Cultural IQ

Carrying Around the Weight of the World

 

 

 

 Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity is a feisty non-profit research and public policy organization that is taking on two tough opponents: prejudice and discrimination.

 

Its own research suggests that weight discrimination is a prevalent today as racial discrimination, and the tentacles are reaching deep into the health care system, workplaces, and schools.

 

Moreover, weight bias is still deemed socially acceptable, while other biases are not. What's a civil society to do? Rudd as a plan.

 

“Despite increased attention to the obesity epidemic, little has been done to stop the bias and discrimination that obese children and adults face every day, “ the Center states on its web site. “The social consequences of obesity include discrimination in employment, barriers in education, biased attitudes from health care professionals, stereotypes in the media, and stigma in interpersonal relationships. All these factors reduce quality of life for vast numbers of overweight and obese people and have both immediate and long-term consequences for their emotional and physical health. (We) aim to stop the stigma through research, education, and advocacy. We’re working to draw attention to weight bias and develop strategies to address the issue with various groups, including young people, families, teachers, employers, and health care professionals.”

As much as two-thirds of the nation’s population is currently overweight, some government data  suggests. Moreover, in the African American and Latino populations, where curvy women are viewed as sexy, the percentages of individuals considered overweight or obese are higher. (Among African- American women, for instance, 78 percent are currently overweight or obese)

 

The obesity and weight discrimination research offers bridge builders and civil rights organizations food for thought: When a plus-size person of color encounters discrimination, is it race or size that matters to others most? When plus-size white women are discriminated against, does gender or weight matter more? The Rudd Center's research found that women were twice as likely to report weight discrimination than their male counterparts. Men did not begin experiencing a significant level of weight discrimination until they reach a BMI level of 35 of higher, while women developed a high risk at a BMI level of 27. The Rudd Center concludes this suggest shows women are held to higher standards.

 

 America's minority population reached 100.7 million last year; one in three  of us now is a member of a minority group. Every racial and ethnic community should begin with an honest examination of self, an exploration of  the cultural beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that lift and limit individual progress. Those of us in the Latino and African American communities might opt to view healthy lifestyles as a rich legacy, one that can help children be more powerful and productive. When fewer dollars are spent on hospitals, doctors and medicines, there's more left to invest in education, housing, professional development, summer camps, and trips around the world. Extra weight can contribute to a host of medical problems and conditions which, in turn, reduces disposable income and profits.

 

Communities, corporations, and schools, for their part, must also probe their beliefs, attitudes and values: Does every neighborhood have access to fresh fruit and vegetables? Should PTAs and diversity councils add healthy food and snacks to their agendas? Should health education and physical exercise be required in schools? Every of us has something at stake here.

 

Overall there are a variety of factors that play a role in obesity the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. This makes it a complex health issue to address.

1) Overweight and obesity result from an energy imbalance. This involves eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity. 

2) Body weight is the result of genes, metabolism, behavior, environment, culture, and socioeconomic status. 

3) Behavior and environment play a large role causing people to be overweight and obese. These are the greatest areas for prevention and treatment actions.

 Are gender discrimination and race discrimination and poverty prompting some individuals to turn to food for comfort? If we eliminated discrimination and despair, might we be a richer community?

  Dr. Lan Liang, a researcher with the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, estimates at the healthcare costs directly related to excess pounds will double with each decade, reaching $957 billion in 2030 -- accounting for one of every six US healthcare dollars.

 Workforce Diversity Councils can increase their corporate value by putting healthly lifestyles and weight bias on their agendas right away.

(Photo credit: Freefoto.com)

A Patient Who Seeks A Healing Conversation

Dwight Fryer survived an auto accident that sent his body on a flight through a windshield; then, a nasty battle with colon cancer, and then, the death of his 16-year-old daughter who passed away on his birthday. She died of meningitis, just 24 hours after coming down with flu-like symptoms.

 

This ordained African American minister survived on a regular diet of hope and faith, and a belief that the turmoil ultimately would provide a path to his true purpose in life. Today, Fryer, an author/motivational speaker, lectures on his tragic experiences.

 

What's interesting is that he seeks cultural competency - on the part of patients and health care professionals - not mean-spirited discussions and arguments.

