Diversity And Isms

Today, I found a card on top of our mailbox, it read “Love your race”, and the back read”Stop affirmative action” with a link to a website that spewed hatred, with messages as: “We must have new societies throughout the White world which are based on Aryan values and are compatible with the Aryan nature. We do not need to homogenize the White world. What we must have, however, is a thorough rooting out of Semitic and other non-Aryan values and customs everywhere.”

I stopped for a second in disbelief, not because of the intolerance, and hate messages but because it was so blatant, and destructive.

When cultural differences present themselves in any community it can go either way depending on the surrounding factors. They can become an advantage; conflicts can arise or even worst the symptoms of “Isms” start showing when people don’t coexist peacefully.

Racism is perhaps the most problematic of these “Isms”. Simply put, racism is hatred without bounds. It affects all types of organizations and societies.

Racism is when people dislike others simply because of their race, color, religion, gender or even sexual orientation. Those infected by this hatred cannot work well in a diverse environment as they are overcome by their “ISM.”

Sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, xenophobia and ageism are also other “Isms.” Although homophobia and xenophobia are not necessarily “Isms,” they are based on hatred.

Many of the “Isms” are the result of a lack of understanding of the various cultures in society. Many individuals confuse culture with race, and lack of communication or knowledge regarding that particular culture creates additional turmoil due to this lack of understanding.

Culture is not only about race or ethnicity but is about common characters such as age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, education, marital and parental status that allow people within a group to have a common identity.

For example, some Native Americans are raised in a tribal group that does not permit compliments in front of peers in public. Therefore, a Native American individual may exhibit displeasure at a public compliment, not because they are unappreciative, but because it is against their beliefs. However, if the person complimenting him does not understand that, they may take offense to it.

When English is a second language or poorly spoken, language can create misunderstandings leading to issues of loyalty. This lack of understanding often leads to xenophobia, a fear of anything that is foreign or unknown.

In a multicultural diverse society, zero tolerance for racism and prejudice should be adopted, celebrate the uniqueness of each culture, learn from it and use it as strength for our community or organization to build a stronger culturally diverse nation. Diversity and multiculturalism are NOT affirmative action created to right a wrong, and was not created to adversely impact anyone.

Granted, there have been cases where some organizations mistakenly applied Affirmative action alienating deserving employees to be employed or promoted because they were not minorities. Does it justify intolerance? Does it justify racism and prejudice? 
Diversity and multiculturalism should neither be a demand for special rights for minorities, a threat to protecting one’s own cultural identity and safety, nor a majority ruling.

First, we all need to confront our own bias and prejudice first. Who gets to decide what is normal? Who gets to decide who is right and who is wrong and most of all who are we to judge? We are all human beings sharing more or less the same values and desires, it is not a Kumbaya song, but is reality. We all have in common the love of our families, yearn for freedom, want to love and be loved, want to be safe, want to trust and be trusted, be equal in our rights and responsibilities, and most of all we all look for happiness.

Diversity is about dignity, respect and most of all being human. We spend too much time looking for our differences when we have so much in common to celebrate. We keep looking at the five percent differences while ignoring our ninety five percent commonalities. Join me in looking for our similarities rather than our differences to embrace our different cultures in harmony.
Diversity starts at home.

 

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC. - Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G.™ Programs
Diversity& Inclusion in Active Leadership Organizational Growth™
(Exchanging Ideas through Conversation)™
http://www.saharconsulting.com 
(818)861 9434 

 

Let’s connect on:       
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Respect For Human Dignity

How many of us get those chain jokes in our mail boxes daily; jokes about gays, older people,  Polish people, some about women, Muslims, Jews,  etc…and the list goes on.    

These jokes that may be intended to be funny can be taken the wrong way, and be considered of extremely bad taste. How do you react to these jokes?  

Do you delete them or just hit the forward button to the next person that will do exactly the same thing. Did you ever stop and think that these jokes might be offending to  someone else, even if they don’t speak up and voice their discontent? Did you ever stop,  and put yourself in their shoes and how they could feel excluded?  Did you know that this could be considered a type of harassment?

Harassment is verbal or physical conduct that belittles and shows hostility or aversion towards an individual or a group because of their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation age or any other characteristics protected by law.

