We Have Work to Do! by Joan Zanders Director of Financial Aid Northern Virginia Community College Chair, VASFAA FOCUS Committee

Lest any one of us feels that we work in isolation or are the norm for our own universe, please consider the following information.

If the world were a village of 1000 people (mid-1990s statistics): 584 Asians 124 Africans 95 East and West Europeans 84 South and Central Americans 55 people from states of former Soviet Union 52 North Americans (not exactly a majority) 6 Australians and New Zealanders

Communication would be difficult because: 165 speak Mandarin 86 speak English 83 speak Hindi/Urdu 64 speak Spanish 58 speak Russian 37 speak Arabic The other half speak 200 other languages

More Recent Figures for World as Village of 100: 61 Asian (20 of those Chinese/17 from India) 14 African 11 European 9 Latin & South American 5 North American Not enough from Australia, Oceania, Antarctica to register

Of those 100 villagers: 50 male & 50 female 75 non-white and 25 white 27 under the age of 15; 7 over would live on less than $2 US per day By end of year, one would die and two would be born - net 101

Of those 100 villagers: 33 Christians 20 Muslims 13 Hindus 6 Buddhists 2 atheists 12 non-religious 14 – Other religions

Fifty years ago, over half of immigrants to U.S. were still from Europe. Today… Mexico, the Philippines, Jamaica, El Salvador, Haiti, Vietnam, Korea, India, China, middle-East, African countries, and many developing countries.

A sense of greater differences! A defensive move to even stronger Ethnocentrism: Believing, as a people group, that our own solutions in developing a culture are superior to any others and would be recognized as superior by any right-thinking, intelligent, logical human being.

As a people, as a country, as individuals, we have work to do!! Consider the following concepts. Elaboration will follow in future columns.

Concept #1: Know yourself; you carry baggage.

“Every bigot was once a child free from prejudice.”

Concept #2: People respond based on their socialization, not mine--or yours.

Concept #3: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Concept #4: No one has a corner on all the good ideas.

Subtitles for future articles: “Things I Have Had to Learn Over and Over Again….”

“An individual’s mind— once stretched —can never return to its original size.”

We can’t put it back the way it was—no matter what that “was”! Per Dr. Steven M. Covey, the goal is synergy, the creation of a culture that is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Creating that culture is not easy; it is hard work. You are an important part of that work. Diversity is about everybody. This work is about me—and you, whoever we are.