From a Speech by a Famous American

1
From a Speech by a Famous American I agree
that these people are a matter of great concern
to us. I fear that one day, through their
mistakes or ours, great troubles may occur. The
ones who come here are usually the most stupid of
their nation. Few understand our language, so we
cannot communicate with them through our
newspapers. Their priests and religious leaders
seem to have little influence over them. They are
not used to freedom and do not know how to use it
properly. And now they are coming to our
country in great numbers. Few of their children
know English. They bring in much of their own
reading materials from their homeland and they
print newspapers in their own language. In some
parts of our states, ads, street signs, and even
some legal documents are in their own language
and allowed in courts. Unless the stream of
these people can be turned away from our country
to other countries, they will soon outnumber us
so that we will not be able to save our language
or our government. However, I am not in favor
of keeping them out entirely. All that seems
necessary is to distribute them more evenly among
us and set up more schools that teach English. In
this way, we will preserve the true heritage of
our country. Name this person.
2
---Benjamin Franklin from Observations
Concerning the Increase of Mankind
(1751) Methods of great tenderness should be
used in getting them to assimilate, and that
nothing that looks like a hardship should be
imposed. Their fondness for their own language
and manners is natural and it is not a crime.
Why should we care about being culturally
competent? The 14th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution All persons born or naturalized in
the U.S., and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the U.S. and of the
state wherein they reside. No state shall make
or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S.
nor shall any state deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
3

• CULTURAL COMPETENCY
• Cultural competence is a set of congruent
  behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come
  together as a system, agency, or among
  professionals and enable that system, agency, or
  professionals to work effectively in
  cross-cultural situations.
• The word culture is used because it implies the
  integrated pattern of human thoughts,
  communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values
  and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious,
  or social group.
• The word competence is used because it implies
  having a capacity to function effectively.
• What else is Cultural Competency?
• Cultural competency is the ability to work
  effectively across cultures. For individuals, it
  is an approach to learning, communicating and
  working respectfully with people different from
  themselves. Culture can refer to an individuals
  race, class, gender, sexual orientation,
  religion, immigration status and age, among other
  things. For organizations, cultural competency
  means creating the practices and policies that
  will make services more accessible to diverse
  populations, and that provide for appropriate and
  effective services in cross-cultural situations.

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What exactly is Culture? Cultural competency
begins with understanding culture. Culture
encompasses all the learned beliefs, traditions,
language, values, customs, rituals, manners of
interacting, forms of communication,
expectations for behaviors, roles and
relationships commonly shared among members of a
particular group, and often transmitted from
generation to generation. It shapes experiences,
large and small the ways parents discipline
their children, the structure of family
relationships, expectations of what it means to
be a boy or a girl, values about health and
approaches to healing, body language, what types
of things get said and what types go unspoken.
All of these define how things are supposed to
be for the members of a given culture. They
become, for that group, the norm, and feel so
natural that they often become unconscious and
invisible to people within that culture.
5

• There are five important things to understand
  about culture
• Everyone has a culture. It is core to their
  identity, behavior and perspectives on the way
  the world works and should be. In fact, everyone
  lives as part of multiple cultural spheres
  ethnic, religious, class, gender, race, language,
  and others. Culture is not just the group a
  person is born into. It is possible to acquire a
  new culture by moving to a new country or region,
  for example, or by a change in economic status,
  or by becoming disabled.
• There is diversity within cultures. While two
  people may both be Latinos with parents from
  Mexico, for instance, a religious Catholic
  daughter of professionals who lived in Mexico
  City will have very different cultural norms and
  perspectives from the son of an indigenous farmer
  who spent early years in a very poor rural area.
• Cultures are not static. They grow and evolve in
  response to new circumstances, challenges and
  opportunities. The ways of being female learned
  by young girls in South Asian culture, for
  example, have changed from one generation to
  another, and as people have moved from place to
  place.
• Culture is not determinative. Different people
  take on and respond to the same cultural
  expectations in different ways. Assumptions
  therefore cannot be made about individuals based
  on a specific aspect of their cultural experience
  and identity.
• Cultural differences are complicated by
  differences in status and power between cultures.
  When one cultural group has more power and
  status, the norms of that culture permeate the
  institutions of society as the right way.
  Cultures of less status and power become seen as
  other, or even deviant and deficient. In
  addition to understanding cultural norms and
  experiences, service providers and professionals
  in agencies that work with diverse populations
  need to be aware of these kinds of cultural
  biases, both as they play out in the lives of
  communities, and as they affect the practices and
  policies of organizations.