Harassment causes an uncomfortable feeling that can distract a person from doing their job if done all the time. It is abusive words or phrases, jokes, slurs or negative stereotyping, threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts that are derogatory or disrespectful, even if not intended. Describing these actions as being insensitive is a major understatement, as well as using expressions like: you people, you all look-alike,  learn to speak English, you foreigners, very articulate for a Puerto Rican, all men are the same, older people can’t handle technology… 

You will be surprised how many of these expressions I have heard and how many of these jokes I have seen, and the sad part is that whoever is expressing them don’t feel that they being insensitive, or wrong, and  they actually ask you what happened to your sense of humor.  Humor? I wasn’t aware that hurting someone’s feelings these days was called humor.

Humor is required in every aspect of our lives, I am not asking anyone here to walk on egg shells, I am not asking anyone to inconvenience themselves, but at  least be aware of what you say or act and how do you say it.  

All what I am asking for is RESPECT one another. Understanding sensitivity in the workplace is a step forward to instill respect. Harassing conduct is never justified; not knowing it is harassment is not a legal defense. Wherever there is harassment; morale suffers and as a result: Productivity decreases; absenteeism and employee turnover are high, inability to hire or retain talents; legal fees to defend the lawsuits in courts soar, and damage to the company’s image and reputation can be permanent.  Bottom line loss of revenues is the result.

Why do people keep their silence and don’t correct the wrong, and what are the ways to handle these sticky situations?  – that is what I will discuss in the next post 

Diversity starts at home, Inclusion starts with each one of us,

Sahar Andrade

Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist

Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on:        

Contact me:  saharconsulting   

Picture credits:jemima.files.wordpress

Break Down Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication

First appeared on Technorati:  http://technorati.com/business/gurus/article/break-down-barriers-to-cross-cultural/#ixzz1LLnW0mVi

In the first part of the post: The business case of cross-cultural communication, the meaning of culture and the different aspects of diversity have been clarified.

Communication is a crucial element in relationships either personal or business. Effective communication is one of the foundations of leadership, diverse team building and cooperation. Effective communication can be the difference between a successful organization and a failing organization. It is directly tight to the bottom line revenues, to employee morale, retention, loyalty, and increased productivity which is directly related to increased profits.

Ineffective or lack of communication results in high turnover, inability to recruit or retain diverse talents, absenteeism, low morale and most importantly low productivity that leads to low revenues.

The real causes of ineffective or weak communication are excuses. In other words, the only things holding people back from great communication are themselves or their perceptions.

Any interruption or noise during the communication process causes a disconnect, or results in miscommunication. The communication process consists of 8 main items:

1. The message: What is being communicated
2. The source or the sender: Starts the decision to send a message, and define its purpose.
3. Encoding: The message is generated through the source’s past experiences, perceptions, thoughts and feelings.
4. The channel: The means, pathways or devices by which the messages are communicated. Channels can be verbal or non-verbal.
5. The receiver: The person (persons) who attend to the source’s message
6. Decoding: Interpreting the message by the receiver based on their past experiences, perceptions, thoughts and feelings.
7. Feedback: Receiver responds to sender showing understanding or not. Feedback can also be total silence.
8. Noise: Any interference with the transmission of the message that will inhibit the proper understanding of the message and can act as a barrier.

Knowing the common barriers to effective communication, makes it easier to either avoid them or even better find a solution to these barriers. The most common barriers are:

1. Physical: Can be an actual physical structure or distance: Walls, desks, cubicles, doors, or being located in different buildings or rooms. Physical barriers are also anything that causes distractions or breaks concentration as background noises in case of continuous phone ringing and loud music, or the room temperature either too low or too high
2. Perceptual: No two people view the world the same way; we all have our own assumptions and perceptions tinted by our own past experiences, values and beliefs which can get in the way of productive dialogue
3. Psychological: Being emotionally disconnected: Emotions or personal feelings that cause misunderstandings that hinder effective communication. A person’s emotion at the time the message is communicated can impact how it is sent or received. Fear, mistrust, happiness, sadness, anxiety, or anger are all strong emotions that can directly influence communication
4. Gender: As it is said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Men and women think, speak and decide differently. Men approach the subjects from facts, wanting bottom line. Women have nurturing natures, love details as they need to build relationships and they hint in their communication where men are just direct to the point
5. Generational: We have four generations interacting together at the workplace. Every generation has its own style of communication. To bridge the generational gap, we need to know the different times, and conditions surrounding each generation that influenced their lives a great deal.
6. Language: Miscommunication occurs when people from different areas or companies are communicating and assign different meanings to words or are unfamiliar with the different terminology. Using slang as: slam dunk, throw me under the bus, stop on a dime, kick the bucket especially while communicating with people to whom English is a second language; using jargon (medical terms, IT people); dialects; or semantics all hinder effective communication.
7. Cultural, racial and religious: We are all products of our environment. Our culture, race or religion are the lens through which we view the world and code or decode the messages we receive.

