Barry,
Again, I must applaud you for your input, intelligence and diplomacy. You
have been great at putting out fires on the histonet, by educating. Thank
you.

Marsha Price

On Fri, 14 Sep 2001 15:30:07 -0600 Connie McManus 
writes:
> 
> 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
> >
> >
> >
> 
> Veterinary Diagnostics Lab
> Utah State University
> Logan, UT
> USA
> (435) 797-1891
> fax (435) 797-2805
> 

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