Quinsigamond Community College’s Luis Pedraja on cultural diversity

Luis G. Pedraja

As I thought of potential subjects for this column, I struggled.

It ought to have been simple to decide on a subject. February is Black Historical past Month, so why not discuss concerning the significance of Black historical past? However that was what was troubling me: Why ought to we restrict celebrating and honoring Black historical past to only this month?

For that matter, why can we equally restrict just one month to celebrations commemorating Hispanic Heritage, Ladies’s Historical past, LGBTQ Satisfaction, Asian and Pacific Islanders and so many others? Why don’t we keep in mind and rejoice them year-round? It troubles me that we don’t rejoice the contributions of the numerous various cultures, gender, folks, races and ethnicity regularly.

The wealthy range of this nation is our power. Equally, it pains me that we regularly ignore and gloss over the struggles, discrimination and historic oppression many of those teams and folks endured and proceed to endure. We should do extra.

We dwell in a world age the place we’re uncovered to the wealthy range of the human race, but we fail to embrace it. As an alternative, many in our society see this richness as a menace to their very own identities. They fail to be taught from each other, to just accept those that are completely different, to complement their view of the world. They fall prey to nativism, id politics, tribalism and xenophobia. They vilify those that are completely different just because they’re completely different. They mock and mock those that are usually not like them, cut back them to disparaging stereotypes and query their motives.

Usually, those that are perceived as completely different turn into scapegoats, because the blame for the failings of our society or private misfortunes are positioned on them. This hatred all too usually festers into extremist violence.

As tradition wars proceed to wage in our nation and our world, our rhetoric has turn into extra divisive and hate speech has turn into normalized and tolerated. Quite than work collectively to construct a extra equitable, simply and inclusive society, folks have doubled down on their entrenched biases and disassociated themselves from these with a special perspective and viewpoint.

To some extent, social media permits all of us to gravitate solely to the voices of those that resonate with our personal viewpoint, which legitimizes biases and discredits any who might dissent. Whatever the validity, we take the plethora of claims within the media and the web as reality, no matter how ludicrous or outrageous they may be. In such an atmosphere we’re destined to turn into fragmented and insular, and in flip, poorer as a nation and as a society.

The Twentieth-century thinker and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead as soon as wrote that historical past was like a searchlight, shining its gentle on a number of and rendering every thing else into obscurity.

As educators, our process is to increase the sunshine of historical past and shine it not solely on those that management the story but additionally on these whose story has been ignored or suppressed. In latest months, significantly within the public training sector, we now have seen efforts to limit the free pursuit of data by some legislators and authorities leaders to ban the educating of our precise historical past, when it challenges what we need to imagine about our previous. These vital and very important teachings make clear abuses and atrocities in our previous, comparable to slavery, the Holocaust and the violent taking of Indigenous lands.

Quite than acknowledge a tough fact and be taught from it, some would quite settle for a cushty lie. The erasure of historical past poses an existential menace to our future and to our democracy. If we don’t be taught from our errors, we can be doomed to repeat them.

Books and nice literature open our eyes to completely different concepts and views, and stretch our horizons. They’re usually the product of analysis and bear rigorous opinions by editorial boards, in contrast to social media that may be manipulated by anybody with none credentials.

Just lately, we now have seen a pattern towards banning books which may increase tough subjects, problem our norms or offend perceived sensibilities. But the pursuit of data can’t restrict our canon to easily that which is in style, typically accepted, dominant or palatable. If we did so, we’d not have most of the advances in science — our world can be deemed flat, and the Earth can be the middle of the universe.

Data is refined via testing, questioning and withstanding the challenges of time. It isn’t our process to guard the reality, quite it’s our job to hunt it. Fact should stand by itself and be sturdy sufficient to face up to the check of time.

In accordance with H.G. Wells, “civilization is in a race between training and disaster. Allow us to be taught the reality and unfold it as far and huge as our circumstances permit. For the reality is the best weapon we now have.”

Training prepares us to hunt the reality. It prepares us to fulfill the challenges and uncertainties of the long run, engendering in us a thirst for data and lifelong studying. It teaches us to be inquisitive, to not take issues at face worth, to have interaction in significant dialogue and be open to completely different views.

In permitting completely different concepts, views and voices to be heard and mentioned, it not solely helps us develop personally but additionally counters indoctrination and prepares an knowledgeable citizenry that’s on the core of our democracy. Training additionally helps us to raised perceive who we’re and admire the variations that make us distinctive.

Schools and universities, like QCC, deliver collectively folks from completely different races, ethnicities, cultures, faiths, nationalities, genders, sexualities, ages and socioeconomic ranges. That is significantly true for group faculties, which mirror the huge and various communities we serve.

No matter our variations, we work to forge relationships, shared experiences and understanding. As well as, we offer our college students with the area to have interaction in respectful and significant dialogue that helps them perceive and worth their variations.

As well as, via visitor audio system, displays and occasions we rejoice and lift consciousness of various cultures, ethnicities and folks. Increased training teaches us to not worry variations however to understand and be taught from each other, to seek out widespread floor and worth one another.

Within the classroom, we train our college students the abilities to achieve their careers but additionally the abilities to be inquisitive, discerning, lifelong learners and engaged residents. We worth and respect one another, even after we disagree.

If we’re to outlive as a human race and keep away from disaster, we have to settle for our variations, be taught from one another and discover widespread floor. That is an age-old downside however one which I imagine training may also help as a catalyst for actual change. Training supplies a pathway for folks to realize their full potential and thru it, we will all discover a manner towards a extra inclusive, equitable and simply society for everybody.

Quinsigamond Community College’s Luis Pedraja on cultural diversity

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