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• Why is Cultural Competency Important?
• In the diverse communities of San Mateo and Santa
  Clara Counties, California, cultural competency
  has become a necessity for service providers,
  professionals and agencies. In the midst of an
  unprecedented demographic shift, there is no
  longer any single ethnic, racial or cultural
  group that constitutes a numerical majority.
  People from every corner of the globe live in
  these communities, and within the two counties
  more than 50 languages are spoken.
  Disproportionately, immigrants and people of
  color live in the poorest communities, attend the
  most overcrowded schools with the least trained
  teachers, and work the least-paid and least
  health-sustaining jobs. Marginalized groups are
  struggling with the effects of discrimination.
  There is great urgency for service and support
  organizations to reach these groups and to be
  able to serve them effectively. To do so in a
  place as diverse as the Bay Area, every agency
  leader, staff member and provider needs to reach
  out to, learn about and connect with people who
  are different from themselves in some way who
  dont share their culture, racial experience,
  language, class background, religion, gender,
  nationality, and/or other experiences.

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• EXAMPLES OF THE NEED FOR CULTURAL COMPETENCE
• 1. A young Guatemalan immigrant mother comes to
  pick up her 13-month-old daughter at an
  infant-toddler daycare program, and is distressed
  to find her childs shoes are in the cubby,
  instead of on her feet. The last two times this
  happened, she had explicitly told the teacher she
  wanted her daughter to wear shoes. As before, the
  teacher explains that going barefoot is the best
  thing for a child who is learning to walk, and
  she doesnt think stiff dressy shoes are
  appropriate attire for a toddler to wear to the
  program. The teacher is concerned about balance
  and physical control.
• What is the root of the conflict here?

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• The mother, on the other hand, is concerned about
  parasites in the soil a common danger back in
  rural Guatemala and how others might view her
  as ignorant if her child is not wearing shoes.
  The teacher feels the parent is refusing
  important information about healthy development
  the mother feels the teacher is ignorant about
  environmental dangers and social stigma.

9

• 2. A parenting series is held at a neighborhood
  school on the role of parents in supporting
  academic success. At the first session, the
  trainer emphasizes the importance of creating a
  separate, undisturbed quiet space for elementary
  school students to do their homework at night.
  She tells parents they should take their children
  to the library once a week, and read books to
  them in English each night. At the end of the
  session, each parent is asked to sign a Parent
  Contract for Academic Success attesting to their
  agreement to create supportive learning
  conditions at home. Two parents leave before
  signing the document, and never return. Why?
• (Answer follows)

10

• One felt embarrassed, unable to imagine how, in
  the overcrowded apartment shared by three
  generations (9 people), a separate homework space
  could be arranged.
• Another felt heavy-hearted and ashamed because he
  never learned to read in his native Vietnamese,
  and is just beginning to learn English.
• The trainer is disappointed that attendance is
  dwindling and feels frustrated that some parents
  werent even willing to sign the agreement.