The communication continues in the next post

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

My profiles:
Contact me: saharconsulting

Cross-Cultural Communication

Last weekend, I gave a presentation about cross-cultural communication. To my surprise, I found out that a vast majority of the population has a misguided perception that cultures are only about people’s skin colors, different ethnicities or religions, which is very surprising considering the emphasis that is being placed on diversity and the importance therein.

Also, many people didn’t quite grasp the difference between both communication and effective communication; and the concept that there is a difference between hearing and active listening.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I then decided to write this post about the actual definition of effective cross-cultural communication and why it is important to focus on it.

I always like to build a business case around any subject I tackle. When I researched the business case for communication these were the results:

1- The demographics in the United States are rapidly changing: It was perceived that the minorities in the United States will become majorities by 2050; but according to new data, we will see the shift earlier in 2042- 2043.
a- The Hispanic population will increase from 15 to 30 percent within the next 30 years
b- Asians will increase from five to eight percent
c- African Americans will increase only by one percent from 14 to 15 percent.
d- There is at least one million legal immigrants moving to the United States yearly
2- The increased number of female executives where inter-gender communications becomes vital
3- There are four generations communicating at work, where some even consider the presence of 5 generations (dividing generation Y to pre & post 9/11)
4- The buying power of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-gender community is increasing

We spend 70 percent of our daily time communicating with each other. Sustaining productivity and increasing revenues can come down to the point if communication is conducted effectively or not.

Let us go back for a moment to the cross-cultural term: it means communication across different cultures. The world around us especially in the United States is very diverse as demonstrated in the business case.

Diversity includes but is not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation; it also includes other factors like socio-economics, education, titles, job descriptions, geographical locations, and marital status, to the point where the diversity of thought, is also included.

And why do we care about diversity in communication? Because each category of diversity has its own culture and each culture has its own communication style, which should also be taken in consideration for product marketing campaigns to different segments of the market.

Then, we need to consider the individuals’cultures, social cultures and the organizational cultures. So, are we fighting a losing battle? In actuality it is much simpler than it sounds, although some flexibility and sensitivity to the different diversity factors and cultures is needed.

The subject might seem a no-brainer, but I have been surprised by how many people never thought about cross-cultural communication in this way. And most importantly:

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on:       
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Is Glass Ceiling For Women a Myth? Part 3

First appeared on Technorati:http://technorati.com/women/article/is-glass-ceiling-for-women-a3/

In the first part of this post we discussed the Glass Ceiling as being an invisible barrier against promoting women to senior executive roles; the second part discussed the obstacles faced.

Looking at the obstacles women face; it becomes evident that the problems are from both sides: women and organizations and since it takes two to tango- solutions have to originate from both sides:
A. Change organizations cultures
B. Women to learn how to brand themselves properly, project their leadership skills knowing how they are perceived

Easier said than done but here are some ideas to tackle the issues:

A- Organizations: Change the culture of the organization

1- Offer flexibility at the workplace for parents; and elderly care-takers especially women
2- Offer leadership training that is not bias towards male leaders
3- Have proper succession plans, including the proper assessments for female leaders, career development and training
4- Offer proper coaching, mentoring and sponsoring for promising female leaders
5- Research the acceptable work practices that can help women advance to senior positions instead of hindering them
6- Monitor the selection process of people for high visibility projects that can enhance a career
7- Offer incentive education re-imbursement for masters and doctorates programs for women
8- Have zero tolerance for stereotyping and discrimination against women – strong HR policies and departments are a great asset.
9- Have proper progressive performance evaluations and constructive feedback

