DiversityNewsletter5-2018

CONNECTIONS

The Business of Relationships Diversity and Inclusion

Newsletter

[email protected] Issue 5, May 2018

A Note from the Chair Diversity Committee’s Mission

Happy New Year everyone! The Diversity Committee remains steadfast in RCGC wishes to express its
our goals to continually advocate for campus wide diversity and inclusion. strong commitment to the goal
The Diversity Committee and Student Life will maintain an on-going of diversity, respect, civility and
partnership to ensure that we observe and recognize the cultural inclusion on our campus. The
diversity on campus. Our hope is to increase mutual understanding and promotion and retention of a
respect among the various religious, ethnic and cultural groups on diverse faculty/staff and student
campus. RCGC’s Diversity Committee strives to build upon the diversity of body is essential to the success
our community to establish a more inclusive educational environment. of our institution as a collective
RCGC’s Diversity Committee remains steadfastly committed to upholding body as well as our respective
equality, diversity and inclusion. professional pursuits. Diversity
brings to our campus a broader
The heinous acts of violence against U.S. citizens of various colors, and richer environment, which
cultures, religions, and political groups have reached new levels. Instead produces creative thinking and
of giving in to the powerlessness we may feel to stop racism and solutions. As such, RCGC
opposing political views, every institution must examine its own role in embraces and encourages
perpetuating (inadvertently and advertently) racist thinking and policies. diversity in all aspects of its
We cannot truthfully construct equal opportunities for all until our activities. RCGC is committed to
institutions take specific actions to end that thinking and those policies. creating and maintaining a
Despite the most recent horrific events taking place across our nation, we culture that supports and
must continue to be diligent in our pursuit of true democracy for all. promotes diversity and
inclusion.
Colleges, Universities and other organizations have found that achieving
real and sustained diversity and inclusion programs, initiatives, and Purpose & Intent
committees has been a multifaceted task– one that requires a more
concentrated approach. We will continue to publish “CONNECTIONS” as Diversity Committee: serves as a
an instrument to augment awareness and sensitivity about religious
obligations as well as ethnic and cultural festivities that may affect review advisory and
students, colleagues and neighbors. RCGC strives to build a culture that
values meritocracy, openness, fairness and transparency for its staff and recommending body to the
students.
appropriate Vice President to
If Not Us, Who? If Not Now, When? Everyday acts of love and Courage
point to remarkable promise that every human life is of substantial promote diversity in all RCGC
value.
activities- academic, co-
Best regards,
curricular and administrative.
Ya Vanca Brooks, Chair of Diversity
The Diversity Committee also

provides strategies for infusing

multiculturalism into all aspects

of the campus community and

encourages a respectful

workplace.

[email protected] Issue 5, May 2018

Jewish American Heritage Month  Jews like Arthur
Goldberg, Henry
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. On April 20, 2006, Kissinger and Ruth Bader
President George W. Bush proclaimed that May would be Ginsberg were important
Jewish American Heritage Month. The announcement was to the judiciary system.
the crowning achievement in an effort by the Jewish Museum
of Florida and South Florida Jewish community leaders that  Harry Cohn built
resulted in resolutions introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Columbia Pictures in
Schultz of Florida and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania urging 1924.
the president to proclaim a month that would recognize the more
than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture.  Film, TV and radio were
The resolutions passed unanimously, first in the House of influenced by Jews like
Representatives in December 2005 and later in the Senate in Milton Berle, Kirk
February 2006. The month of May was chosen due to the highly Douglas, the Marx
successful celebration of the 350th Anniversary of American Brothers, Jack Benny,
Jewish History in May 2004, which was organized by the Edward G. Robinson,
Commission for Commemorating 350 Years of American Jewish Woody Allen, Tony
History. This coalition was composed of the Jacob Rader Marcus Randall, William Shatner,
Center of the American Jewish Archives, the American Jewish Leonard Nimoy, Billy
Historical Society, the Library of Congress and the National Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld,
Archives and Records Administration. Dustin Hoffman, Jason
Alexander, Carl Reiner,
Jewish Contributions to America Bette Midler, and
Barbara Streisand.
 An American Jewish woman, Emma Lazarus, wrote the famous
words written on the Statue of Liberty.  Judeo-Christian values
stand as the foundation
 Seven Jewish men sailed with Columbus and one named of American society.
Rodrigo De Triana actually sighted land first.