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• 3. On a hot afternoon, Kevin Jones, the athletic
  director in an after-school program, approaches a
  young Iranian girl, new to the program, who is
  sitting on a bench watching the relay race.
  Encouraging her participation, he tells her to
  get into the game! Shafiqa doesnt move, and
  finally says I feel too weak. Im fasting. The
  counselor pauses, sure that the girl is on some
  kind of fad diet, and admonishes her for not
  eating. Go inside and get something to eat
  its stupid to go all day without nourishment.
  Tears begin to drip down the girls cheek, and
  she whispers, I cant eat today. Its my family.
  Please dont make me run. He recognizes a
  feeling of annoyance towards the family for not
  being sure Shafiqa had breakfast in the morning
  and a healthy lunch that day. Just then,
  Shafiqas friend rushes over and says Leave her
  alone. Its Ramadan its her religion. She has
  to fast.
• Kevin feels embarrassed, apologizes to Shafiqa,
  and wonders why no one on the staff had alerted
  him. Perhaps they didnt know either. He pledges
  to alert the other staff, to ask the parents for
  more information about Ramadan, and to remember
  in the future that Shafiqa (and perhaps others in
  the program) are Muslims and
• celebrate different holidays than he does as
  a Christian.

12

• What Does Cultural Competency Look Like?
• Sara Watkins, a visiting RN, enters the
  home of a Laotian family, anxious to help the
  parents address the needs of their 3-year-old who
  has recently been released from the hospital
  after a bout with asthma. The nurse notices round
  abrasions on the childs chest
• and trunk, and asks the parents how those
  abrasions occurred. The parents are silent, and
  Nurse Watkins considers the possibility of child
  abuse. Ready to fill out a report to Child
  Protective Services, the nurse recalls that a
  community healer, who had addressed the staff at
  the home nursing agency, had talked about
  coining, a healing approach used in many
  Laotian families. At the time, the nurse had
  recoiled at the description of applying hot coins
  
• to a childs skin, though she had also
  reminded herself that some Western medicine
  healing approaches might appear strange and
  unnecessarily painful to people from other
  cultures. She had made a mental note to find out
  more information about coining, but
• hadnt gotten around to doing so.
• Today, she makes a call to a friend in the
  Laotian community to help identify a community
  healer she might talk with, and to ask for
  assistance in communicating with the family about
  healing practices.

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• Kevin Jones and Sara Watkins are both working at
  being culturally competent. For individuals, this
  involves ongoing learning about ones own
  responses and about the cultures of others and
  then changing responses to situations based on
  that learning.
• Central to this is to become aware of ones own
  culture, position in society, and assumptions.
  This may be through learning family history,
  reading about the history of ones heritage, and
  observing carefully what kinds of things seem
  natural and what seems different or
  uncomfortable. Often, it is the moments when a
  person is tempted to judge negatively the
  behaviors of people who are different from them
  that provide clues to their own cultural
  assumptions or biases.
• In addition to learning about ones own culture,
  it also is important to learn about the history
  of different cultural groups in the communities
  served where they came from, when they came, and
  why they came by asking people, by reading, by
  seeking out community events.
• And it is important to learn about the history
  and dynamics of power that have shaped and
  continue to affect the relationships between
  cultural groups both within organizations and
  in the broader society.
• Key to all this is developing the skills of
  listening carefully, observing without judgment,
  and recognizing that one persons way of doing
  things is not the only way or the best way it
  can be done. Attitudes that contribute toward
  cultural competency also include empathy, comfort
  with differences, self awareness and
  reflectiveness, flexibility, and an appreciation
  of multiple perspectives.

14

• UNDERSTANDING OTHERS
• To look through my eyes is to see my
  perceptions to see my perceptions is to
  understand me better and to understand me better
  is to be able to communicate more effectively
  with me, and then you and I will be able and
  willing to say what we need to say, honestly, and
  openly.
• - Judge Lubbie Harper, Jr.

15

• Monolingualism and the Sapir/Whorf Hypothesis
• Our view of reality is circumscribed by our own
  language.
• The native language determines how a person
  views the world and that we are unaware of our
  mental entrapment if we remain monolingual. Thus
  if we grow up speaking only our native tongue, we
  are never conscious of how thoroughly our ability
  to think is circumscribed by the way our language
  compels us to structure our thoughts. Just as a
  deep-sea creature would be unaware of the nature
  of water because he has never experienced
  non-water, a monolingual person is unaware of
  nature of his native language because he has had
  no significant contact with a foreign language.
  His ethnocentric mind set traps him into
  believing that his native language is the only
  reasonable way to express reality. All languages
  cause distortions by the way it structures
  expression.

