[Dialogue] [Oe List ...] Respectful Dialogue?
KroegerD at aol.com
KroegerD at aol.com
Mon Oct 22 08:08:52 EDT 2007
Thanks for outing what has become an embarrassing attitude that is more
prevalent than I had thought.
I do think you are giving the legacy ICA/OE much more credit than we deserve
for respecting and encouraging diversity.
You will find that the great majority of the comments you have pointed out
are made by white males who for whatever reason cannot seem to "get over it".
The polity of the ICA/OE was always dominated by these same types of voices,
and the same attitude of "my way or the highway".
Fortunately, the organizations contained a majority of independent thinkers
and actors who acted in defiance of "the consensus" and because of those
courageous actions changed the world (a little bit).
As Rodney King asks---"can't we all just get along?"
Dick Kroeger
In a message dated 10/22/2007 6:28:43 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
cantenen at mac.com writes:
Ethicist Randy Cohen of the New York Times states that when someone makes
derogatory remarks about another -
it is hurtful and damaging to the other person. At this point it is no
longer an issue of etiquette
(you can’t just brush it off as a joke or a harmless insensitive comment).
It is a matter of ethics and we all have an obligation to stand up against
thoughtless, prejudicial and racist comments.
We have a responsibility to clearly state and respond unambiguously to
stereotypical and offensive remarks.
When we decided to become members of the ICA community - we did so because
we thought this group respected
and valued diversity and every individual’s worth. We would hate to think -
that this image is just a public screen.
That below the surface as a community we allow and even support the kind of
behavior as exhibited in some emails.
We may think that what occurred was between a closed group of people. In
fact many people on these list serves falsely think
they are having private conversations that have no accountability to the
rest of the world.
That if they publicly support “caring for the excluded” then what they
truly believe is not relevant.
We are here to say that is not so – we will stand up against these
ill-thought and discriminatory statements.
Imagine how these messages feel to a person who is targeted.
Imagine how the rest of the world receives these messages.
It is not always easy to stand up for what we believe. But ICA has a long
history of declaring respect for all persons and all cultures.
It is our hope that we can continue to do so.
Carolyn Houpt Antenen, Suganya Sockalingam, and Kathleen Joyce
On Oct 19, 2007, at 6:39 PM, W. J. wrote:
Take a guess and you have a 25% chance of getting it right (unless you're
the latest newbie running the Kemper Building and threfore assumed the correct
answer is obviously #2).
Marshall
David Walters <_walters at alaweb.com_ (mailto:walters at alaweb.com) > wrote:
_Take The Quiz!_ (http://2gthunderation.blogspot.com/2007/05/take-quiz.html)
If you have found this page, then you may be looking for someone. Someone
you knew a long time ago but lost track of.
It's quite possible that the people you are looking for are also looking for
you.
take the quiz, send your answers to the blog owner via e-mail & we'll be in
touch. It's multiple choice, or course.
Yes, he's a 'corporate' Oreo black like the last black interim ED. I took
one look and instantly said to myself, "Oh, one of those guys." Meaning a
certain mindset. And of course he doesn't have a clue.
M.
Richard Alton <_dick_alton at hotmail.com_ (mailto:dick_alton at hotmail.com) >
wrote:
And he is black! Dick
Richard H.T. Alton International Consultants and Associates 'building global
bridges' 166 N. Humphrey Ave, Apt, 1N Oak Park, IL 60302 T:1.773.344.7172
_richard.alton at gmail.com_ (mailto:richard.alton at gmail.com) Don't let the fear
of striking out hold you back Babe Ruth
Terry, you've made my point beautifully. I totally agree with your
perspective, and I'm very sorry the Board chose not to offer you the position.
Personally, I'm afraid it was another huge mistake.
I also have to apologize to my colleagues on this list for my intemperate
language. Although the truth of my instantaneous "read" on Mr. Tillman is
accurately stated (in other words, that's what I really think!), I didn't intend
my unedited comments to go to this list. I got a very brief message from Alton
and hit the reply button without noticing that it came thru the listserv!
And I'm not at all sure Dick thought his comment was going out there either.
Moral of this story is that you gotta read the small type, even when you're
bleary-eyed. Or suffer the embarrassment of telling the world your personal
'truth.' Unlike certain politicians, however, I'm not gonna spin it or try to
slide out of it.
I've tried to avoid intemperate or hostile language in commenting on the
ICA-USA board's actions. But sometimes you gotta call a spade a spade. It's
clear that there's been an intentional cut-off or wipe-out of the previous
corporate memory, and they've pushed the re-boot button without being able to
predict whether anything will be accessible on the hard drive, so to speak.
Instead of taking responsibility for guarding both the depth and wisdom of
our 'corporate culture', as well as the financial viability of the ICA-USA and
the vision and direction the staff was pursuing, they made the staff the
'bad guys' and wiped them out. The board did not admit their own failures and
hold themselves accountable to their historic (and aging) constituency.
Instead, they are attempting to re-invent the organization, almost from
scratch, and position it to serve a newly defined constituency and mission that
may have little in common with ICA's in twenty-nine other nations.
That, I fear, presents a difficult and challenging discontinuity, as well as
a significant organizational issue: for ICAI, for "the ICA brand" (to use
corporate lingo), which carries an immense sense of historical continuity or
"who we are", and, finally, for those of us whose lives have been so deeply
marked by who we were.
Do we have anything to do with, or say to, this "new ICA"? Have they
redefined themselves to include or exclude us?
If ICA-USA were a membership organization (like a union), then the voting
members would elect the board, who would be accountable to its constituency.
But it's not, folks. So they basically can do anything they want that doesn't
drive them into insolvency. They have to be amenable to major funders, of
course, but if their grassroots base of small donors has dried up, then they
don't have to worry about what we think.
So, that's what I really think. Having said that, it's clear that they've
made their decision, and maybe it's time to stop complaining, sniping, and
taking pot shots at obviously flawed decision making. Like marching into Iraq
and hanging Saddam Hussein, it's a done deal, and now we have to live with it.
Marshall
I would be very happy with an executive director who happened to grow up in
Fifth City and was a graduate of the Fifth City Preschool. That would be a
plus. But I'm sure Mr. Tillman has had other life experiences that have
sensitized him to issues of poverty and marginalization. As part of the group
marginalized by the board, I hope Mr. Tillman will be able to correct their myopia
and exert visionary leadership that will be challenging and compelling.
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