Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/a-manner-of-speaking/5011378/
It happens, of course. You bump along thinking that you know who you are. When others see you, you assume that the you they see is the you that you think you are. And then comes the moment when someone or something shatters your perceptions. Messages have been garbled. Somehow the you in the world and the you inside are perceived as different.My moment occurred at the NAEYC conference this past November. Chattering away at people in our booth, I was challenged about the editorial intent of our magazine in the area of diversity. Specifically, did we intentionally seek out articles written by white authors? Did we intentionally omit or ignore authors of color?
I was speechless. Couldn't they see that in our photography we present a wealth of beautiful and diverse faces? That our covers reflect the diversity of people and programs in our field? Didn't they hear our anti-bias, anti-racist undergirding principles? Didn't they know how important living and working respectfully and honorably in the world is to us?
So I listened and tried to be calm, and we talked. When the heat of ...