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• SCENARIO An Englishman and a Hopi Indian walk
  into Johns hospital room and immediately become
  aware that Johns life is coming to an end.
  They comment to themselves that
• English John is dying.
• Hopi Indians Dying is taking place in John.
• The Hopi more accurately express the fact that
  John is really not doing anything, whereas the
  Englishman, by the very nature of how his
  language, English, symbolizes actions in the
  real world, is forced to attribute agent power
  to John even though John is passively, and
  perhaps unwillingly, taking part in the process
  of dying.
• Englishman John likes the food. (Is John
  really doing anything to his food?)
• Spanish A Juan le gusta la comida.
• Literal Translation The food pleases John.
• The author, G.H. Fisher  We will never really
  penetrate the thinking of people from another
  country and their culture, until we have first
  penetrated the language which carries, reflects,
  and molds the thoughts and ideas of that people.

17

• ENGLISH VS. SPANISH
• SINGULAR
  PLURAL
• 1. I
  1. We
• 2. You
  2. You (all)
• 3. He
  3. They
• She
  They
  
• You
  You (all)
• It
  They
• SINGULAR
  PLURAL
• 1. Yo
  1. Nosotros
• 2. Tú / Vos
  2. Vosotros
• 3. El
  3. Ellos
• Ella
  Ellas
• Usted
  Ustedes
• Vuestra Merced Vd. Usted Ud.

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• SOME FACTS TO CONSIDER ABOUT HISPANICS
• Many immigrants, in general, of diverse
  racial, ethnic and cultural heritage suffer
  disproportionately from cardiovascular disease,
  diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and cancer.
• Their infant mortality rates are generally
  higher.
• Their childhood immunization rates are
  lower.
• They have a disproportionate level of
  poverty and they probably lack health insurance,
  nor have they had proper health care up to this
  point.
• English is probably not their native
  language.
• Their limited proficiency in English
  doesnt reflect their level of intelligence,
  however.
• The roles of the male and the female may
  differ from what we are accustomed to. Dominant
  male animal in the wild is________?
• They probably have different religious
  backgrounds and practices. Those practices may
  influence how they respond when interacting with
  you.

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• Due to the high cost of purchasing
  textbooks and school materials in their country
  of origin, many immigrants may lack formal
  education beyond the primary level.
• The U.S. population is growing, it is
  older, and it is more diverse.
• As of May, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau
  reported that 44,300,000 persons in U.S. were of
  Hispanic or Latino origin, or 14.8 of total U.S.
  population. They are now the largest U.S.
  minority group.
• 67 of the above Hispanic group
  originates from Mexico. In Indiana the percent
  of Hispanic population is 4.5. By 2012, it is
  predicted that Hispanics will be 1 in every 5
  U.S. population. By 2050, the total figure for
  the U.S. of Hispanic persons is estimated to grow
  to 103 million of the total U.S. population of
  420 million, or 1 in every 4 persons.
• 28 million people living in the U.S. are
  of Mexican origin, of which 17.5 million were
  born here and another 10.6 million were born in
  Mexico, at least one half of which are estimated
  to be undocumented. 70 of that total population
  are young, between the ages of 15 and 44 years.
  80 of which are male. Only 50 of them have
  reached 10th grade or less, and only 5 have gone
  beyond grade 10. 5.9 million lack health care
  and 3 million are at poverty level, or the
  equivalent of 26 of the Mexican immigrant
  population (10.6).

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• Hispanics are more geographically
  concentrated than non-Hispanic Whites. For
  example, Hispanics are more likely to reside in
  the West and in the South.
• Hispanics are more likely than
  non-Hispanic Whites to live inside inner cities
  or metropolitan areas.
• Hispanics are more likely than
  non-Hispanic Whites to be under the age of 18.
• Only two in every five Hispanics are
  foreign born.
• Hispanics live in family households
  that tend to be larger (5 or more) than those of
  non-Hispanic whites.
• More than two in every five Hispanics,
  aged 25 and older, have not graduated from high
  school. More than ¼ of Hispanics had earned less
  than a ninth grade education.
• Among Latinos 25 years or older, other
  Hispanics, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Central and
  South Americans were more likely to have at least
  graduated from high school than were Mexicans.
• Hispanics are much more likely than
  non-Hispanic whites to be unemployed in
  traditional jobs.
• Hispanics are more likely than
  non-Hispanic whites to work in service
  occupations.

