The Promise of Difference
An Address by Susan V. Berresford to the Campus Diversity Conference, Seattle, Washington
For many years, the Ford Foundation has worked to promote understanding of America's cultural diversity and of the rights and responsibilities we all share. We have done this because we believe that understanding diversity encourages peaceful management and resolution of tension. Even more important, this work helps ensure that the abundant talent in America is valued and developed, and that it is applied to our most important intellectual and practical problems. Finally, we believe these efforts to build appreciation of diversity are consistent with America's core values of individualism, fairness, justice, and strong communities.
I want to talk about the Foundation's diversity work today, because there are some who assert that it undermines the nation's sense of common culture and shared citizenship. Others argue that attention to America's racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in curriculum debases knowledge. Still others say the focus on diversity slows the integration of people with differing identities into our communities.
These are important critiques, and ones that the Foundation's leaders have thought seriously about. You have surely heard them about your work. They deserve discussion and that discussion should be conducted with the utmost respect for differing opinions. People on different sides of the debate have genuine concerns and neither side should use the debate to demonize those with whom they disagree.
When people consider Ford's diversity work, they tend to focus on only one part of it. So the first point I want to make is that the Foundation brings a global perspective to the question of how societies composed of different groups manage differences and create a shared culture. Our diversity work covers a multitude of programs abroad, because diversity is an issue of significance to people in East Africa, South Asia, Russia, Mexico, India, and many other regions. Today, I will talk principally of our work in the United States, but you should know there are similar Ford-funded efforts led by your counterparts in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Indeed, the presence of guests at this conference from Ford-funded projects in South Africa and India testify to that fact and to our belief that we can learn from each other's experience. I join others in welcoming them to our gathering.
My second point is that our work in the United States covers a broad range of activities. One group of programs involves support for area and international studies. Our aim is to be sure that scholars and policy makers have sufficient comparative expertise available to them to build America's knowledge base, design sound policies, and understand the origins of varied cultures within our borders.
Another group of programs aims to diversify the scholarly community and the teaching profession. In the United States we have provided over 1,400 minority scholars with doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships. Their record of post-fellowship achievement is outstanding. Another Ford initiative is helping to build a diverse talent pool in the teaching profession at the K-12 level.
Ford is also involved in programs for young children that explore the values of diversity and teach respect for difference. One program, run by the National Coalition of Advocates for Students, helps to spread effective classroom practices that teach tolerance and cooperation. Another was created by television's Mr. Rogers whose organization used Ford funds to develop video tapes about diversity and bias for use in early elementary classrooms.
Ford also supports studies and practical projects in communities that bring newcomers and established residents together through churches and community organizations. For example, one organization engages youth in helping newcomer groups from all countries complete applications for American citizenship. It is run by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO).
And, of course, we have long been supporters of research and advocacy related to disadvantaged minorities and women. Thus, we help fund ground-breaking scholarship in women's studies, Afro-American studies, and Latino studies. We support such research institutions as the Urban Institute, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and the Tomas Rivera Center, which bring new insights to the problems and strengths of newcomer and minority groups. And we fund such organizations as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Women's Law Fund, and the National Council of La Raza, which work to strengthen their communities' capacities to participate in American society. And we fund Native American organizations that help protect native sovereignty and culture.
Finally, there is the work that brings us together tonight--the Campus Diversity Initiative in which all of you are involved. Since its inception in 1989, Ford has invested almost $15 million in the United States to help some 250 institutions of higher education respond positively to the social and educational issues raised by campus diversity.
So Ford has a broad program, one that we believe addresses one of the most fundamental questions for our age: How do we create successful pluralistic societies?
My third observation is that in many ways, the evolution of our Campus Diversity Initiative mirrors the changing nature of our society's approaches to the issue of diversity. For many people, work on diversity issues begins as an immediate response to intergroup tensions in one or another institution--at work, in school, or in the community. Later, it evolves from concentrating on tension to a more positive view that recognizes diversity as an institutional strength and an opportunity. And at a still later phase, it can have a profound transformative effect, as diverse people work together to restate and reconceptualize the work they will do in an institution or a community.
Let me draw the other side of this mirror image. Our Campus Diversity Initiative originated as a response to ugly racial incidents on campuses in the late 1980s. Several Ford Trustees, who also served on college and university boards, urged the staff to explore ways the Foundation might help address those problems. Now, under your leadership, attention to diversity has produced innovations in curricula, campus life, and interdisciplinary scholarship. You have begun to create new opportunities and ideas. I hope that in the longer term, your work will be one of the factors that provokes wide-ranging debate on your campuses about the role of educational institutions in society and the institutional transformations that are needed to prepare young people well for the 21st century. Your recent focus on communications may help hasten and deepen the discussion of transformation.
At present, much of the campus discussion seems to focus on the value and legitimacy of new fields of knowledge--particularly those which explore the historical, literary, and artistic contributions of formerly marginalized groups. This may be part of the transformational debate. As marginalized groups increasingly become part of the mainstream, I feel certain that we will see more attention to and support for scholarship about them. Their histories and creative products have much to teach us about the resilience of the human spirit, how power shifts occur, and the sources of fresh creative expression and analyses. And we can learn from the study of marginalized groups a great deal about the flexibility or rigidity of opportunities we believe our country offers.
That these new fields of study sometimes produce work of variable quality or occasionally are led by scholars we do not admire should not surprise us. Nor should it be an excuse for denying the value of the larger field of knowledge, any more than mediocre work and the occasional offensive professor would justify dismissing established scholarship. The current struggle is not about particular people or pieces of scholarship. It is about whose experience is worthy of careful scholarly study and reflection. It is about who is valued, who has power, and who can be among our heroes and heroines. Ultimately, if we want to teach truthful histories and concepts that fit reality, we must struggle to open our minds to new voices and sources of knowledge. I believe that is what Ford's programs seek to do and what you are doing with our support.
Your work on campuses and the work of Ford and other foundations is instructive as we seek to answer the question raised by critics of work on diversity: Do these kinds of programs undermine or strengthen our nation?
That question takes me to my fourth point. I believe the Foundation is supporting the kind of work the country must undertake if we want to make our diversity a comparative advantage. And I believe that if we do not take that course, we will pay a heavy economic, political, social, and intellectual cost.
To be competitive in today's world economy we must understand the histories, economies, and traditions of other nations. Many of our children already know that this is key to their futures. They and their parents want their college curricula and campus experience to ready them for the global community in which they will have to live and work.
That understanding has not only permeated the thinking of our young people; it typifies much of corporate leadership. They realize that diversity has important implications for the bottom line. One CEO recently put it this way:
"You might be interested in the company I work for, which has 9,000 employees, more than half college graduates, and actively searches out minorities to hire.... Why do we do this? Quite simply, for business reasons. We operate in 23 countries around the world. We do our daily work in 15 different languages. To be successful, we must have a corporate culture that welcomes all cultures."
Young people also often recognize that we may be able to learn from other cultures and communities as we try to solve our own problems. Our country has serious social problems such as the disintegration of families, drug abuse, crime, and violence. Often other cultures and other countries, rich and poor alike, have found ways of preventing or responding successfully to these problems. Many young people ask: Can we not learn from studying those cultures and from exchanging ideas and experiences with them? The answer clearly is yes.
It is valid to be concerned about the absorptive capacity of the United States--or any other country. But wherever we set the limit, we also must remember first that absorption will not take place without attention to equal opportunity; and second, that becoming "one people" does not have to mean abandoning ethnic identities that lend strength to individuals and stability and pride to communities.
Similarly, it is valid for scholars to be concerned about how the new scholarship and fields of study may displace others they value. Such concerns are legitimate, and they help ensure that the best will hold its place in the long run. Such struggles have always occurred as knowledge has evolved. But the reconceptualization of the curriculum cannot take place without serious and respectful discussion about the new and the old curriculum. The new work must be taken in, taken seriously, and not dismissed.
In part, the successful incorporation of marginalized groups into American society rests on the development of intellectual and activist leaders who care about or come from those communities, men and women who can defuse tensions, build bridges, and mobilize people to resolve differences. Many of you in this room are doing that. It is hard and demanding work, as you know.
It is a pity that the people who begin to rethink university curricula, or who challenge restrictions through court processes or other lawful means, are disparaged and sometimes demonized. By using time-honored, effective instruments and processes of a democratic society, they demonstrate confidence in our traditions. Their critics should show similar confidence in our academic and democratic processes and welcome such approaches, which reinforce the importance of our core institutions.
So as you see, I believe that the concerns about weakening the common culture and retarding integration of newcomers or marginalized people into the larger society are understandable but unfounded. They are understandable because there is prejudice and because diversity projects are not all perfect, any more than anything else is. Sometimes diversity projects seem to emphasize only difference. But a closer look usually reveals much more value and subtlety. I want to give you my favorite recent example of this.
I was recently privileged to be a participant at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza in Denver, a group that some have criticized for undermining America's sense of national identity as it works to address the problems in Latino communities in the United States. I was deeply impressed by that organization's strong contributions to America's social fabric. Thousands of people gathered at the conference, representing community-based organizations around the United States, and they came not to celebrate separatism, but to reaffirm both their varied cultures and American values.
They talked about strategies to solve such community problems as unemployment, inadequate health care, and poor schools. In the middle of the conference, La Raza sponsored a citizenship ceremony in which a government official swore in new American citizens. A highlight of the final conference dinner, attended by nearly a dozen corporate CEOs, along with hundreds of others, was the presentation of awards to outstanding Latino achievers. Each award was presented by U.S. Olympic medalists from the Latino Community. And at the end, a huge American flag was raised as we sang the "Star Spangled Banner."
Watching this celebration I was reminded of how mistaken it is to think that diversity weakens the common culture and promotes hostile values. Surely the opposite is true; diverse communities help recapture the best in our traditions, and help us remember and live up to our noble ideals.
To be a healthy country, we must understand each other and live and work together. That is difficult when people are worried about their jobs, their children's futures, and community safety. So it is all the more important to recognize and study commonalities that tie our communities together. In this connection, my last point is that we must build an understanding and appreciation of the core beliefs that bind us together in our pluralistic society. We find many of those core beliefs in such documents as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence and in such principles as participation in governance and community, free expression, fairness, and equal opportunity. We will also do well to remember, or to discover, the way scholarship and knowledge have evolved and changed in the past as society changed, and never without struggle.
What I think we should protect and project is a commitment to the search for truth and a refusal to accept unfair privilege. Our universities and colleges are a powerful expression of this commitment, as is the work you are doing. This work is vitally important, central to helping America be a prosperous, peaceful, and stable society capable of meeting the challenges of the next century.
Proud as we are of the important work our grantees have undertaken around the world, we are particularly proud of your work in the Campus Diversity Initiative. It is a source of deep satisfaction to me and to my colleagues. It is a source of renewal and strength for the country. It is you who are making that happen, and I congratulate you for it.
The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.