B- Women Leaders:
1- Project their brands, and skills properly and assertively with confidence
2- Empower each other by forming and joining ERG and affinity groups to make their voices heard and to name the barriers and bias they might experience
3- Engage with the organizations in effective initiatives to change the organizations cultural barriers
4- Get rid of the “Glass Ceiling” excuse or as a fate defining issue, or fall under the self fulfilling prophecy to justify why they are not advancing. Acting as a victim is debilitating, we become what we work for.
5- Strategize a plan for your career: Plan properly for your S.M.A.R.T. goals, know what is needed to advance, get the required qualifications as education or certification or mentoring, 
6- Stand for themselves and speak-up; prevent others from assuming or trying to perceive their styles, competencies and abilities
7- Ask for feedback from managers or superiors, colleagues that they trust; take their comments into consideration as we are what we do – our actions, verbal and non verbal communications and behaviors affect how we are perceived. Never get defensive
8- Study and research what is needed as knowledge, skills and abilities needed to advance. It is fine to ask for help, seek coaching in areas identified as vulnerable
9- Knowing that it will not be easy, or comfortable, they will need to adapt to many changes along the way, get out of their comfort ones but who said life was easy? Look at career as being a adventure along the life journey.

Then, and may be then a path can be created to propel women through the glass ceiling to executive positions.

Diversity starts at home

 

Picture credit for http://www.nurseweek.com

Sahar Andrade

Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.
http://www.saharconsulting.com 
(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 
Contact me:  saharconsulting

 

 

Is Glass Ceiling For Women a Myth? Part 2

First appeared on Technorati:http://technorati.com/women/article/is-glass-ceiling-for-women-a2/

 

In the first part of this article, we discussed the Glass Ceiling as being an invisible barrier against promoting women to senior executive roles; I feel it is better described as a maze since it more accurately conveys the complexity and randomness that typically occurs better than the glass-ceiling metaphor.

Maze and games shouldn’t be there to start with, but women usually are met with stereotyping, and resistance to be promoted.

Some believe that if you fill the companies’ pipelines with exceptional women leaders talents, eventually they’ll make it into the executive suite kind of “build it they will come” or “just give it time” philosophies have been widely accepted for decades. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

According to the 2010 study “The Impact of Gender on Voluntary and Involuntary Executive Departure”; showed that female executives voluntarily leave their corporate positions twice as often as counter males .

There are many challenges that continue to face women who strive to get to the top, but how long are we going to dwell over spilled milk? The fact that there are women in senior leadership positions, some in industries that are stereotypically male dominated indicates that the barriers can be broken. So what are the real reasons behind anyone including women not reaching a certain level of hierarchy, or promotion; so is it competence, supply, Comfort zones, complacency, fear of success or none of these factors?

If we can define the causes of an illness and control its symptoms, we can then find a cure, so if we can define the reasons of the Glass Ceiling and decrease its effects then we can find a solution and a remedy to the problem.

First let us address the most common obstacles: Please note that these are the generally dominant obstacles, they do not necessarily apply in all cases:

1. Gender stereotypes where women are seen as mothers and spouses with family responsibilities that will prevent them from moving upward
2. Perceptions of women inability to network especially after work hours, or mix with the boys for drinks
3. Outdated succession planning or lack of them; and career development systems
4. Frequent traveling, or relocation because of a job
5. Lack of sponsorships of females into leadership positions
6. Lack of mentors and role models for women
7. “All Boys” culture organizations’ cultures
8. Women fear of speaking up
9. Women fear of success

The leadership styles of men and women are different from each other, women are not men in dresses; and shouldn’t be expected to act or lead the same way to fit in. Plus women at the top are damned if they do and damned if they don’t; If they are aggressive and lead with an iron fist they are seen as a threat, if they try the inclusive and participative style of leadership they are seen as too soft.

In the next and final post we will discuss the effect of the obstacles and some suggested solutions.

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade

Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 
Contact me:  saharconsulting

 

Is Glass Ceiling For Women a Myth?

First appeared on Technorati: http://technorati.com/women/article/is-glass-ceiling-for-women-a1/#ixzz1F1Aa1DUq

Last Thursday I attended a conference sponsored by the US Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, and the Women Labor Bureau. The conference theme was: Flexibility at the workplace.