21

• They are twice as likely to be employed
  as operators and laborers than non-Hispanic
  whites.
• Hispanics workers earn less than
  non-Hispanic white workers.
• Hispanics are more likely than
  non-Hispanic whites to live in poverty.
• Currently more than 20 of children in
  the U.S. are born to immigrant parents, and it is
  projected that by, 2010, students of color will
  comprise 50 of children in public schools.
• Hispanic is NOT a race, rather an
  ethnic classification because there are many
  difference races within the Hispanic/Latino
  people.
• Not all Hispanics speak Spanish.
• It is a misconception that all Hispanics
  get along with each other.

22

• Did you also know that.?
• Traditionally, the Hispanic family is a
  close-knit group and the most important social
  unit. The term familia usually goes beyond the
  nuclear family. The Hispanic "family unit"
  includes not only parents and children but also
  extended family. In most Hispanic families, the
  father is the head of the family, and the mother
  is responsible for the home. Individuals within a
  family have a moral responsibility to aid other
  members of the family experiencing financial
  problems, unemployment, poor health conditions,
  and other life issues.
• Hispanic families, in general, instill in their
  children the importance of honor, good manners,
  and respect for authority and the elderly.
• Spanish speakers tend toward formality in their
  treatment of one another. A firm handshake is a
  common practice between people as a greeting and
  for leave-taking. A hug and a light kiss on a
  cheek are also common greeting practices between
  women, and men and women who are close friends or
  family.
• The Spanish language provides forms of formal and
  non-formal address (different use of usted vs. tú
  for the pronoun you, polite and familiar
  commands, the use of titles of respect before
  people's first names such as Don or Doña). In
  non-formal settings, conversations between
  Spanish speakers are usually loud, fast, and
  adorned with animated gestures and body language
  to better convey points.

23

• Hispanics usually give great importance to and
  place great value on looks and appearance as a
  sense of honor, dignity, and pride.
• Hispanics tend to be more relaxed and flexible
  about time and punctuality than Americans. For
  instance, people who are invited for an 8 a.m.
  event may not begin to arrive until 830 a.m. or
  later. Within the Hispanic community, not being
  on time is a socially acceptable behavior.
• In the Hispanic world, religion has traditionally
  played a significant role in daily activity. More
  than 90 of the Spanish-speaking world is Roman
  Catholic.
• In Hispanic countries, a light meal is served for
  breakfast. Lunch, referred to as el almuerzo,
  usually is the main meal of the day for
  Spanish-speakers.
• In the early evening, la merienda, a light snack
  of coffee and rolls or sandwiches, is served.
  This meal is often very informal and may be just
  for children. In the evening, often as late as
  900 p.m., la cena, a small supper, concludes the
  day's meals.
• Especially when guests are present, the meal may
  be followed by the sobremesa, a time to linger
  and talk over coffee or perhaps an after-dinner
  drink.
• Be aware that the physical distance between
  Hispanics when holding a conversation is much
  closer than in other cultures.
• Among Hispanics, information is passed mostly by
  word of mouth.