 

Fryer speaks ever so calmly of the doctor who treated him following the car accident – and asked if this patient wearing a $1,000 suit had had teeth before the collision. (The accident knocked out his teeth and required significant plastic surgery.)

 

He speaks gently of the doctor who examined him after his bouts of rectal bleeding yet declined to use a scope to look in the colon. Fryer, sensing something was wrong, finally offered to pay for the test out of his own pocket. The test found that he had colon cancer.

 

Fryer's philosophy is simple: One man's troubles are another man's road map to survival. His close encounters have led him to a ministry: He seeks to discuss the challenges minorities and health professionals face when the patient is outside the mainstream of society or different from those delivering the service.

 

The Patient in Room 3053, his motivational speech available on his website, www.dwightfryer.com is a session recorded at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. He says the audio program and the accompanying slides are a reminder of some the struggles medical professionals often face in their patient relationships:

- Is a patient a customer and how much should they be listened to when determining the appropriate health care options?

- Will excluding patient feedback omit significant symptoms and degrade the health care level delivered?

- Should the health professional be more willing to collaborate with their clients in determining the best possible care options or should the age-old adage that the doctor knows best be followed?

 

Dwight Fryer has transformed adversity into a curricula for healing - for medical professionals, patients, and parents.He was that patient in Room 3053. He believes that we all know someone who has or is facing a medical challenge.

 

There is much to be learned from an average guy who gained cultural intelligence the hard way.

 

Raise Your Hand if You Are Wondering: Can I Say That?

NATIONAL LIBERTY MUSEUM

In the heart of the nation’s historical shrines of liberty
  321 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2779
 Ph: 215-925-2800 • Fax 215-925-3800 • www.libertymuseum.org

  As teachers head back into their classrooms, an historic presidential campaign is providing a contemporary backdrop. Students of all ages are certain to bring their opinions and biases to school with them.

Are classroom teachers ready to rise to this challenge?

The National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia embraces an inclusive freedom, which is a free and fair exchange of ideas. On August 25, the Center's Teacher Training Institute is offering a special workshop: Can I Say That?

Betty T. Solley,new teacher coach, retired, with the School District of Philadelphia and I, Linda Wallace, will team up for this presentation.

Each National Liberty Museum teacher training course provides 15 hours of Act 48 Continuing Professional Education Credits approved by both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Departments of Education. A fee of just $25 per course covers the cost of lunch & materials. Register Online at www.libertymuseum.org/education  

?Classroom Management / Can I Say That

Managing your class is like putting together a puzzle. You need all the parts fit together to help your students succeed. What preparations do highly effective teachers make to assure smooth running of their classrooms? What are the components of a well-managed classroom? This Presidential campaign provides an even greater opportunity to discuss diversity issues in the classroom, what can you say to build trust, open dialog and avoid cultural collisions. A veteran educator and a cultural coach will provide practical tools to manage your class and these differences. Discover how to spark curiosity, boost confidence, avoid arguments and benefit from our increasingly smaller world. Both new and experienced teachers will benefit from a proactive approach to managing their classrooms.

Can Poll Locations Influence Voting Outcomes?

 

June 2008

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS—What would you say influenced your voting decisions in the most recent local or national election? Political preferences? A candidate's stance on a particular issue? The repercussions of a proposition on your economic well-being? All these "rational" factors influence voting, and peoples' ability to vote, based on what is best for them, is a hallmark of the democratic process.

But Stanford Graduate School of Business researchers, doctoral graduates Jonah Berger and Marc Meredith, and S. Christian Wheeler, associate professor of marketing, conclude that a much more subtle and arbitrary factor may also play a role—the particular type of polling location in which you happen to vote.

It's hard to imagine that something as innocuous as polling location (e.g., school, church, or fire station) might actually influence voting behavior, but the Stanford researchers have discovered just that. In fact, Wheeler says "the influence of polling location on voting found in our research would be more than enough to change the outcome of a close election." And, as seen in the neck-to-neck 2000 presidential election where Al Gore ultimately lost to George W. Bush after months of vote counting in Florida, election biases such as polling location could play a significant role in the 2008 presidential election. Even at the proposition level, "Voting at a school could increase support for school spending or voting at a church could decrease support for stem cell initiatives," says Wheeler.