Among the subjects discussed was the ability and capability of women in general to get to the C Suite positions and the barriers in the way, including lack of flexibility of working conditions

The topic reminded me of research I had done a couple of months ago about the percentage of women in the C suite compared to their male colleagues, as well as their presence and voices in board member and executive positions

Granted, the last few years have seen a bit of progress by women in the workforce, like in the Supreme Court of the United States, where in 220 years, only four women have served as justices, two of them nominated on the last two years by President Obama: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

We have seen for the first time a female presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, and a female vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin (regardless of any political affiliations), as well as an increased number in female governors, both candidates and elected governors in the 2011 electoral race; Letitia “Tish” Long became the first woman to head a major intelligence agency. But we have also seen a standstill in the female leadership in 2010, as for every woman who was promoted to a C suite position, another was lost, according to Fortune magazine

We have also seen debates that were mostly negative around the placement of both female justices doubting their objectiveness; as well as the sexist remarks made about both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin on the way they dressed, hair styles, how they looked, need of plastic surgeries, etc.

Statistics from the US Department of Education in 2009 show women at 57% of the students on college campuses and comprising around 60% of master’s degree recipients, as well as doctoral degrees awarded to more women than men. Nearly half of the US workforce is female, so logic dictates that there should be roughly 230 female CEOs, but reality numbers show that less than 10% of executives in large publicly traded firms are women, 12 female CEOs at Fortune 500 companies; only 6% of the most highly paid executives with titles such as chairman, chief executive officer, president and COO are women; only 15% sit on the board of directors; furthermore 12% of large companies don’t have a single woman on their boards (Korn/Ferry International).

These phenomena, accompanied by the fact that females working full time earn 81% of every dollar earned by men, have been going on forever and were dubbed by the Wall Street Journal as the “Glass Ceiling” that depicts limitations faced by women and minorities to advance into senior positions in corporate organizations. (We are only discussing factors affecting women in this post.)

In 1991, Senator Robert Dole Introduced the “Glass Ceiling Act” that was signed into a law as an amendment to Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The Act established a commission to investigate if a Glass Ceiling existed or not, and if it did, to identify the barriers to placing more women and minorities into senior positions.

The commission found that, though CEOs understood the need to include women and minorities in the ranks of senior management, this belief was not shared at all levels of the organizations

The study also found 3 main barriers contributing to the Glass Ceiling causes:
1- Societal: Limited educational opportunities and bias against women and minorities
2- Internal Structural: Corporate practices; management shortcomings like outreach, recruiting and retaining female and minorities talents. Organizational Cultures that exclude women and minorities to participate in activities that will lead to advancement such as career development assignments, mentoring and management training
3- Governmental: Inconsistent enforcement of Equal Opportunity Employment laws, and poor collection and distribution of reports and statistics that showcase the problems

Audits are been conducted regularly by the commission to monitor the progress made in solving the Glass Ceiling.

So is the Glass Ceiling for women a myth or not?

Diversity starts at home.

 

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.
http://www.saharconsulting.com
(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Leadership and Diversity of the Egyptian Movement

First appeared on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/leadership-and-diversity-of-the-egyptian/

We can’t help but admire the Egyptian protesters, and their tenacity no matter what the outcome will be.

They vowed to get back their dignity even if it meant losing their lives. What they are asking for is simple: Getting back their dignity, finding jobs, feeding themselves and their families — the simple basic human rights.

The beauty of this movement is in its diversity; the diversity of the protesters is really is what captured our attention. The protesters are old and young people, men and women, even children, covered and not covered, bearded and not bearded, Christians, Muslims and Bahia or even agnostics, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, executives, professionals and labors.

The graciousness, decency and peacefulness of the whole revolution are a great history lesson for all to learn. They showed the world that you can both be poor and civilized. It reminded me of the great Mahatma Gandhi.

With that said, I have 2 points that keep puzzling me:
1 - Leadership: Egypt with 24 political parties; and millions in the streets does not have one pronounced leader — none. The problem that I see with the movement is that they don’t have a declared leader, and they don’t know or care at this point who will be President, which is very worry-some.

Countries are like corporations if they don’t have the proper succession plans. Guess what: that country/corporation is heading to disaster.

