“Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.”
~King Whitney Jr.

Why talk about diversity, inequity and cultural responsiveness?

No matter who you are, talking about the aforementioned issues a risky proposition. As one who has been a participant in plenty of bad diversity training, I decided that I would use this medium as a means to help discourse on inequity. Despite being in the midst of a global society that is changing by the minute, most of my experiences in learning about diversity and other inequities have generally been:

• Focused solely on differences and not similarities
• Reactive vs. Active
• Taught from a one-size fits all perspective
• Discussed hastily
• Largely based on the agenda of the teacher
• Flawed in getting consistent discourse from historically dominant groups
• Are discussed as only “black and white” issues and as Black and White issues (See what I did there?)
• Caters guilt without the discussion of solutions
• Reflective of a lack of knowledge of history and how to link this to current problems

While we may live in a “post-racial and equitable society” on the surface, there are issues that abound that deal with how people are constructed, how underrepresented groups are treated, how individuals are portrayed in media to fit a narrative, how racism (while prevalent in society) is overused as a label when it could in fact be ignorance, to curriculum decisions, policies, and how we talk about equity across the age spectrum. In looking at any of the work on this site, you should understand that the bulk of this is framed from personal observations, ideas and my experiences as an instructor. This site isn’t funded by a special interest group. Nothing on this site, like understanding diversity, is a finished product. Concepts are cited as appropriate and necessary. Your mileage may vary.