Why might something like polling location influence voting behavior? "Environmental cues, such as objects or places, can activate related constructs within individuals and influence the way they behave," says Berger. now an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton school. "Voting in a school, for example, could activate the part of a person's identity that cares about kids, or norms about taking care of the community. Similarly, voting in a church could activate norms of following church doctrine. Such effects may even occur outside an individual's awareness."

Using data from Arizona's 2000 general election, Berger, Meredith, a visiting lecturer at MIT, and Wheeler discovered that people who voted in schools were more likely to support raising the state sales tax to fund education. The researchers focused on Proposition 301, which proposed raising the state sales tax from 5.0 percent to 5.6 percent to increase education spending. What they found was that voters were more likely to support this initiative if they voted in a school versus other types of polling locations (55.0 percent versus 53.09 percent).

This effect persisted even when the researchers controlled for—or removed the possibility of—other factors such as:

• Where voters lived. People who have kids may be pro-education and more likely to live near, and hence vote at, schools;
• Political views. Those who voted for Gore or positively on other propositions; and
• Demographics including age, sex, etc.

In regards to the first control, for example, people were still more likely to support Proposition 301 if they had voted in schools than if they had voted in places that were not schools but had schools nearby. No matter how they cut and spliced the data, the researchers found that voters in schools were more likely to support Proposition 301.

"We want factors like political views—whether someone thinks a candidate is going to make our country a better place—to sway elections," said Berger. "But in forming election policy, we also want to make sure that arbitrary factors such as polling location don't ultimately influence voting behaviors."

To further test their hypothesis, the researchers even conducted the same analysis for the other 13 propositions on the Arizona ballot. They reasoned that if voters who cast their ballots in schools were more likely to vote positively for other unrelated propositions on wildlife or property taxes, for example, then the researchers would know that their model was not adequately accounting for some other factor beyond polling location, and that something such as voting preferences was having an effect. But such additional testing only supported the researchers' hypotheses further.

The researchers also followed up with a lab experiment that allowed for random assignment of voters to pictures of different voting environments that the researchers thought might influence voting behavior. Participants were shown 10 images from well-maintained schools (e.g. lockers, classrooms) or churches (e.g. pews, alters), plus five additional filler images of generic buildings. A control group was shown images of generic buildings.

The participants then voted on a number of initiatives including California's 2004 stem cell funding initiative, Arizona's education initiative, and several others. Initiative wording was taken right from each state's legislative council documents. As predicted by Berger, Meredith, and Wheeler: Environmental cues contained in the photos influenced voting.

Results from the second study showed that participants were less likely to support the stem cell initiative if they were shown church images than if they were shown school images or a generic photo of a building. The subjects also were more likely to support the education initiative if they were shown school images versus church or generic building images. The results further demonstrated that environmental cues present in different polling locations can influence voting outcomes, even when voters are randomly assigned to different environmental cue conditions.

"What our research suggests is that it might be useful to further investigate influences such as polling location to better understand how such factors affect different types of voting situations. From a policy perspective, the hope is that a voting location assignment could be less arbitrary and more determined in order to avoid undue biases in the future," says Wheeler.

Putting A Price Tag on Hate

My girlfriend I decided last year to stop supporting groups, companies and organizations that profit from selling messages of hate.  I am not talking about the KKK, the Nazis, or the Black separatist groups, mind you.

 

We agreed to stop watching TV shows, movies and video games and listening to music that promote violence, fear and/or hate. I am less afraid of the world now, and that’s a good thing. When we actively defend ourselves against the poisons of hate, we lead healthier lives.

 

Even when one makes a conscious effort to avoid hate, it is hard to do so. Just read the websites of the most popular newspapers: ugly words are a normal part of life. Hurtful bumper stickers and messages are everywhere. 

 

 Recently, the Philadelphia Inquirer had to implement stringent new reader accountability standards because of the foul language and hate-filled comments on its site. The internet has given wave to a new group of hate-driven entrepreneurs, as the Economist reports:  

“rednecks can find lots of material on the web with which to fuel and indulge their prejudices. For example, there are “suicide-bomber” games which pit the contestant against a generic bearded Muslim; such entertainment has drawn protests both in Israel—where people say it trivialises terrorism—and from Muslim groups who say it equates their faith with violence. Border Patrol, another charming online game, invites you to shoot illegal Mexican immigrants crossing the border.”