While each one the protesters is a leader by himself or herself — inspiring each other, sharing a common vision and goals — with no ONE leader/s to take charge, to plan and lead the way, this makes this movement unique and can be either considered as a strength or a weakness.

A present prospective is “El Baradei,” who never lived in Egypt and has no clue of the Egyptian people’s suffering, and returned to Egypt wanting to seize the opportunity to become the President. He obviously supports the Brotherhood; his intentions are unclear so far. He is more a threat than an opportunity or a solution.

Then there is “Omar Moussa,” who was actually a member of Mubarak’s cabinet for 10 years. He is educated, well spoken, logical, well regarded by both the Arab and Western worlds, but again, what are his intentions; working for the good of the country or his own gain?

The thing to admire, though, is the increase of the women leadership that has been rising and seen in these protests where women have been chanting, protesting, and even leading men acting as leaders, which is new and would have been a delight to watch if the conditions were different. As women have begun to change the paradigm, they still lack both organization of their leadership and representation in the higher leadership levels.

2 - It is being said: Be careful for what you wish for. Some parties, like the “Muslim Brotherhood” party, who have been banned since President Nasser’s era, President Sadat released from prisons and gave them power in an attempt to combat communism that was sweeping the streets of Egypt during the late 70’s; and they ended up killing him.
Make no mistake; the Brotherhood is very well organized, watching from behind the scenes. They are watching what is going on, they keep promoting that they didn’t start the movement and that they are not the cause of it. Though it is true, they are still instigators, and they said it over and over again: We might not be violent, but we don’t honor the peace treaty with Israel — so if this is not instigating violence, what is?

They are just waiting for the constitution to be changed to democracy so they can become a recognized party, and with the change of constitution that will limit the terms of each president. They are looking at the long run where a President will become one of theirs. They have been around for 80 years and they are patient and know how to plan properly and smoothly. They are a danger, and not a blessing, to be watched closely.

While the protesters are sacrificing their lives for freedom — busy trying to get Mubarak out — they might be missing the real role of the invisible hand played by the Brotherhood.

In closing, I can’t still explain the leadership or the lack of it in the Egyptian movement; it might evolve in the next few days . The mosaic of the protesters and their diversity shows a beautiful painted canvas; but should they be careful for what they wish for?

Diversity Starts At Home

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 
Contact me:  saharconsulting
Photo credit: Al Jazeera website

 

 

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

First appeared on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/merry-christmas-or-happy-holidays/

Today is Christmas day. It is my best time of the year, I wait for it like a little child, and I listen to the Christmas carols all month long.

But this is not what my post is about today. I grew up overseas in many countries where Christianity wasn’t the dominant religion of these countries, and I still saw the Christmas trees with the lights, I dreamed about Santa Claus and the gifts he will bring me on Christmas day; so I had to be a good girl, and I learned to wish people “Merry Christmas”.

Many children around the world believe in Santa Claus whom is called many names: Papa Noel (French), Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Papai Noel (Portuguese), Gwazdor(Polish), Ded Moroz (Russian) or Baba Nwel (Arabic) etc…

In the last few years I have been noticing that more and more people wishing each other “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas” as we are used to. The reason is that some people commented that they get offended as they don’t celebrate Christmas. So to be politically correct, we started hearing “Happy Holidays” more and more.

Around the same time of the year, depending on the sun or the moon, we may celebrate few festivities like Chanukah, Christmas, Eid El Edha, and Kwanzaa. The date of the Jewish festivities Chanukah, and for the Muslim Eid El Edha change from one year to the other as they are based on the lunar cycle; thus the dates fluctuate with respect to other calendar systems.

Does that mean that any of the festivities should over shadow the other? Absolutely, NOT!

We all live in a nation that is composed of multiple religions, races and ethnicities. We should all accept, and if not accept at least respect, understand, and celebrate each other festivities.

What is wrong in wishing anyone “Merry Christmas” how would that offend anyone just because it is Christmas. I wish my Jewish friends Happy Chanukah, La’ Shana Tova, and to my Muslim friends Happy Eid or Happy Ramadan. In this great nation we celebrate Diwali, the Chinese New Year, The Nairuz Persian New Year, etc… Do we always tell everyone at any festivity Happy Holidays? The answer is No, so why change for Christmas?

