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March 15, 2005
The Race Files: Foundations of a diverse learning community
What’s the deal with the Cultural Breadth requirement? Is Hamline racist? Why are so many students worried about diversity? Am I racist?
Recently at Hamline, questions regarding race and diversity have sparked conversations throughout our community. Each of us involved in conversations about race must realize we bring our own biases and perspectives. This makes it very difficult to create dialogue among members of our community that could be beneficial to all parties involved.
Any conversation that deals with a challenging subject like race must follow guidelines that everyone must adhere to, such as “The Foundations of a Diverse Learning Community,” based on the research done by Jamie Washington. It has been used at Hamline University’s Conference on Race and Ethnicity (HUCORE) to help foster dialogue within a diverse group. We offer the following guidelines to keep in mind as we continue to have conversations on race. We also offer commentary on some of the guidelines.
We are all doing the best we can (most of the time). We must be able to give each other the benefit of the doubt, whether or not we agree.
Communities are built through building relationships of trust and commitment. We must be able to challenge each other to think in different ways if we want to understand each other.
We don’t know all there is to know. Just because you are doesn’t mean you understand. Diversity isn’t a process that inevitably ends. As people, we are constantly learning; there are always issues, even within our own communities, that we don’t understand.
Oppression is pervasive and impacts us all. There are several of us who would like to believe that the issues that have come up within our community do not have any effect on us at all. The truth is that we all contribute to the institution of racism because it has been socialized in all of us. Our own biases are products of that socialization, and whether you’re the perpetrator or the victim of those biases, they do have an influence over your life.
We are all members of the Hamline community: It’s an environment that we all share. If we take the time to acknowledge our responsibility, we can find ways to improve Hamline together.
Conflict and discomfort are part of the growth. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. We must acknowledge that we do have biases that can make our understanding of a subject very difficult. It’s important to take some time to sit back and listen to someone else’s point of view.
Practice some forgiveness and letting go. Past experiences can hinder our interaction with people. It’s important to understand that we can only control what happens now, and to be able to move forward, we will have to learn how to forgive.
There are no quick fixes. Understanding issues of race and ethnicity take time, and in a culture that values instant gratification, it’s important to recognize that this work, individually and collectively, takes time.
Individuals and communities do change. There is hope! It is vital to appreciate the powers of change and of hope.
The NCORE Network’s four goals for this year are to empower, engage, enrage, and enlighten. We hope, and trust, that these guidelines will help us develop a more inclusive learning community.
Posted by msveum at March 15, 2005 01:33 PM
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