24

• How do we gain cultural competency?
• Through self-evaluation and perpetual
  adaptation. Cultural competency begins with an
  awareness of ones own beliefs and practices, and
  recognition that people from other cultures may
  not share them.
• Incorporating activities and materials
  into programs that prompt practitioners to
  transcend their own cultural comfort levels and
  as a result will help them at all levels to
  communicate and develop more effectively.
• Gain knowledge about how your own culture
  influences you.
• Develop knowledge of other cultures that
  go beyond simplistic stereotypes and assessments.
  Ex They all look alike. Work hard at
  changing prejudgments or biases you may have
  about a peoples cultural beliefs or customs.
• Take the first step toward opening
  communication and getting to know your client.
  Linguistic and cultural barriers can make
  communication difficult and can lead to
  misunderstandings and lack of interaction.
• Success in dealing with people from other
  cultures involves being open, honest, respectful,
  non-judgmental, willingness to listen and to
  learn.
• Build trust by letting people know that
  you are interested in what they have to say.
• It is important to promote mutual respect.
  Cultural competence is rooted in respect,
  validation, and openness toward someone with
  different social and cultural perceptions and
  expectations than your own.
• Dont just tolerate people of different
  backgrounds, but consider their differences as
  strengths.

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• WHAT TO DO and WHY
• Being culturally competent is not just
  political correctness. Its good policy.
• Cultural knowledge should be
  institutionalized from the CEO on down the line.
  It cannot be just a policy written on a piece of
  paper for public consumption. Put into practice
  the changes your organization deems appropriate
  for its clientele.
• Contact members of your community who come
  from the culturally different populations in your
  community. Ask them for information and advice
  on being culturally aware as it pertains to them.
• Share cultural knowledge.
• Provide a service system that displays
  cultural sensitivity and competence.
• Hire and use staff members who truly are
  bilingual/bicultural.
• Have documents that you routinely use
  reproduced in the target languages of the
  cultures of your clientele.
• Do role play scenarios for training.
• Raise awareness within the workforce.

26

• Having a diverse staff does not
  necessarily equate with being culturally
  competent.
• Enhance and expand your community
  communication practices.
• Have public forums for questions and
  answers.
• Publish an ongoing news column to
  educate all diverse communities with your role.
• Be fair in your dealings with the
  diverse group.
• Educate yourself on immigration law.
• Adapt when delivering services which
  reflect an understanding of diversity.
• Use qualified and capable
  interpreters, avoid using family members or
  friends as interpreters, never use young children
  to interpret, minimize the use of internet or
  telephone tanslations or interpreting services.
• Avoid literal translations of existing
  materials for it loses meaning outside of its
  cultural context.

27

• All of us want to do the right thing,
  but what is right for some cultures is not right
  for others. Is it culturally accurate to say and
  implement the golden rule of treating people the
  way you want to be treated? How about finding
  out how members of other cultures hope to be
  treated and use that as a guideline?
• The first step in cultural competency is
  in acknowledging the fact that we dont know
  enough about other cultures. Then we need to
  agree that different people have different
  experiences, viewpoints and stories, sometimes
  contradictory ones.
• Many newcomers and minorities share a
  self-inflicted otherness. The outsider is
  different and does not fit in, he/she is not like
  the rest of us. This self-inflicted otherness
  acts like an internal destroying agent to what
  the other person holds dear, that which shapes
  his identity and gives him the will to survive.
  They also share personal and collective trauma.
  They are almost always patronized and considered
  intellectually inferior or inadequate. Most of
  these people are survivors, all struggling to
  live a normal life in a divided community, some
  segments of which are more hostile towards them
  than others.
• By the time they come into contact with
  each one of us, they probably have already
  experienced discrimination at every stop on their
  way the gas station, the school, the workplace,
  the restaurant, etc.

28

• We need to recognize and admit that our
  society suffers from biases, stereotypes,
  prejudices, racism and institutional racism and
  work to end these injustices.
• Once we accept the above facts, then we
  need to seek knowledge from authentic sources.
  By consulting people from all the target
  communities and from authorities, we can hope to
  achieve cultural competency.
• Furthermore, we need to think of people
  as individuals and not as representatives of the
  cultures they come from.
• We should hire personnel from diverse
  cultures, but not as tokens of their cultures,
  rather for their skills and capacities.

