Beyond Diversity: Creating Communities Where Everyone Feels Welcomed

Intercultural Community Builders

Beyond Diversity:

Building Communities Where

Everyone Feels Welcomed

Shepard Symposium onSOCIAL JUSTICEUniversity of Wyoming

April 2011

©Intercultural Community Builders, 2011

Our VISION

Building communities where people from all cultural backgrounds

feel welcomed and included and are encouraged, supported,

and empowered to reach their full potential.



Adapted and expanded from Workforce America! by Loden and Rosener, 1991.

External Dimensions

Internal Dimensions

Personality

Marital Status

Race / Ethnicity

Income

Gender

Parental Status

Physical Appearance

Sexual Orientat.

Personal Habits

Hobbies/ Interests Physical

Ability

Religion Education

Learning Styles

Family Type

Introductions:Your Dimensions of

Diversity• Find five things you have

in common; for example, you are all female or male.

• Find five things that describe how you are different; for example, one of you wears glasses and the others do not.


Why is this workshop important?

Us and ThemA History of Intolerance in

America

By Jim CarnesIllustrated by Herbert Tauss

Published by Southern Poverty Law Center

©Intercultural Community Builders 2011

© Intercultural Community Builders 2011

Religious Intolerance

Mary Dyer – hanged for refusing to deny her religious beliefs.


Slavery in America


Intolerance Against Native Americans


Anti-Immigration / Anti-Catholic


Anti-Semitism


Exclusion


Homophobia



Your Experiences With Intolerance & Discrimination

• What examples of intolerance have you witnessed or experienced?

• How did this incident make you feel?

• How did this incident affect your behavior?


Impact on the Target VictimP.T.S.S. (D)

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (Disorder)

•Anger

•Self-hatred

•Self-doubt

•Depression

•Withdrawal

•Fear/Paranoia

•Violence

•Learned Helplessness

•Flashbacks/Restimulation

•Multiple Addictions

•Physical Acting Out

•Verbal Acting Out

•Poor Relationships

•Suicide

Prejudice

• A learned belief

• Based on incomplete information

• Leading to a judgment about the targeted individual or group

• Resulting in negative attitudes and behavior towards the targeted individual or group.



What beliefs were you taught about human differences?

How were these beliefs taught to you?

What beliefs were you taught about human differences? How were these beliefs taught to you?

Human Differences: Religion, sexual orientation, gender, income, differently abled, ethnicity, education level, and so forth.


What beliefs do you teach others about human differences?

How do you teach these beliefs?

What beliefs do you teach others about human differences? How do you teach these beliefs?

Human Differences: Religion, sexual orientation, gender, income, differently abled, ethnicity, education level, and so forth.

Interculturally skillful community leaders are agents for positive

changes that benefit theentire community.

Are you an interculturally skillful community leader?



Characteristics of anInterculturally Skillful Community Leader

1. Practices and models excellent intercultural skills in your personal and professional lives.

2. Devotes time, energy and resources to learning about cultures different from your own cultural groups.

3. Is non-judgmental, acknowledging that cultural differences are not good or bad, right or wrong, but simply different.

4. Promotes the appreciation of community cultural groups by creating an inclusive, welcoming environment for all.


The Interculturally Skillful Community Leader

5. Is an opinion leader and positive role model who encourages others to be more inclusive and accepting of all cultural groups.

6. Demonstrates their comfort with cultural differences by building trust relationships with culturally diverse colleagues, clients and community members.

7. Facilitates communication among cultural groups, making sure that members of all groups are respected for their beliefs and practices.

8. Serves as a cultural mediator to help build bridges of understanding and collaborations between members of different cultural groups.


The Interculturally Skillful Community Leader

9. Confronts discriminatory behaviors and policies that limit opportunities and create obstacles for culturally diverse co-workers and clients.

10. Works on eliminating harmful prejudices and intolerant behaviors.

• Put a check mark in the boxes that best describe you now.

• Put a star in the boxes that best describe your intercultural leadership goals for the next six months.

• On the box at the bottom of the page, write the first action you will take to become an interculturally skillful community leader.

Our VISION

Building communities where people from all cultural backgrounds

feel welcomed and included and are encouraged, supported,

and empowered to reach their full potential.



Documents

Beyond Diversity: Creating Communities Where Everyone Feels Welcomed