Matters Helping All Parents: Cultural Competency Week 2

ommon Misconceptions about Cultural Competency/Diversity Issues

“These issues are not relevant to us.  We don’t have any diversity in our community”

Diversity exists in every community.  Diversity doesn’t refer only to race and ethnicity, but to the entire spectrum of human identity.

“I don’t see any discrimination here”

It would be difficult to find any community that is completely free of discrimination or oppression.  Some acts of discrimination occur between individuals and are easier to notice.  Other forms of discrimination are embedded into the way society runs and are, therefore, harder to detect.  Look for the following signs of harassment or discrimination:

Name-Calling and Verbal Abuse

Taunting and Teasing

Unwelcome Remarks, Slurs, Jokes or Obscene Gestures

Exclusion

Bullying and Physical Violence

Tolerance of Discrimination

Invisibility

Unequal Access to Services and Unequal Treatment