WMNS 1103 Lecture 5: The Evolving Language of Diversity
21 Sep 2020
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Document Summary
Since we have inherited a system that routinely perpetuates prejudicial attitudes and beliefs about groups, we often hear well-intentioned people unconsciously reinforcing those beliefs through their use of words. The more we take responsibility for unlearning misinformation we learned about others, the more our language will reveal this change in attitude. In the past, the discussion of diversity in the united states often focused on only one or two identities mostly gender and race. This left people seeing themselves as either completely dominant or completely excluded. By looking broader thus, at multiple identities that include age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and immigrant status we come to see ourselves in many identities and recognize that all of us have identities that are both dominant and excluded. The biggest challenge is how to bring members of dominant groups into the conversation and the solution.