Each festivity or celebration has its own name, and its own wishes so why not use the proper one. Diversity is about inclusion and acceptance. Sensitivity goes both ways.

Being politically correct not to hurt some feelings; shouldn’t be at the expense of someone else’s feelings.

I do not celebrate Christmas religiously, but I do socially and I say Merry Christmas. What is next not to wish someone Happy Easter or Happy Pessach? And just wish everyone Happy Holidays in all occasions no matter what faith or belief?

We are not a melting pot where we all become one gooey ugly melt, where everything loses its shape and colors; we all have our own colors and flavors as in a fresh bowl of salad; that should be respected and celebrated

Happy Chanukah!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Kwanzaa!

Diversity starts at home,

 

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 

 

 

The Longoria Affair- Part 1

This post appeared first on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/the-longoria-affair-part-1/

I watched a documentary on PBS the other day, called the “Longoria Affair” that blew my mind. And, no it is not about Eva Longoria or her recent separation from her husband.

It is about a brave Mexican-American soldier, Felix Longoria Jr., that fought for our country in World War II, and was killed while on a mission.

So far it is a common story that we hear about all the time, but this one is different. Longoria lived in the Mexican neighborhood of Three Rivers a Texan small city that was split into two by the rail tracks, one side with street names are in English, predominantly white; and the other side with street names are in Spanish, predominantly Mexican.

What they had in common was World War II as most families at that time, had at least a family member fighting in the war. Men from both sides of the tracks volunteered to fight.

What really surprised me is to know how this story initialized the grass roots of the Mexican Americans civil rights movements and was also the mute reason behind the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 issued by President Johnson.

Now back to the details, Felix Longoria was drafted in November of 1944, and was killed in the Philippines while on a mission, seven months after beginning the volunteer tour of duty. He was a decorated soldier. Pvt. Longoria’s remains were not returned to the US until 1949.

What happened after that is argued by the two sides on the opposing tracks. Longoria’s wife tried to have a wake at the only funeral home in Three Rivers. To her surprise, Mr. Kennedy the funeral home owner, refused to allow a wake for a Mexican-American soldier; allegedly telling her – as per her narration – that the “Whites won’t like it”. She couldn’t believe that the Americans that her husband died to defend them, considered him as a 2nd class citizen.

In Texas during the 1940s, as in other parts of the country, Mexican Americans were considered non-white. Segregation of Mexican American children in schools and employment discrimination against Mexican American workers was omnipresent in some parts of the South.

Generally Mexican American World War II servicemen were integrated into regular military units but some served in segregated Mexican American units such as Company C of the 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division.[5]

On top of that; Felix Longoria a fallen serviceman, was to be buried in the “Mexican” section of the cemetery which was separated by barbed wire as the only cemetery in Three Rivers was segregated.

The Longoria story was one of the reasons to start AGIF (American G.I. Forum) in 1948 by Dr, Hector Garcia; whom some accused of using the Longoria affair to his own personal gain in building a political career for himself. AGIF role was initially to address the concerns of Mexican-American veterans, who were kept apart from other veterans groups. AGIF was formed to help the Mexican veterans in World War II to have access to their medical services, if they were denied. But, it soon spread into advocating for the civil rights of all Mexican Americans in general as voting rights, school segregation, Jury duty, etc…

Dr. Garcia requested the intervention of President Johnson that was a Senator at the time, who secured Longoria’s burial in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Longoria was the first Mexican American serviceman in history, to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in history.

Dr. Garcia used his growing cloud from both the AGIF and the Longoria affair to demand the Veterans Administration to offer and pay the same benefits to Mexican Americans as it did to white veterans.

He also fought for to obtain rights for the Mexican Americans otherwise considered basic rights as the poll tax. In some states like Texas, the voters were charged a compulsory fee before casting their votes, which meant that most minorities at the time as Mexican Americans who were out of luck due to their low income

In the next post, we will discuss the effects of the Longoria affair on helping President Kennedy win the elections, how the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 was initialized, and how it created a lifelong bond and political partnership between Johnson and Garcia, as well as drawing attention to the American GI Forum.

Till then, remember Diversity starts at home,

Cheers,

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

Let’s connect on: