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The Lens - March 2022
City of Iowa City sent this bulletin at 03/23/2022 08:00 AM CDT
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March 2022 | Visit us online at www.icgov.org/SJREinitiatives
The Lens, a newsletter to expand conversations on equity, justice, and human rights.
DEI Hotel
In Orlando, Florida, a new hotel is taking
hospitality to another level. The Lake Nona
Wave Hotel, which opened in December
2021, is specializing in diversity and inclusion
education for guests. Innovative technology is
shaping guest experiences and is built on
rotating partnerships with diversely owned
companies. General Manager Suzie Yang
comments on the Lake Nona Wave Hotel in a
DiversityInc article, stating, “By harnessing
world-class wellness, esteemed art, internationally-inspired cuisine, and leading-edge technology, we
have created a one-of-a-kind travel experience that cannot be found elsewhere.”
The family-friendly stay is set only minutes from the Orlando Airport and nearby Disney World,
providing the perfect opportunity to give children a magical experience while also educating them on
the importance of inclusion. Advocates put together diversity programs for the hotel with amenities
including a library of over 100 children’s DEI-focused books and in-room tablets with read-alouds.
The Lake Nona Wave Hotel also provides over 200 beverage brands around the facilities made by
female, Black, and LGBT-owned businesses; dining by various chefs of color; size-inclusive amenities,
like bathrobes; and hotel music by local LGBTQ DJs. The hotel partnered with several DEI leaders like
Pranoo Kumar Skomra, founder of Rohl’s Readery, “South Florida’s first stand-alone social-justice-
oriented children’s bookstore,” who helped curate the hotel’s library program.
Read more about the Lake Nova Wave Hotel here on its website or here at DiversityInc.
Can we really not see color?
As a guest of Tucker Carlson’s in February, retired sportscaster
and current campaign operative Michelle Tafoya said it “breaks my
heart that my kids are being taught that skin color matters.” She
repeated a version of this comment on The View, saying, “why are
we even teaching that the color of the skin matters? ‘Cause to me
what matters is your character and your values.” The problem with
this “colorblind” approach to race is that it (if you’ll excuse a pun)
whitewashes the entire history of racism, white privilege, and the
very real structural barriers to equality our country has grappled
with for the entirety of its existence.
To “not see color” is to deliberately refuse to acknowledge systemic racism. If we are “all the same,”
and white people “don’t see color,” “then why can’t I buy a home anywhere I choose, without being
profiled, or worse? Plus, if my color is invisible to you, why is it that when I entered the gates of world-
renowned universities to teach, many students assumed I was either part of security or supervisor of
the sanitation department?” asks David Whitfield, founder of Intercultural Leadership Executive
Coaching.
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The fact is, people can’t help seeing color—our brains are hardwired to sort and categorize—and
acknowledging that actually leads to better, not worse, outcomes for People of Color, says Jennifer
Eberhardt, PhD., author of Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See,
Think, and Do. Dr. Eberhardt notes that “in fact, the color-blind approach has consequences that can
actually impede our move toward equality. When people focus on not seeing color, they may also fail
to see discrimination.” In a study involving mostly-white fourth and fifth-grade children, social
psychologists found that after being given a lesson in being “colorblind,” the children failed to notice
discrimination in simulations and were less likely to intervene to help when another child was targeted
because of their race. The researchers found “color blindness promoted exactly the opposite of what
was intended: racial inequality. It left minority children to fend for themselves in an environment where
the harms they endured could not be seen.”
The better approach, says Samantha Vincenty, is to actively participate in dismantling systemic
oppression. White people can start by “mov[ing] away from thinking of racism solely as views and acts
committed at the individual level, and instead a system of moving parts.” Then, listen and learn. Do
not, however, expect a random non-white person to serve as your guide, and especially don’t expect
them to deal with any white guilt you may feel; research and read on your own. Vincenty suggests
finding podcasts and books by Black authors and seeking out ways to “continually engag[e],” so we
can all “fumble forward together” into a more equitable future.
Why do people include their pronouns?
Seeing pronouns in social media bios and email signatures is
becoming less uncommon. But why are people sharing their
pronouns, and how is it helpful?
Including pronouns helps normalize discussion about gender.
For trans and non-binary individuals, stating pronouns is a way
to share what they’d like other people to use. Cisgender
individuals can share their pronouns to show understanding of
and support for individual preferences. It is a simple solution to
accidental misgendering and helps everyone feel more
comfortable being themselves; small changes like this lead to
large cultural shifts.
You can help promote acceptance by sharing your pronouns in many ways. In the past year, several
high-profile social networks added the option to share pronouns on their sites. In early 2021,
Instagram added a dedicated section to profiles alongside the original name, photo, and bio fields.
LinkedIn and Pinterest have also made recent updates and given users the option to add pronouns to
their profiles. Another great way to normalize gender discussions is by adding your pronouns to your
email signature. With more platforms integrating this feature, creating inclusivity is more accessible
than ever before.
Sharing your pronouns lets others know you care about their preferences and can help reinforce a
more accepting environment. It’s one small addition that can create a big impact. You can read more
about sharing pronouns here at Forbes and here at The Independent.
Two American Traditions: Censorship and Free Speech
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In January,
the New York Times reported that last fall, the American Library
Association (ALA) identified an “unprecedented” 330 reports of
“book challenges” (which can include multiple books)—efforts to
ban certain books from schools and/or public libraries. Almost
exactly 40 years before, however, in December of 1981, the New
York Times also published an article citing the ALA’s statistics;
“During the early 1970's, the office received approximately 100
complaints a year... The complaints shot up to 300 a year in the
late 70's, and are nearing 1,000 a year this year. (That does not
mean 1,000 titles; objections are being registered to many of the same books.)” The article mentioned
complaints coming from over 30 states. In the 1950’s, books as seemingly innocuous as The
Wonderful Wizard of OZ were banned, as well as a wide range of more graphic works like Allen
Ginsburg’s Howl and William S. Burrough’s Naked Lunch, both of which were the subjects of obscenity
trials. Now, books like Maus, the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize, and All Boys Aren’t Blue are
under fire.
How does a nation that prizes free speech, so much the right to it is enshrined in the Constitution,
reconcile efforts to restrict access to not only books, but other forms of artistic expression such as
movies? While there are many other aspects of free speech law, a little-known 65-year-old U.S.
Supreme Court case underlies the tension between freedom and age-appropriate restrictions on
students’ reading and viewing materials. In Butler v. Michigan, Alfred Butler sold a book containing
“lengthy descriptions of sexual activity” to an undercover police officer in Detroit. No children were
involved or harmed, but a Michigan law prohibited selling “any book, pamphlet, or other printed paper
or other thing, containing obscene language, or obscene prints, pictures, figures or descriptions
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tending to the corruption of the morals of youth.” Butler was convicted, his appeals were denied, and
the Supreme Court heard the case.
In a decision remarkable for its brevity (just ten paragraphs), the Court held the law was overbroad, or
not reasonably tailored to prevent the harm it was supposed to address, and violated the First
Amendment. Known for pithy phrases, Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote that denying all adults access to
adult content simply because some hypothetical child somewhere might see it was “to burn the house
to roast the pig.”
Butler led to a legal principle that has been called the “variable obscenity doctrine,” where materials
may be held inappropriate for children, but not adults, and is the basis for decisions concerning such
things as sales of pornographic magazines (Ginsberg v. New York), the time of day when adult content
may be broadcast (FCC v. Pacifica Foundation), what sorts of advertisements may be indiscriminately
mass-mailed (Bolger v. Young’s Drug Products Corporation), and even what content is available on the
internet (Reno v. ACLU).
As in the 1980’s, we are again seeing nationwide coordinated efforts to restrict the books available to
students. While no one is arguing for student access to true obscenity, many are attempting to restrict
student access to books concerning troubling aspects of our nation’s history (The 1619 Project is one
of the most “vigorously targeted,” according to the New York Times) and “books and resources that
mirror the lives of those who are gay, queer or transgender or that tell the stories of persons who are
Black, indigenous or persons of color… [f]alsely claiming that these works are subversive, immoral, or
worse.” Baptist News reports, it’s time to remember Butler and refrain from burning the house down.
As an ALA statement quoted in Baptist News says, “parents — and only parents — have the right and
the responsibility to restrict the access of their children — and only their children — to library
resources.”
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