Community Update

I was very touched by Leena Suleiman's post and am not surprised by the attitude of so many ignorant people that live around us.

I am a social worker and 12 years ago one of the managed care companies that I am a provider for invited social workers to be part of a 2 sessions educational forum on cultural diversity. It was quite an eye opener!

We had presenters in the morning who spoke about cultural diversity and how sensitive our work should be when working with clients from different cultural background. In the afternoon, one of the women presenters wore a head scarf and the mood and the interaction in the room totally changed and was even detached from that presenter. I was appalled that a simple head scarf can change the dynamics that existed in that room and felt so bad for the woman and at the end of the afternoon session went to her and apologized for the ignorance and pettiness that was prevalent in the room. This presenter never showed up for the 2nd session and I think and believe that we as a group of social workers, humans, first, lost an opportunity to learn about ourselves and our preconceived notions that a head scarf is threatening. We are all human beings first and then part of a faith and culture. This is like judging a book by its cover instead of exploring the content of a book that can be quite revealing and educational. It is sad that we are refusing to learn and continue to live in a very isolating small world.