Denny SmithDennis Smith Training and Development

PO Box 1611St. Cloud, MN 56302

320-240-0948 – www.dennysmith.com

EMBRACING DIVERSITY: Making Our Schools Safe for ALL Students

Minnesota School Social Workers Association

Three Goals:

Commitment

Confidence

Competence

Every student wants and deserves to be treated with respect.

Every staff person wants to work in a climate of mutual respect, free of discrimination and harassment.

How do we eliminate bullying and achieve

respect and dignity for every student and staff

member?

One person at a time!

Build a Better YOU

PeopleBuilding Attitude

“To the extent you help others get what they want do you receive

what you want.”

“The primary function of any organization is to make life more

meaningful for others.”

Earl Nightengale

Solution ConsciousAttitude

“The problem is not the issue. The issue

is how you deal with the problem.”

Mike Patrick

You can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she

handles three things.

1. A Rainy Day

2. Lost Luggage3. Tangled Christmas Tree

Lights

The Attitude Mechanism

Think----

Attitudes----

Behavior----

Results

It all starts with the way you

choose to THINK!

The Attitude Mechanism

Think----

Attitudes----

Behavior----

Results

“Society as a whole must respect, defend, and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life.”

“Society as a whole must respect, defend, and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life, unless he or she is _________”

“Society as a whole must respect, defend, and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life.”

“I swore never to be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

Eli Wiesel

Stand up and go to the

bar.

“I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with a sense of reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”

Galileo

“Can we talk?”

An Historical Perspective

1870Black men given right to

vote.

1920 Women given right to

vote.

1924Native Americans granted citizenship and, along with

it, the right to vote.

1948Hubert Humphrey advocates civil rights at the Democratic National

Convention

1957“Little Rock 9” escorted into

school

1961James Meredith escorted onto

Campus of ‘Ole Miss

Voting Rights Act of 1965Did away with all poll taxes, banned “voting literacy” tests and all other deterrents to peoples’ right to vote.

Prior to 1967Laws in 14 states banned

inter-racial marriage.

Virginia’s Law was called the

“Racial Integrity Act”

Judges ruling to the appeal

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races showed the he did not intend for the races to mix.”Judge Bazile

Loving vs. Virginia (1967)U. S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court declared laws unconstitutional

Gallop poll:72% thought decision was wrong.

48% thought interracial marriageshould be a punishable crime

Do Disclaimers Work?1.We really have nothing

against black people. We just think that they should have separate water fountains.”

2. “We are all children of God but they should really go to their own church.”

Disclaimers are an attempt to ease the conscience of the sender, and do absolutely nothing to ease the pain of the receiver.

How Do You Carve a Duck?

4 Steps to Growth & Change

1. Unconscious Incompetence

2. Conscious Incompetence

3. Conscious Competence

4. Unconscious Competence

First Tolerance

Then Acceptance

Then Irrelevance

Then We “Embrace” and

Celebrate

An Individual Challenge

Dr. Bill Allen

1. Get to know yourself.

2. Be open to learn about others.

(Be eager and curious.)

“I don’t like that man very much…I’m going to have to get to know him better.” Abraham Lincoln

An Individual Challenge

1. Get to know yourself.

2. Be open to learn about others.

(Be eager and curious.)

3. Want to build bridges.

You DO Make a Difference.

For more information visit

www.dennysmith.com

To view video clipswww.youtube.com.user/

denny12345smith

What to say… What not to say.

Oriental/AsianIndian/Native AmericanMexican/Latino or Hispanic

Black/African American*