meek and subservient make them easy targets. That’s why it was unusual that a 75-year old Asian-American fought back when attacked on a street corner, sending her attacker to the hospital. She isn’t the only woman to be fed up with harassment and violence.

Continue reading A shadow pandemic of gender violence – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Red Flag at Half-Staff – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

The White House lowered its flag in mourning for victims at the FedEx facility. It’s hardly the first time this year that this flag has been flown at half-staff. There have been 147 mass shootings, defined as killing four or more people not including the shooter, since January. There have been 45 in just the past month. That comes to more than one mass shooting per day. It’s an increase of almost 73% over the same time period last year and they’re deadlier with almost twice as many fatalities. Maybe the White House should leave the flag in mourning mode permanently.

It’s unlikely that we’ve seen the last of these massacres. Gun violence researchers describe the situation as a contagion effect with each incident spawning copy cats. This deadly disease is particularly contagious to revenge-seeking males who make up 98% of these shooters.

Continue reading Red Flag at Half-Staff – by Deborah Levine →

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Tiffany R. Warren Podcast: Sony DEI and ADCOLOR

ADCOLORTiffany R. Warren
Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer
Sony Music Group
Founder & President, ADCOLOR

As Executive VP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Sony Music Group, Tiffany will expand equity and inclusion activities and policies across all Sony Music Group’s (SMG) global recorded music, publishing and corporate divisions, reporting directly to SMG Chairman Rob Stringer. Previously, as the Senior VP, Chief Diversity Officer for Omnicom Group, Tiffany oversaw a team of 25+ Chief Diversity Officers and Directors focused on Omnicom-wide change efforts through the award-winning Omnicom People Engagement Network (OPEN) for the support, advancement and retention of top performing talent inclusive of women, people of color and LGBT professionals.

Continue reading Tiffany R. Warren Podcast: Sony DEI and ADCOLOR →

Culture, Levine articles, The Arts

Why I Support Arts Education – by Deborah Levine

3 Comments

The Arts have existed since folks drew on cave walls and I suspect that there was some humming and harmony back in the day before song writing was a thing. Communal dancing around fires at night was an aboriginal celebration in humanity’s history. Artistic expression by individuals and groups seems to be embedded in our DNA. And one of the things that saved me when I first came to America as a kid, was this country’s passion for Arts and Culture.