Category Archives: Race & Ethnicity

Racial and ethnic cultural differences

Levine articles, Race & Ethnicity, Religious Diversity Kit, Social Issues

A Jewish Perspective on MLK – by Deborah Levine

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raceIt was an honor to share my perspective as a Jew and diversity professional at Chattanooga’s MLK interfaith service commemorating The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  That event was years ago but my passion for diversity is a lifelong  legacy from my father, a US World War II military intelligence officer whose letters describing Naziism reside in Cincinnati’s American Jewish Archives. Having dedicated decades to tikkun olam, Hebrew for ‘repair of the world,’ I resonate to this day to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s words, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”

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Race & Ethnicity, Sports

Diversity and Speech Part 40: Latinos in College Sports – by Carlos Cortés and Guillermo Ortega

Carlos:  Guillermo, I still remember the first time we met.  You were about to start your senior year at the University of California, Riverside.    

Guillermo:  Yes, it was the summer of 2012.  

Carlos: Our friendship began when you became my research assistant.  Now you’re on your own fascinating research journey, examining the experiences of Latino college athletes.  How did you get into this topic?

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Race & Ethnicity, Religious Diversity Kit

Yiddish Is My ‘Super Power’ – by Avi Hoffman

Editor’s Note: Written prior to events in Israel, Hoffman now adds:
Please stand with Israel, the land that symbolizes the enduring strength and the promise of a safe home for the Jewish people, persecuted through the centuries and today. The land whose national anthem – ‘Hatikvah’ – literally means ‘HOPE’ – the hope to be free in our own home. Let us learn from history’s darkest moments and strive for a near future where EVERY child, regardless of their nationality, background, race or faith, can grow up without hunger or fear. Where EVERY human being can pursue their greatest dreams and fulfill their highest potential destiny.

Together, we can create a world where justice prevails, love triumphs over hatred, where acceptance vanquishes prejudice and where peace prevails over war. I still believe in the power of unity and love, and I hope you will too. In a world where so much hatred still lingers, let us unite to protect the dream of a peaceful coexistence. Not only for Jews in Israel and around the world, but for all human beings on our fragile planet regardless of race, faith or gender. When all is said and done, all we have is each other.

YiddishWith Hoffman’s message in mind, we should magnify our efforts to preserve the languages, cultures and traditions that have made our diverse world so memorable, including Yiddish.

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Levine articles, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues, Wellness

Multicultural Healthcare and Disparities – by Deborah Levine

When Dr. Joseph Betancourt spoke on “Solutions for Disparities: Delivering Quality Care to Diverse Populations” in Chattanooga several years ago, he delivered both unusual expertise and a personal model for future healthcare. Dr. Betancourt’s family came from Puerto Rico to NYC and he talked about his childhood as interpreter for his grandparents to their doctors. Today, Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, is the Senior Vice President of Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, the founder, senior advisor and faculty of the Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) at Mass General, Faculty at the Mongan Institute, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing Internal Medicine physician.

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Current Implications of Black History Month – by Marc Brenman

In 1926, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, an African-American historian, writer, and educator, created Negro History Week to honor the contributions of people of African descent in the U.S. He founded the Association for the Study of Negro (now African-American) Life and History in 1915 and the Journal of Negro History in 1916. Born in 1875 to former enslaved people in New Canton, Virginia, the Harvard-educated Woodson chose February for Negro History Week because the birthdays of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln fall then. He wrote, “What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race, hate, and religious prejudice.” Dr. Woodson contributed to our understanding that a better knowledge of history is critical for people in the African diaspora to achieve greater pride, self-determination and collective progress.  Negro History Week itself changed. About fifty years later, near the close of the Black Power period (early 1970s), the celebration was renamed Black History Week and later expanded to Black History Month in 1976.

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Advisors, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

“What did I do wrong?” asked Tyre Nichols – by Terry Howard

“Mommy, when is daddy coming home?”

That’s the harrowing question that survivors of Tyre Nichols, a lanky 145 pound 29-year-old late – I repeat, late – father of a 4-year-old must answer. The other critical question is when will this senseless wiping out of Black people in America come to an end? Unfortunately, the answer to the latter question answers itself. You cannot erase history, can you?

So here we go again with another exhausting chapter in the convoluted history of race in the good ole USA. As the late civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, “we’re sick and tired of being sick and tired!” 

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Barbara Johns, overlooked no longer – by Terry Howard

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Barbara JohnsHey readers, with African American history top of mind, does the name “Barbara Johns” ring a familiar bell with you? If not don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. You see, when African American history comes up there are two realities; first, it gets compressed into February (or recently Juneteenth) and, second, it typically cites the well-deserved names as its founder Carter G. Woodson, Dr. Charles Drew, Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver, W. E. B. DuBois Dr. King and others. So, I figured that perhaps the Barbara Johns’ story of profound unprecedented courage, the focus of this narrative, may pique your interest.  

But first for context, consider the following imaginary scenario.

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Advisors, Politics, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Ron “The Banner” DeSantis! – by Terry Howard

Doggonit Ron DeSantis, so-called “governor” of the great state of Florida. You just can’t seem to let well enough alone, can you? Your obsessive thirst for power and a move to the White House knows no boundary. Here you go again with another asinine effort to “ban” something, this time the teaching of an AP African American History course to be taught in Florida public high schools. 

Now if memory serves me correct, it was not that long ago when you got your  jollies off by banning books and – the absurdity of all absurdities – banning the word “gay.” There’s something pathological sick about your weird penchant for banning stuff. 

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Authors I-Q, Race & Ethnicity

The Audacity of Baby Steps and Hope! (Part 2) – by Leslie Nelson

“I take two steps forward, I take two steps back…”

The first line of those lyrics to the 1989 hit song, “Opposites Attract,” composed by Oliver Leiber and sung by Paula Abdul, swirled in my head as I thought about how to pick up from part one of this article series. If I apply those lyrics to matters of race, lack of racial progress in particular, what baby steps come to mind and what do two (or more) steps back look like?

Now for those of you that read it, Part 1 was about Phyllis and Eugene Unterschuetz’ RV journey across the nation, leading discussions about racial healing. That work culminated in their book, “Longing Stories in Racial Healing,” which they talked about during the November meeting of the 26 Tiny Paint Brushes writers’ guild. I ended part one with this challenge and question – “What should we, as individuals, consider doing next to further racial progress?” 

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Threats to Affirmative Action and DEIA – by Marc Brenman

There is much confusion today between affirmative action, which is under threat by lawsuits in the U.S. Supreme Court, and Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA), which is under no such threat, as long as practitioners stay away from race-based quotas and preferences. How can we educate the field about this?

The Supreme Court cases involve allegations by some Asian-American groups that their applicants should be admitted to prestigious colleges like Harvard at a higher rate because other applicants like African-Americans are given a preference. One should bear in mind that Asian-American students are already enrolled in such colleges at a rate far exceeding their presence in the American population, so these cases are not about proportional representation, or a “student body that looks like America.” In some cases, such as the University of California at Berkeley, the undergraduate enrollment is about 48% Asian-American. So these cases involve an extreme form of a desire for merit-based judgments by gate holders.

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