First, congratulations to the Gilroy boys soccer team for making it to the CCS finals! We watched the young men represent Gilroy against the number- one team with poise that matched their ability. They did the city proud.
Right before the Super Bowl, Dispatch sports editor Marc David expressed dismay about the hoopla over the fact that this was the first Super Bowl in which a team (it turned out to be two) was coached by an African-American. “The only glass ceiling is created by those looking for a different storyline. But the one that includes color is tiresome and boring.”
Oh, but it’s all about that, I thought. This was the first time in years I’ve watched all the playoff games and paid attention to American football’s Stupor Bowl and I was happy to see coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith at the pinnacle of their sport. Yes, they are supremely talented and able, and I adore their laid-back coaching styles, yet it’s been long known that African-Americans have had to overcome systemic barriers to achievement in football at coaching levels, so, unlike Mr. David, I appreciated the discussion on race.
However, other debates on race have tested the bounds of my patience. Since Barack Obama bounded onto the national scene with his election into the Senate, and now with more frequency since his declaration of his presidential run, African-American leaders with ties to the civil rights movement have said Mr. Obama couldn’t possibly represent their interests. In the American political context, they say, he’s an African immigrant, not African-American, who are descended from West Africans brought over against their will to be slaves. Yes, he’s Black, but he’s not Black with ties to the legacy of slavery.
We have similar struggles here at home when we discuss “cultural competency,” which, to social service providers, means providing services and other kinds of assistance with great sensitivity to and, as much as possible, within the context of the recipient’s cultural norms and practices.
Anne Fadiman’s excellent book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” which tells of a Central Valley hospital’s struggle to treat an epileptic child of Hmong immigrants, is a great argument for placing a high value on cultural competency. It demonstrates that true cultural competence goes far, far beyond merely offering brochures in languages other than English.
I don’t deny that language competence is important. As a lover of language, I believe there is a great deal about a culture, its history and psychology that can be discovered through learning its language. Fluency in another language is absolutely mandatory in some positions and very helpful in others.
I try not to presume to know what it’s like to be in anyone else’s shoes, but I am wary of those who point fingers at others who work hard and charge that they’re inadequate just because they are not the right color, origin, or don’t speak the language. Compassion, empathy, respect for others, open-mindedness, leadership, a desire to see justice for all – without these, fluency and skin color mean very little.
Newly elected Gilroy Unified School District Trustee Francisco Dominguez communicated the idea in a previous Dispatch article in what I interpreted as a caution against making assumptions about Latino board members. “It’s good that the compilation of the board reflects the community. What makes a person a better board member is understanding your responsibility. Just because you’re Latino, it doesn’t make you more sensitive (to their needs),” he said.
I once heard a man say “justice is people being in right relationship with each other.” There is plenty of need in our world, our nation and community due to the structural inequalities of our economy and our flawed systems.
The quest for justice needs all comers. If we reduce the problems we need to solve to just our own pain and exclude others who are willing, motivated, energetic and talented from helping in the fight just because of their skin color, or origin of it, or other assumptions about them, the attainment of justice only moves further from our grasp. And, the discussion on race, which still needs to take place, falls on ears that have stopped listening because it has indeed become tiresome and boring.
Columnist Dina Campeau is a wife, mother of two teens and a resident of Morgan Hill. Her work for the last seven years has focused on affordable housing and homeless issues in Santa Clara County. Her column is published every Friday. Reach her at
dc******@*****er.net.
