You know it’s difficult to talk about intercultural and interracial issues when you avoid talking even to yourself, in private, for fear of being offensive. Certainly I jest, but only sort of. There’s a couple of things I’ve noticed over the past nearly two weeks, and I have a couple of solutions to start. 1. …
DetailsThere have been a rash of articles lately focusing on studies that show that whites are often anxious in their interactions with people of color for fear of coming across as racist, and may avoid interactions with people of other races as a result. The author of one study, Project Implicit, suggested that becoming more…
DetailsThe other night a young man, probably in his late teens, came by our home while I was cooking dinner. I went to the door with the remnant of a head of lettuce that would soon complete our salad still in my hand. After introducing himself quickly and starting his spiel, he stopped short to…
DetailsThe first time my husband and I went grocery shopping together, over 20 years ago now, it looked like the scene from the movie Green Card. Andie MacDowell was putting in fresh veggies and granola on one side of the cart, while Gerard Depardieu added sides of beef and lard on his side. Over time…
DetailsI once heard Greg Alan-Williams speak to a group of students at a Park District event at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago. Williams, a former Baywatch ‘water safety professional’, was in town to play Martin Luther King in The Meeting, a play directed by Chuck Smith about a mythical meeting between Dr. King…
DetailsMySpace today launched a Korean language version in Seoul, South Korea according to an Associated Press story by Hyung-Jin Kim that was featured in papers and websites around the world. “MySpace will be the one and only platform that provides an opportunity for Korean users to easily meet friends around the globe, surpassing the hindrance…
DetailsIn doing a little search while writing about the scholarship needs at the Muriel Snowden High School in Boston, I found out Dr. Coulter is still the headmaster there, so I gave her a call. The school has evolved into the Muriel Snowden International School, and all students must complete four years of foreign language…
DetailsI was delighted to see Dawn Turner Trice’s call out in the Tribune on March 23 to start the conversation on race. “Let’s start a discussion. What question would you ask of a person of a different race to get to know him or her better?” I’m thinking this is fantastic, let’s go. But then…
DetailsAccording to an article by Yoko Kubota on washingtonpost.com this week, Tokyo’s Disney resort is possibly alienating visitors because Mickey, Goofy and the gang only speak Japanese. “The problem is the language,” said Chanida Towithelertkul, a Thai tourist who said her Chinese, English and Thai-speaking tour group was frustrated by the language barrier at the…
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