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Wednesday, November 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Building diversity and inclusion in Sisters
Correspondent
Sisters is a great place to
call home. The schools pro-
vide art and music, sports,
an equestrian team, science
and engineering. High school
students can even get their
pilot’s license! What’s not to
like about that? Opportunity
seems to be the theme for our
community, regardless of our
rural and small population.
But is everyone included?
Teachers and volunteers
have done an amazing job
of introducing the world and
its potential to our youth.
Chinese language classes are
offered in the public schools
and students can travel to
China. The nonprofit Ten
Friends, started by two Sisters
teachers, has taken student
volunteers to Nepal. And
then there’s the Three Sisters
Wilderness right outside our
back door. What better way to
learn about glaciation then by
hiking to a glacier or studying
biology along the beautiful
Whychus Creek?
The question is do all
our citizens feel welcome in
these pursuits? Are there bar-
riers, intentional or not, that
keep some people from par-
ticipating? As my tenure with
Sisters Folk Festival comes to
a close, one of the most eye-
opening aspects has been the
realization that there are many
people in our community who
aren’t able or comfortable
enough to take full advantage
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of our community’s assets.
There was a time several
years ago when the Latino
community in Sisters was
reaching out by inviting
everyone to join them for
a dinner that reflected their
culinary traditions. When I
attended a dinner, I learned
that the population of Latinos
in our town was much larger
than I realized. I was excited
to see all of us enjoying great
food and getting to know each
other better. Their effort to
reach out was so appreciated.
But that kind of event doesn’t
happen very much anymore.
Recently, a Sisters Folk
Festival contingency attended
a seminar put on by The
Nonprofit Association of
Oregon, called “Advancing
Equity in our Daily Lives.”
It focused on nonprofits and
how they can bring a more
diverse population to their
work. NAO has been doing
diversity work for 30 years,
but up until recently their
efforts haven’t made much of
an impact in Sisters. Finally,
things have begun to change.
Foundations like The
Meyer Memorial Trust put
their philanthropy on hold
while they looked deeply at
what was needed in Oregon’s
communities. After much
research and deliberation,
their new focus was the fol-
lowing: “Grounded in a vision
of a flourishing and equitable
Oregon, Meyer is commit-
ted to investing in change
at the systemic level to ease
inequities and disparities.”
Meyer joined forces with The
Collins Foundation, MRG
Foundation and The Oregon
Community Foundation.
Because of their efforts more
nonprofits in Oregon began to
rethink how they worked with
their communities.
This emphasis didn’t
require nonprofits to change
their missions, just make sure
they built equity, diversity
and inclusion (EDI) into their
existing programming while
asking the question: “Who’s
not at the table?”
Just like any neighbor-
hood, we’re all busy and if
we often don’t take the time
to meet our neighbors we’ll
never know them. Non-
profits and individuals needed
a reminder that sometimes all
it takes to meet new friends
is an invitation to spend time
and get acquainted.
The seminar touched
on many important topics
all focused on bringing an
awareness that there’s still
so much work to be done in
Oregon around racial jus-
tice. For many people unin-
tentional racism and sexism
has created an environment
of division. One man at the
seminar said he was begin-
ning to realize that as a white
man, he had received privi-
leges he had simply taken for
granted. His life experience
conditioned him to view the
world and those around him
in a certain light. He hadn’t
taken the time to consider
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how a person of color stand-
ing right next to him might
have a completely different
frame of reference based on
their past experiences.
In Sisters, there are fewer
opportunities to cross paths
with people from different
cultures. When we do inter-
act, assumptions are made
that are often incorrect. There
are so many misunderstand-
ings, one that I hear often is
people calling anyone who
looks Latino “a Mexican.”
Another is when they assume
a person of color is from
another country. They really
show their lack of sensitivity
when they ask them where
they’re “really” from.
One important point the
facilitators brought up was
that we all have bias. It’s a
complex concept and varies
with each person’s experi-
ence. They suggested that the
key is to learn how to discuss
issues and understand each
other, and then hopefully
learn and have a relationship
based on facts and trust. This
will allow people to move
through cross-cultural con-
flict and find ways to work
and live together.
The facilitators also chal-
lenged the group to consider
the necessity for some people
to give up some power and
privilege so that others can
join them on an even playing
field. For nonprofits they sug-
gested that when considering
new programming to support
marginalized populations
it’s important to first have a
relationship with that group.
Building relationships before
asking questions provides a
mindset that ensures we’re
“doing with” vs. “doing to”
the people we’re trying to
help.
All of these topics held
huge potential for uncom-
fortable feelings and mis-
understandings. But it also
proved to be an opportunity
to expand understanding and
have those difficult conversa-
tions. Seeing so many people
in one room eager to do bet-
ter and be more inclusive was
inspiring. We all have boxes
we put ourselves in, whether
it’s because it feels safe or
just too comfortable to leave.
I’m seeing that my own boxes
have limited my options as a
citizen and friend. When I
make assumptions about oth-
ers before I know them, I’m
usually wrong. I know my
life experiences will be richer
when I open doors to friend-
ships with people who have
had different life experiences.
Isn’t that the American
Way?
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