 

As a business reporter, one learns quickly to get the real story, just follow the money. If you want to understand the world’s fascination with hate and violence, you have to look at the millions of people worldwide who make a darn good living from it or its offshoots. You have your terrorists; gun companies; hate groups; safety and security businesses;  worldwide defense companies and arm dealers; private prisons and security contractors, and the list goes on.

 

Hate, unfortunately, is a profitable industry. Unlike the mortgage business, the recession is good for profits. When subprime loans first came out, it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was not a good idea to loan money to people who couldn’t afford to pay it back. Or to charge people with good credit high rates or extra fees.

 

Yet, that’s exactly what some banks did. Ultimately, the entire market paid the price: credit-savvy homeowners can’t sell their homes now because there is so much foreclosed property on the market. (The Wall Street Journal reported this week that 55 percent of all subprime loans went to white Americans. It was not a minority problem, as some news shows have portrayed.)

 

Bad policies and practices create waves of despair that, ultimately, drown the community. The violence of the streets begins to take the lives of innocents who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The homeowner with good credit who loses his job can’t get his home equity out because lending standards have tightened. He loses his home even though he would have paid the money back. Violence, hate and fear swiring around us begin to pollute our decision-making; after awhile, we we can't tell the good people from the bad ones. 

 

The world's culture of hate and violence will continue to exist as long as people make big bucks from it. That leaves people of faith and from all religions with a question: Is it right for us to continue to sit quietly while these groups prosper? 

Do We Still Need African American Newspapers?

A Bi-Partisan Group Says We Must Restore Faith In the Judicial System:
It Took an African American Newspaper  to Tell the Story

The Tri-State Defender in Memphis, TN. has been putting some interesting questions to the U.S. Justice Department. Recently, it called upon the U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Tennesse to release information and statistics regarding workplace diversity, fairness, and its decision-making processes. The request came after black leaders complained publicly they were being unfairly targeted by the US Attorney's criminal division.

The disturbing news is the Justice Department declined to release those figures. (This is basic information many corporations make public on their websites.)  So the tiny newspaper with the editorial staff of three had to take time from its busy week to file paperwork under the Freedom of Information Act. (Wouldn't you think that an organization charged with protecting civil rights might feel a need to make its own track record public?)

I must disclose that I write regularly for the Tri-State Defender in Memphis, mainly because the man who is executive editor is a friend and life coach. His name is Karanja Ajanaku and he was my co-worker at the Commerical Appeal in the 1980s.  Karanja recognizes that the city's future is tied to local leaders ability to improve educational access and accelerate economic growth in the African American community. He is not just an advocate for African American people; he is a voice for a strong economy and a prosperous and secure future.

This past week, the Tri-State dug up another story that many local and national newspapers overlooked or didn't consider important enough to print. You must read this story and send it onto your friends. This is an important bill:

The Justice Integrity Act of 2008 is designed to increase public confidence in the judicial system and identify racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal process. It would establish advisory groups in ten federal districts, under the supervision of the United States Attorney General, to study and determine the extent to which racial and ethnic disparities are found in  various stages of the criminal justice system;

People often ask me why we need an African American media, or a NAACP, or any organization that focuses on African American challenges. The Tri-State Defender has answered this question for you today.

We need an African American media because every newspaper has its own priorities for coverage.  Minority stories, issues, and views don't always find their way into the daily newspapers. Minority communities need to maintain independent voices so they can broadcast these concerns.

African American media often ask questions that simply may not occur to mainstream reporters. They can publish stories that African American journalists at major dailies can't get into their publications. They view issues through cultural lenses and, thus, help broaden the debates and fill the fountains of knowledge.

 No matter if you are white, black, yellow or brown - support the diversity of news voices within your community. (This includes Jewish newspapers,) Take out a subscription today. If you are business, place an ad.

By all means, support the mainstream newspapers as well. We need all of them to ensure the right questions are asked, and a rich diversity of inspirational stories are woven into the tapestry of American history.

A Boy and His Hair: A Diversity Fable

WILL NEEDVILLE WRITE A HAPPY ENDING?

Business consultant R. Roosevelt Thomas  has a diversity fable about a giraffe and elephant who decide to work together in the giraffe's home.

Problem is, the elephant is wide and the giraffe is tall. A door that fits one poses hurdles for the other. A multitude of challenges arise. How high do you put the work tools? What  type of furniture do you buy? What do you serve in the cafeteria?