 In 1654, the first Jewish families arrived in “New Amsterdam”
(New York City) and were immediately stripped of everything
and told they couldn’t pay for their passage into the New
World. Thirty years later, these same families established the
first North American synagogue called Shearith Israel.

 Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise founded The Union of American
Hebrew Congregations in 1873.

 Jews like Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and Judith A.
Resnik were important to science.

 Jews like Sandy Koufax and Mark Spitz were important to
sports.

[email protected] Issue 5, May 2018

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians  Among Pacific Islanders,
and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, the largest groups include
Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific Native Hawaiians (140,652),
islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Samoan Americans
Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, (91,029), Guamanian or
Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) Chamorro Americans
and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, (58,240), Tongan Americans
Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia (27,713), and Fijian
and Easter Island). Like most commemorative months, Asian/Pacific Americans (9,796).
American Heritage Month originated with Congress. In 1977 Reps. Frank
Horton of New York introduced House Joint Resolution 540 to proclaim  More than 50% of all Asian
the first ten days in May as Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week. In the Americans live in just three
same year, Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a similar resolution, Senate states: California (3.7
Joint Resolution 72. Neither of these resolutions passed, so in June 1978, million), New York (1
Rep. Horton introduced House Joint Resolution 1007. This resolution million), and Hawaii
proposed that the President should “proclaim a week, which is to include (503,000).
the seventh and tenth of the month, during the first ten days in May of
1979 as ‘Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.’” This joint resolution  More than half of all Pacific
was passed by the House and then the Senate and was signed by Islanders live in two states:
President Jimmy Carter on October 5, 1978 to become Public Law 95-419. Hawaii (113,539) and
This law amended the original language of the bill and directed the California.
President to issue a proclamation for the “7-day period beginning on May
4, 1979 as ‘Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.’” During the next
decade, presidents passed annual proclamations for Asian/Pacific
American Heritage Week until 1990 when Congress passed Public Law
101-283 which expanded the observance to a month for 1990. Then in
1992, Congress passed Public Law 102-450 which annually designated
May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. The month of May was
chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the
United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the
completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The
majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

 Of the total United States population, 18.2 million people, or 5.6 Issue 5, May 2018
percent, reported they were Asian Americans in 2011.

 Pacific Islanders accounted for an additional 874,414 people, or 0.3
percent or the population.

 Among Asian Americans in the United States, there are five groups
with a population over one million: Chinese Americans (2.3 million),
Filipino Americans, (1.8 million), Asian Indians (1.6 million),
Vietnamese Americans (1.1 million), and Korean Americans (1.07
million).

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Haitian Heritage Month  Author, statesmen, and former-
slave Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-
The Haitian Heritage Month celebration is an expansion of the Haitian Flag Day, a 1895) was the U.S. Ambassador to
major patriotic day celebration in Haiti and the Diaspora. Haitian President Haiti from 1889 -1891.
Dumarsais Estimé started the Flag Day celebration with parades, cultural and
athletic events in many cities in Haiti in the 1930s. Beside the Flag Day  Haiti is the most mountainous
celebration, the month of May carries a number of significant historical and nation in the Caribbean. Hayti is
cultural traditions that Haitians are proud to make aware of and to pass on to the Indian name for the country
future generations. In Haiti, May 1 is celebrated as Labor and Agriculture Day. and means “land of the
May 2 used to be Flower Day. The Congress of Arcahaie that united black and mountains.” Haiti’s mountain
mulatto officers to fight together for Haiti's independence is remembered from peaks reach over 8,000 feet.
May 15 through 18. The Haitian slave and revolutionary general, Toussaint
Louverture, was born on May 20, 1743. Teacher's Day is May 17, University Day  During radical ex-priest Jean-
May 18, and Mother's Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of May. For Haitian Bertrand Aristide’s second term as
Catholics, May is the month of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Haitian president, the government
established Voodoo as a state
20 Interesting Facts about Haiti religion along with Catholicism.

