Sensitivity And Diversity Training
Buchanan told the panel that after he thought about Virginia Beach's refusal to provide a welcome tent, he concluded that the city, apparently in secret, had decided to employ the harsher approach used in recent years at Fort Lauderdale(Paust, 1989 p.1).
"Virginia Beach was used as a testing ground for the social ills of the world," the commission was told by a frustrated Linwood Branch, president of the Resort Retailers Association, at its Nov. 9 public hearing. Branch's remark drew sustained applause from many of the estimated 200 people attending. Most, like Branch, were white. At the same hearing, Joe Buchanan charged the city with virtually snubbing the work of a city-appointed group he led that recommended well before Labor Day that the best way to handle the Greekfest crowds would be to take steps that included making entertainment available as well as identifying locations of special programs. The Beachfront Events Committee, which was composed of private citizens like Buchanan and city employees, including Police Chief C.R. Wall, was appointed by City Manager Aubrey V. Watts Jr. last winter after a Labor Day weekend disturbance in 1988 in which there was tension between local merchants and an estimated 40,000 young blacks, the largest Greekfest crowd then seen. Buchanan is white, a former member of the City Council and dean of admissions at Tidewater Community College. He accused city officials of establishing a cold-shoulder philosophy toward the anticipated influx of blacks during Labor Day weekend even before asking the beachfront committee to begin work(Paust, 1989 p.2).
I applaud Linwood Branch for making it clear that Virginia Beach city leaders had allowed socially unacceptable behavior to take precedence over their civic responsibility of inclusion. When you have members the same race as you are, perceive that you have mistreated another race, then you probably have. Diversity is all the things that make us different as individuals. It does not however make us any less of a person. When we appreciate and value differences, it prevents discrimination. Unfortunately, appreciation for cultural diversity was not apparent in the decisions by city leaders. When you have a group of diverse people interacting, both sides should be culturally aware of biases within themselves and avoid sterotyping with prejudice assumptions. The city leaders assumed that because of the size of the group, there would be problems. It is my opinion, that the police jumped to the wrong conclusions about the Greekfest goers because they didn’t fully understand that loud music is a form of social recreation and expression for African-American people. It is a source of energy that allows them to be free to express themselves. The louder the music the more expression is displayed. Prior to the event, the city could have had some diversity and sensitivity training to address false perceptions of a group this size and develop an understanding or awareness of the needs for the culturally diverse group of people that were coming to their city.
"Virginia Beach was used as a testing ground for the social ills of the world," the commission was told by a frustrated Linwood Branch, president of the Resort Retailers Association, at its Nov. 9 public hearing. Branch's remark drew sustained applause from many of the estimated 200 people attending. Most, like Branch, were white. At the same hearing, Joe Buchanan charged the city with virtually snubbing the work of a city-appointed group he led that recommended well before Labor Day that the best way to handle the Greekfest crowds would be to take steps that included making entertainment available as well as identifying locations of special programs. The Beachfront Events Committee, which was composed of private citizens like Buchanan and city employees, including Police Chief C.R. Wall, was appointed by City Manager Aubrey V. Watts Jr. last winter after a Labor Day weekend disturbance in 1988 in which there was tension between local merchants and an estimated 40,000 young blacks, the largest Greekfest crowd then seen. Buchanan is white, a former member of the City Council and dean of admissions at Tidewater Community College. He accused city officials of establishing a cold-shoulder philosophy toward the anticipated influx of blacks during Labor Day weekend even before asking the beachfront committee to begin work(Paust, 1989 p.2).
I applaud Linwood Branch for making it clear that Virginia Beach city leaders had allowed socially unacceptable behavior to take precedence over their civic responsibility of inclusion. When you have members the same race as you are, perceive that you have mistreated another race, then you probably have. Diversity is all the things that make us different as individuals. It does not however make us any less of a person. When we appreciate and value differences, it prevents discrimination. Unfortunately, appreciation for cultural diversity was not apparent in the decisions by city leaders. When you have a group of diverse people interacting, both sides should be culturally aware of biases within themselves and avoid sterotyping with prejudice assumptions. The city leaders assumed that because of the size of the group, there would be problems. It is my opinion, that the police jumped to the wrong conclusions about the Greekfest goers because they didn’t fully understand that loud music is a form of social recreation and expression for African-American people. It is a source of energy that allows them to be free to express themselves. The louder the music the more expression is displayed. Prior to the event, the city could have had some diversity and sensitivity training to address false perceptions of a group this size and develop an understanding or awareness of the needs for the culturally diverse group of people that were coming to their city.