Category Archives: Race & Ethnicity

Racial and ethnic cultural differences

Authors I-Q, Race & Ethnicity, UTC Interns

A Thanksgiving to Remember – by Shayne Perry

A young boy, sat at a table full of people he didn’t know. A large family, all helping to make their thanksgiving dinner. Smells and laughter waft through the house. No television to distract from the face-to-face interaction. All the food is scratch made. The kitchen is littered with bits and pieces of dishes and ingredients, a messy labor of love. The smiles and plate passing keep the energy up. The boy is confused, there is no turkey, but a large plate of chitlins, and a ham. There aren’t any scalloped potatoes, but collard greens. As much as Thanksgiving is a universal experience, it differs house to house, culture to culture. This is a short story about how he came to know his neighbors.

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Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

From Conditional to Equitable Inclusion: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation – by Carlos Cortés

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Keynote Address for Unidos:
2022 National Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration of the U.S. Dept. of Energy

Thank you for inviting me to join you for Hispanic Heritage Month.  And thank you for providing me the opportunity to reflect upon a very important idea: inclusivity.
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In 1999, Mayor Ronald Loveridge of my hometown — Riverside, California –- asked me to lead a new city initiative, the Mayor’s Multicultural Forum.  He also asked the Forum to begin by drawing up a position statement on diversity.  We called the document “Building a More Inclusive Riverside Community.”  The City Council adopted the document, making inclusivity a basic city principle.

That was more than two decades ago.  Today you constantly hear variations of that idea.  Take DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  As a diversity consultant, lecturer, and workshop presenter I often use those terms, sometimes without giving them much thought.  So when you asked me to speak on the topic of inclusivity, I had to make a decision.  Should I give a traditional Hispanic Heritage speech filled with the usual once-a-year truisms about Latino this and Latinx that?  Sort of a Hispanic Groundhog Day?  I decided no.  You deserve something more original.

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Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Civil Rights Icon Diane Nash….What else don’t we know? – by Terry Howard

Nash
Photo: From left, Reverend John L. Edwards, Jr., Diane Nash, and John L. Edwards, III

When I got the news that President Biden recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to civil rights icon Diane Nash, I called an elated John Edwards, III, publisher of the Chattanooga News Chronicle having recalled a chat I had with him a while ago about his memories of and experiences with Nash.

Said Edwards, whose dad was an influential pastor and civil rights leader in Tennessee, and whose church was bombed by racists, “I was only 12 years old when I got the approval from my father to take part in the sit-ins. Dad dropped me off at the church early each morning where I sat on the front row and took my marching orders from John Lewis and Diane Nash. I was so enamored with those two Fisk University students and the courage they embodied.”
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Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

On rustic church pews – by Terry Howard

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If ever there was an eye-catching picture, this one fits the bill.

You see, a fellow I grew up with in a small town in Virginia posted it on Facebook. I’m not sure of its source or time, but think that maybe it was sometime in the 40s or earlier. Who knows for sure?

Okay, I admit to having lost count of the number of times I’ve looked at it, and am doing so right now as Juneteenth is in the spotlight. However, to get other reactions I randomly shared it with several folks.

Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues, USA Culture

U.S. Indian Boarding School Report – by Marc Brenman

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In April 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior issued the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report. The report was probably prompted by several year’s ago Canadian report on First Peoples boarding schools, and by the appointment of the first Native American Secretary of the Interior. The Canadian report was issues by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in 2015. 

The U.S. report has much interesting information on cultural eradication. Native American children were forced from their families and into schools that were little better than prisons, beginning in the early years of the American Republic. Esteemed Founding Fathers like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin expressed anti-Indian beliefs. Interestingly, these sentiments were sometimes expressed in confidential memos to Congress, as if it was known even then that the actions were morally reprehensible. 

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Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

African American History Month: what else don’t we know? – by Terry Howard

This piece explores another African American bit of history. It is about John Lewis and James Zwerg.

Like many, I would love to have been a proverbial “fly on the wall,” listening intently to candid conversations between those two men. Of course, we –well, most of us anyway – know about the late congressman John Lewis. But James Zwerg?

Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

A Primer on Race Identification in America – by Marc Brenman

There is much discussion in the United States of what race is, how it can be and is used for good and ill, and how it can be used permissibly from a legal perspective of “environmental justice” and “race neutrality” as a political initiative. These discussions can become quite heated. This article is an attempt to “disambiguate” the discussion, as the post-modern literary critics say.

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Levine articles, Race & Ethnicity

Diversity Dilemma: Should there be a Black History Month? – by Deborah Levine

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The debate over Black History Month is not new, but it intensified when the Oscar nominees were all Caucasian and earned the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Provoked an outcry, it raised questions about the existence of Black Entertainment Television awards (BET) and whether it hurt rather than helped African Americans in Hollywood.

“Either we want to have segregation or integration. And if we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms. It’s a double standard, ” said actress Stacey Dash in Variety.

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Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

MLK Day: Civil Rights Lessons for Millennials and Gen Z – by David Grinberg

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On Monday the nation will pause to observe the annual holiday honoring the life and legacy of iconic civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet too many Millennials and members of their younger cohort, Generation Z, consider civil rights history as ancient history at the dawn of a new millennium.

However, there are profound and poignant lessons which today’s young people need to learn. The most important lesson is how to make major changes in society through the type of peaceful means championed by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his fellow civil rights leaders of the time.

A term of significance for young people to comprehend is: “civil disobedience.” Continue reading MLK Day: Civil Rights Lessons for Millennials and Gen Z – by David Grinberg →

Authors I-Q, Native American, Race & Ethnicity, Trends 2022

Key Native American Trends for 2022 – by Susan McCuistion

The Native American community in the United States makes up a mere 3% of the population, yet they have perhaps been one of the most misunderstood and stereotyped groups in the nation. While Blackface has been frowned upon for at least 40 years now, sports mascots and symbology intended to “honor” Native Americans are still considered acceptable by far too many people. Many attempts have been made to erase Native American culture, and their history has been whitewashed.

However, these negative trends have been reversing. As we head into a new year, let’s look at three areas where Native Americans and their stories are headed in a more positive direction.

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