After clashing in the space, the elephant and giraffe get together to discuss their differences. The giraffe, who owns the building, says to the elephant, the newcomer: Well, you could change. You could lose weight so you fit in the doorway and go to ballet lessons so you are more graceful like me.

Yeah, that would solve the problem.

In fairyland, the elephant and giraffe might become partners and build a new plant that works for both.  In the world of humans, however, it is far more likely that the elephant will end up at the nearest weight loss center - at least until he or she finds another work option.-

This fable sets the stage for a controversy brewing in Needville, Texas. The Houston Chronicle reports that the school board has denied a request to let a 5-year-old boy with long hair attend kindergarten this fall.

The parents of Adriel Arocha say the boy wears his hair long for religious reasons, but his shoulder-length locks are in conflict with the district's hair code. The father say the hair is part of his Native American heritage.

OK, let's examine the fable's lesson In this case, the school board is the giraffe, and the newcomers are the elephants. The giraffe owns the house so, ultimately, he feels he ought to make the decision. He has three choices: modify the house; partner with the newcomers who are different to build one that fits both , or establish strict rules that require the elephant to adapt to his look and lifestyle.

 One would hope that the Needville School District has research indicating that long hair impairs classroom performance and student learning. When they find it, I hope they share it with the rest of the world. When they release it, I hope  they tell us what they are doing to address issues like classroom biases and expectations, which stand to have even greater impact on learning. (If this is about learning, then address the big stuff along with the small)

This moment is pregnant with possibilities. How often do leaders get to write a happy ending? How often does a city get to make a decision that will define its future?

 Will leaders build a new house, modify the old one, or continue to ask those who are different to change so they can fit in?

Our Right to Say the Wrong Thing

If I were an editorial cartoonist itching to poke fun at the politics of fear, here's what I might do:

First, I'd show you a group dressed in KKK robes standing around a bonfire. The figures would be carrying signs: They will take away our jobs. Protect your family. Underneath I'd have a caption that reads: The Politics of Fear - 1950s.

Next, I'd show you a reserved group in pin-striped suits with red, white and blue ties sending out bulk e-mails to white Americans stating: "Barack Obama is going to give away our jobs. You won't be safe. Protect your family."

The caption: The Politics of Fear - 2008: The clothes are different but the message still is the same.

You see, if I wanted to poke fun of the politics of fear as the New Yorker magazine recently sought to do, I'd make fun of the people who actually are spreading hate and fear – not the people getting pummeled. Three decades as a journalist has taught me a simple truth: the average Joes don’t laugh much when you opt to beat up on the folks getting sick from tainted vegetables – instead of those growing them.

Americans like it when the good guys win.

If we had an advertising campaign, and it didn't sell our product, we might all agree "Fire the advertising agency. The campaign concept was to blame." If we had a magazine and it didn't sell, we might say: "Get rid of that editor. Neither the topic nor the writing were interesting." If we had a hospital where every patient got worse, we might say: "Fire the doctors. They are to blame.”

If a cartoon intends to poke fun of the politics of fear but ends up tormenting a hate group's  victims instead, the cartoonist must be held accountable.  He had a bad day! He failed in his task. We must ask, calmly, "Why? What happened here? Could it be the lack of diversity or cultural literacy at the New Yorker (and the rest of the magazine industry, hint, hint)?"

A democracy gives individuals the right to a bad day at work, plus, the right to say the wrong thing. We can call the boss and CEO liars, even if it sends our company's second quarter results into a tailspin. We can yell “fire” whenever a big client arrives cause it seems like big fun.  We can continuously harass a female worker by asking her out for a date. We can fail to manage our racial, cultural or gender biases, sparking costly fires in our own backyard.

The fact that we can do it doesn't mean we should.  If all of us rose from bed tomorrow and exercised those rights, what would happen to foreign diplomacy and our softening economy?

Somebody has to be a responsible citizen or else this nation won't survive.  