29

• Benefits of a Culturally Competent Organization
• Higher quality service
• Culturally appropriate service
• Workplace harmony
• Reduction of internal complaints
• Reduction of extremes of behavior
• Reduction of external complaints
• Reduction of external criticism of the
  organization
• Enhances organizational prestige
• Increased community satisfaction
• Increased community support
• Increased productivity
• Increased skill base of members
• Skills to anticipate public sensitivities
• Reduced external complaints reduces the handling
  costs of them
• Lowering anti-discrimination complaints reduces
  investigation costs, prevents stress and morale
  impacts
• Increased staff retention broadens the
  recruitment base of the organization
• Promotes social cohesion via inclusiveness

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• What is a Culturally Competent Organization? An
  example
• An after-school program serves a diverse mix of
  children, and makes an attempt to build
  relationships across differences. The Arts
  Counselor, Mary Tompkins, pulls together a group
  of students and suggests making a mural depicting
  where families came from and the wonderful
  stories of how they came to the U.S. and
  California. She begins by modeling her own story
  of great-great grandparents migrating west in a
  covered wagon. The group of children mostly
  African American, Mexican and Central American
• immigrants is noticeably silent.
• Why wont they share their stories, she wonders?
  Why are they so unwilling to participate?
  Fortunately, that afternoon is the monthly staff
  discussion that is regularly dedicated to
  exploring issues of culturally competent
  practices. Mary describes to the group what
  happened and asks for other perspectives on what
  might be going on. José, one of the Latino staff
  recently hired from the community, shares the
  fact that many of the immigrant students are
  undocumented and may be worried about disclosing
  this fact for fear of their parents being
  deported. Ed, an African American administrator
  in the program, shares his personal reaction of
  feeling the pain of his enslaved ancestors who
  were forcibly brought to this continent under
  brutal, inhuman conditions. They put their heads
  together and design a youth inquiry project
  through which the children will be able to
  identify stories from their communities they
  would like depicted in a mural, share those
  stories, and paint the wall together.

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• As for individuals, cultural competence at the
  organizational level is an ongoing process.
• A culturally competent organization is engaged in
  an intentional and continuous process of learning
  about and responding to the cultural contexts of
  the communities and people it serves.
• The work isnt done in a day, and it is never
  really finished but the leadership of a
  culturally competent agency (board, executive,
  and administration) makes it a priority to create
  the culture, policies, practices and attitudes
  that can work toward effectively and respectfully
  serving diverse populations.
• This requires being intentional in recruitment
  and hiring to assemble a diverse staff and board
  
• investing in professional development about
  issues of culture, cultural competence, diversity
  and equity
• creating the structures, time and norms for
  productive dialogue
• ensuring attention to cultural issues in
  outreach, programming and service delivery
• and setting expectations that practices will be
  adapted to address the needs of the agencys
  diverse constituents and clients.

32

• We are all part of a criminal justice system
  that is obligated to serve people from different
  walks of life a system that is designed to
  redress breaches of societys legal code without
  regard to a persons racial, social, ethnic or
  economic status.
• As we promote diversity and cultural competence,
  we must also reject the argument that race or
  ethnicity is an excuse for crime. Color or
  ethnicity didnt murder the store owner, or sell
  drugs on the corner next to the day-care center
  where mothers, who are trying to do the right
  thing, drop off their kids in the morning. Color
  or ethnicity didnt hijack a car, steal a purse,
  or break into someones home. While social or
  environmental factors may play a role in the
  development of ones character, the decision to
  commit a crime belongs to the person who made
  it.
• Judge Lubbie Harper, Jr.

33

• NEWSWEEK JUNE 12, 2006
• The genius of Americas success is that the
  United States is a rich country with many of the
  attributes of a scrappy, developing society. It
  is open, flexible and adventurous, often
  unmindful of history and tradition. Its people
  work hard, putting in longer hours than those in
  other rich countries. Much of this has to do
  with the history and culture of the society. A
  huge amount of it has to do with immigration,
  which keeps American constantly renewed by
  streams of hard-working people, desperate to
  succeed.
• No worker from a rich country can equal the
  energy of someone trying to move out of poverty.
• Nuestras raíces están aquí, pero por favor, hay
  que tener en cuenta que todo lo que somos, se
  debe a la madre patria porque fue ella quien nos
  ha formado.