Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Diversity and Cultural Competence

[Ambrose McNibble (a-mcnibble]

Thank you!  :-)

I like your Buckminister Fuller quote.  :-)

BTW, that test is not my original idea. I heard about it at a (very 
small) diversity seminar I attended several years ago, and the 
presenter said he'd gotten it from a class he'd attended, so the 
origins are not known to me. I suspect it is not widely known because 
it reveals some uncomfortable truths to people who like to think they 
are 'diverse'. It has stuck with me because it is elegant in its 
simplicity and has proved both true and useful.

Take care.

A.M.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

> Dear Cohousers and Potentials,
>
> I love this *test* of diversity Ambrose McNibble proposes:
>
>     "If =you= are not a little bit uncomfortable, =you= are not in a
>      situation that includes diversity."
>
> This important signpost has great significance for us both in 
> cohousing and in other situations. I'm working with the Mental 
> Health Service Act process in Santa Cruz County in California, and 
> we struggle with this issue. When people "don't look like me" it is 
> a signal for some cultural competence or else our service delivery 
> stumbles and fails.
>
> The *uncomfortable* test and the *look like me* test cover all those 
> issues Sharon Villines brings up of socio-economic levels, ethnic 
> and racial groups, education, religion, and so on.
>
> Cultural competence is learning to accept the differences while 
> valuing the diversity. It encompasses acting civil --and perhaps 
> even friendly--around people who are *different* than you.
>
> Who make you uncomfortable.
>
> It is an area of learning where behaviors and so-called *built in* 
> prejudices can be modified through education and practice. These 
> areas of greater understanding and empathy are critical for a 
> peaceful future, at local, national, and global levels.
>
> I encourage all of us to take steps to become culturally competent 
> with others who make us uncomfortable, because that is where 
> community comes from.
>
> Cecile
> <mailto:seaseal [at] got.net>seaseal [at] got.net
>
> You can never change things by fighting the existing reality.
>
> To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model 
> obsolete. 
>
>       Buckminister Fuller


--
                                                       Ambrose McNibble
Seattle WA USA        Ask       a-mcnibble [at] comcast.net
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