An Apology That Is Good for the Heart and the Soul

CHICAGO, Ill. - The American Medical Association (AMA) has apologized for its past history of racial inequality toward African-American physicians.

n 2005, the AMA convened and supported an independent panel of experts to study the history of the racial divide in organized medicine, and the culmination of this work prompted the apology. Details of the panel's work will be made public on the Web site of the AMA's Institute for Ethics to coincide with publication in the July 16 Journal of the American

"The AMA is proud to support research about the history of the racial divide in organized medicine because by confronting the past we can embrace the future," said AMA Immediate-Past President Ronald M. Davis, M.D. "The AMA is committed to improving its relationship with minority physicians and to increasing the ranks of minority physicians so that the workforce accurately represents the diversity of America’s patients."

"Five years ago, the AMA joined with the National Medical Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association to create the Commission to End Health Care Disparities," said Dr. Davis. "Our goal is to identify and study racial and ethnic health care disparities in order to eradicate them. We strongly support the ‘Doctors Back to School’ program, which the AMA founded, to inspire minority students to become the next generation of minority physicians."

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After a tragedy or mishap, people in a healthy community need time to heal. They need to nurse their hurts and pains. When they are ready, they could and should move forward.

The AMA's apology was a step toward building a healthier American community. It transcended politics and race, and focused on good medicine. When doctors and patients don't trust each other; understand each other or communicate well, they can't fight disease as well.

 Diversity is helping to build these connections. We are interdependent rather we like it or not.

Anatomy of a Cultural Collision

What Went Wrong? How to Stop It From Happening to You!

Recently a friend forwarded me a blog post about a exchange reported in the Dallas Morning News.

"A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster's, is perhaps "the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape."

Other county officials quickly interceded to break it up and get the meeting back on track. TV news cameras were rolling, after all. "

This is what we call a cultural collision - an intersection of life where words and culture clash, creating sparks, injuries and tension.

I thought it might be helpful to explore what went wrong, and why.

1) We Don't Know What We Don't Know: The dictionary may explain the meaning of a word but it can't always report on the emotional power or cultural impact. Commissioner John Wiley Price and I first met in the mid-1980s when he came to a meeting of the Dallas Association of Black Journalists to ask that the group to change its name to the Dallas Association of African American Journalists.  He told us he felt the term "black" was associated with too many negative things, and it was holding back progress.  As he has been saying this in public, loudly, long and often for 25 years, one might have reasonably expected that the term "black Hole" was going to provoke  a negative response from him. (That's called cultural literacy)  Now is there any validity to what he says?i The Implicit Association Test has found that most individuals have trouble associating black faces with positive words, and white faces with negative words. This confirms most of us have hidden biases or preferences. We absorb them from media images, news reports, daily language, and our own experiences. On a subconscious level, many of us associate white faces with things that are good, and black faces with things that are bad or scary.  When the stock market crashes, it is a black day; and when brides marry, they wear white to symbolize purity.(Click here to read my blog on why colors matter) If you are one who feels these associations are silly, become a cultural detective. Get the facts before you try to solve this case. 

2) If we yell at a baby each time it stands up or falls down, it will never learn to walk. Our cultural libraries contain very different books. When leaders get together to discuss community problems, there are bound to be gaps in cultural literacy. That is when we ought to share our information. Yelling at each other doesn't make it better. Nor does being smart.  We need patience, good communication skills, and a willingness to put issues in their proper cultural context so everyone is on the same page. Public officials ought to be teaching the children how to disagree, and how to work for the greater good.

3) Empathy raises our level of emotional intelligence.  We must walk in other people's shoes. Guys must think about how hard it is to saunter around all day in high heels. Girls should think about how it feels to wear the same color loafers every day. Seniors need to think what it is like to wear a pair of hundred dollar sports shoes. Teens should think about what is is like to wear support shoes.  When we measure other people by using our value and experiences, they usually don't stack up well. This may makes us feel superior but it also limits our universe of friends and relationships. Why not try to feel their hurts, and experience with them the  bumps along the terrain.

4) Humor and inclusive language are to cultural collisions what stop lights are to traffic. They give us pause and provide a sense of order to difficult dialogs. What if John Wiley Price had responded by saying: "Kenneth, can I ask you to do me a favor. Would you drop that word black from that sentence, and agree that we have a sinkhole instead of a black hole? I don't want any child in this city to grow up thinking that there is anything wrong with them because their skin color is black, white or brown.. . I don't want skin color to be an excuse for failure.".

So let's eliminate the black holes, the black Fridays, the Black days on Wall Street. And agree to use language that broadcasts our intention to work together for the City and the children.