 Haiti is one of two countries that share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Haiti makes  According to the CIA World
up the western one-third of Hispaniola, while the Dominican Republic makes up the Factbook, voodoo was recognized
other two-thirds of the island. as an official religion in Haiti in
2003, and many Haitians practice
 On December 5th, 1492, navigator Christopher Columbus landed ship the Santa Maria elements of voodoo in addition to
at what is now called Mí´le Saint-Nicolas, Haiti. Although the island was inhabited by another religion, most often
the Taí-no Indians, Columbus claimed the land for Spain. Roman Catholicism. Carnival and
New Year’s Day are the biggest
 Colonists from Spain soon set up plantations and gold mines, with the natives as labor. holidays for most Haitians.
With its gold and its ideal gateway location to the Caribbean, Hispaniola became a
haven for buccaneers or pirates.  The official languages of Haiti
include French and Haitian Creole.
 French buccaneers settled in the western part of the island of Hispaniola. Under the Canada is the only other
1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Spain gave France the western third of Hispaniola, which is independent nation in the
today’s Haiti. Spain continued control of the rest of the island, the Dominican Americas that has French as an
Republic. official language.

 To develop coffee, cotton and sugar cane plantations, the French imported thousands  A 7.0 magnitude earthquake
of slaves from Africa. By the late 1700s, African slaves outnumbered the French in struck 14 miles west of Haiti in
Haiti by ten to one. January 2010, destroying most of
the capital of Port-au-Prince. The
 In 1791, ex-slave Toussaint L’Ouverture led nearly one-half million Haitian slaves in a estimated death toll ranges
revolt against Haiti’s French colonialists. Their eventual victory helped establish Haiti exceeded 300,000 people.
as the first black republic.
 Tourism is one of the largest industries
 On January 1, 1804, Haiti gained its independence from France, and became the
second oldest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, after the U.S. in Haiti, with nearly a million visitors
arriving by cruise ship. Most cruisers
 More than 70 different dictators ruled Haiti between 1804-1915. call at Labadee, a private resort leased
 In 1915, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent Marines to Haiti to restore order. US to Royal Caribbean International until
2050. Labadee, located on the
troops occupied the Republic of Haiti between 1915 and 1934. northern coast of Haiti, is named after
 Labadee, a private resort leased to Royal Caribbean International until 2050. and has Marquis de La Badie, a Frenchman who
first settled the area in the 17th
a population of approximately 10 million people. century. The spelling was changed to
 Haiti is 27,750 sq. km in size, which is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland and “Labadee” to make it easier for English-
speakers to pronounce.
roughly equal to the state of Vermont.
 By land size, Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean, after number one Cuba Issue 5, May 2018

and number two the Dominican Republic.
 The gourd plant has always been important to Haiti. The Haitian currency is called

“gourdes”, and dates back to 1807 when President Christophe made gourds the base
of the national currency.

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The Diversity Committee Presents

Diversity Committee & The Diversity Committee Ted Talk Tuesdays Dates:
Student Life presents Ted Talks Tuesdays! March 13th, 2018
April 10th, 2018
Activities TED began in 1984 as a May 8th, 2018
Stay tuned for more Diversity conference - an acronym for June 12th, 2018
Committee and Student Life Technology, Entertainment July 10th, 2018
activities! and Design. Ted Talks are August 14th, 2018
short compelling videos
[email protected] covering global issues from Stay tuned for the fall 2018
science to social justice topics. line-up of Ted Talks, Lecture

We invite all faculty, staff and Series & other Activities
students to participate. This sponsored by the Diversity
could be an excellent way to
openly and honestly spark a Committee
conversation about domestic
and global issues at the same Issue 5, May 2018
time bring diverse voices and
questions relevant in higher
education and the world at
large.

There will also be an
opportunity for a short panel
discussion after each Ted Talk.

Every second Tuesday of the
month starting February 13th,
2018 to August 14th, 2018 at
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm in the IC,
room 430.

