Well said!!!

Connie McManus

At 03:32 PM 9/14/01 -0500, Barry Rittman wrote:
>I guess that I must have had a senior moment because I looked at the
>message and I do not believe that there was any intent for this to be a
>racial slur at all.
>This year I,  (a pink caucasian),  am the president of the Minority
>Faculty Association.  I feel that the mixture of English, Irish, German
>on my side, the English and Welsh on my wife's side and the Hispanic and
>Apache on my daughter in laws side is a great mixture. From the
>invasions of the Romans and the Norman's I suspect other genes are also
>included.
>The Minority Faculty Association is an organization that includes
>faculty, staff and students from all cultures and tries to emphasize
>harmony between different cultural and ethnic groups. One problem is
>ignorance and this we try to minimize by distributing information about
>cultural events, holidays, a cultural diversity calendar etc. so that we
>are all aware of why certain times are special to different groups.
>While it is dangerous to generalize, one major barrier that I have found
>is the baggage from history. There is no doubt that some groups were
>subjected to inhumane conditions and should remember theses so  that
>history will not repeated. There is however a great danger in assuming
>that it will be repeated. This show itself in our personal
>interpretation of words, writings and actions. The problem is that it is
>difficult and often impossible to measure intent. I strongly believe
>that most people are not necessarily bigoted but are often insensitive
>to words that may offend others. I believe that it is the duty of
>everyone to diplomatically bring this to their attention. Hopeful they
>will learn from this. If they do not learn then they may well be
>bigoted!
>I do agree that  we should all be sensitive but please give everyone the
>benefit of the doubt as to their intent until proven otherwise.
>This country owes its enormous success to cultural diversity and from
>getting the best from all cultures. I am sure that we will continue to
>do so.
>I also hope that while we will take pride in our individual heritage we
>will also think of ourselves first as Americans.
>Barry
>
>
>

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