Stay tuned for upcoming
topic announcements!

[email protected] Issue 5, May 2018

Calendar of Observances – May 2018 `

1) Cinco de Mayo – 5/5/2018
(https://www.wincalendar.com/
Cinco-De-Mayo)

2) National Teacher Day –
5/8/2018
(https://www.wincalendar.com/
National-Teacher-Day)

3) Mother’s Day – 5/13/2018
(https://www.wincalendar.com/
Mothers-Day)

4) Ramadan – 5/16/2018
(https://www.wincalendar.com/
Ramadan)

5) International Day for Biological
Diversity History – 5/22/2018
(https://www.wincalendar.com/
International-Day-Biological-
Diversity)

6) Memorial Day – 5/28/2018
(https://www.wincalendar.com/
Memorial-Day)

Diversity and Inclusion Resource Center Diversity Website is under college overview
https://www.rcgc.edu/Diversity
 https://napolitano.house.gov/i
ssues/may-mental-health- Send us your thoughts, comments, publications,
awareness-month planned events, announcements, and your
campus wide Diversity initiatives.
 https://www2.ed.gov/free/fea CONNECTIONS will be circulated on the 2nd
tures/asian-pacific- Monday of every month. Please make all
heritage.html
submissions by the 1st Monday of the month to
[email protected] [email protected]

Issue 5, May 2018

THE SOCIAL JUSTICE CORNER “Social Justice is the virtue
which guides us in creating
The Definition of Social Justice those organized human
interactions we institutions.
What is the true definition of Social Justice? The Urban Dictionary In turn, social institution
suggests that ‘Social Justice’ advocates promoting tolerance, when justly organized
freedom, and equality for all people regardless of race, sex, provide us with access to
orientation, national origin, handicap, etc..., but here are some of what is good for the person,
the common definitions: both individually and in our
associations with others.
“A state or doctrine of egalitarianism (Egalitarianism defined as 1: Social justice also imposes on
a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, each of us a personal
political, and economic affairs; 2: a social philosophy advocating responsibility to work with
the removal of inequalities among people)” – Merriam-Webster others to design and
Dictionary continually perfect our
institutions as tools for
“The fair and proper administration of laws conforming to the personal and social
natural law that all persons, irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, development “- Center for
possessions, race, religion, etc., are to be treated equally and Economic and Social Justice
without prejudice. See also civil rights.” – Business Dictionary
Despite the varying
” The distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a definitions of the term ‘Social
society” – Dictionary.Com Justice’ the common thread
that exist among them all are
“…justice exercised within a society, particularly as it is exercised the ideas of: human rights;
by and among the various social glasses of that society. A socially dignity; political, economic,
just society is defined by its advocates and practioners as being social, and other equality;
based on the principles of equality and solidarity; this pedagogy equal distribution personal
also maintains that the socially just society both understands and responsibility; and creating
values human rights, as well as recognizing the dignity of every access to opportunity and
human being.” – Wikipedia chance through action.
Keeping that in mind, it
“Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, becomes apparent why
political and social rights and opportunities.” – National incorporating Social Justice
Association of Social Workers into pedagogical methods
should be a key component
of Education.

[email protected] Issue 5, May 2018

THE SOCIAL JUSTICE CORNER

Gender Reassignment Discrimination Circumstances when being
treated differently due to
The Equality Act 2010 says that you must not be discriminated gender reassignment is
against because you are transsexual - that is your gender identity lawful
differs from the gender assigned to you at birth. For example a
person who was born female decides to spend the rest of his life
as a man. In the Equality Act it is known as gender reassignment.
All transsexual people share the common characteristic of gender
reassignment. To be protected from gender reassignment
discrimination, you do not need to have undergone any specific
treatment or surgery to change from your birth sex to your
preferred gender. This is because changing your physiological or
other gender attributes is a personal process rather than a medical
one. You can be at any stage in the transition process – from
proposing to reassign your gender, to undergoing a process to
reassign your gender, or having completed it.

What is gender reassignment discrimination?

Different types of gender reassignment discrimination

[email protected] Issue 5, May 2018