Our
community is at a crossroads. Between 1990 and 2000 Ottawa County's
population increased four times faster than the State of Michigan.
During that time, the county's Caucasian population increased by
only a fifth while the Hispanic, Asian and African American populations
more than doubled. This rapidly growing racial and ethnic diversity
makes us a dynamic county. It also requires intentional preparation to
ensure that Ottawa County is a place where mutual respect,
understanding and trust work together to create an atmosphere where
diversity is valued, positions of power are shared, justice is equal,
and economic opportunities are open to all. The key to building
stronger communities, both socially and economically, is to tie our
mutual well being to one another. As former President Gerald R. Ford
noted: “The global economy requires an unprecedented grasp of diverse
viewpoints and cultural traditions.”
The Lakeshore Ethnic
Diversity Alliance is dedicated to that principle. A nonprofit
organization, the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance seeks to promote
social justice in communities along the Ottawa County lakeshore –
communities that are still mainly white and non-urban in spite of their
rapidly increasing ethnic diversity. The uniqueness of this venture has
made the Diversity Alliance a model for towns and rural areas in other states where
ethnic (especially Hispanic) populations are booming.
How did we begin?
Several
racial incidents that occurred in Ottawa County in the mid-1990s led
to the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance's founding, but one in
particular stood out: a cross-burning on a pastor's lawn in the Grand Haven
area. This spurred 18 concerned citizens to explore ways to improve
race relations. In 1996 they founded the North Ottawa Ethnic Diversity
Alliance (NOEDA), a grassroots organization that initially served Grand
Haven, Ferrysburg and Spring Lake. Within two years, NOEDA expanded to
other communities along the Lakeshore. Renamed the Lakeshore Ethnic
Diversity Alliance in 1998 to reflect its broader focus, the
organization hired a full-time executive director in 1999. Today, the
Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance has a diverse membership
representing a broad cross-section of interests and cultures, with a
database of over four thousand newsletter recipients and more than 200
volunteers working on racial healing initiatives throughout the country.
How do we carry out our mission?
Since
our founding, we have developed a variety of programs that engage the
community in addressing issues of racism. Several of these programs are
the outgrowth of the Ottawa Area Summit on Racism, a 5-year initiative
ended in February 2005 which brought citizens together to work out
solutions to the area's racial problems. Chosen by the City of Holland
for the 2005 Social Justice Award in Government and Community
Relations, the Summit has produced some remarkable results. Our
programming includes:
- Cultural Competency Training, which
provides public, private and non-profit groups with speakers and
materials geared to identify and eliminate racial barriers in the
workplace. Geared to reach people who, in their daily live and daily
work, are shaping the form this community will take.
- The
Lakeshore Institute for Racial Healing, a 10-week dialogue that focuses
on understanding and healing the wounds of racism. Offered four times a
year in Holland and Grand Haven, the institute provides hundreds of
individuals with information and incentive to heal racism in our
communities.
- The Lakeshore Fair Housing Center, a newly
created non-profit agency that provides services to people of color,
along with other groups commonly discriminated against, seeking equal
access to housing. The center brings a fair housing presence to the
region by providing education on fair housing law and receives
complaints of housing discrimination.
- The Migrant Mentoring
Program, which provides educational and social support for migrant farm
workers and their children and an opportunity for cultural exchange
between our volunteers and migrant families.
- Calling All
Colors, a race unity project (winner of the 1999 City of Holland Social
Justice Award in Education) which brings together middle school
students to learn the value of diversity. Students work with interns to
design action steps for increasing appreciation of diversity in their
schools.
- Advocacy, which in addition to assuring equal access
to housing seeks to eliminate racial barriers that limit equal
treatment and is a voice for local enforcement of civil rights laws.
- Educational Forums, which assist the community in increasing its
cultural competence and creating a more comfortable environment for all
residents.
- Networking, which engenders collaboration and a
spirit of cooperation among private, public, non-profit and faith-based
organizations, thereby increasing our mutual capacity to create
positive change in the community.
What impact have these programs made in the Lakeshore region?
Numbers
tell part of the story. Between 2001 and 2005, for example, our Summit
on Racism engaged more than 2,500 citizens in developing action plans
to combat racism. Since 1996 more than 3,000 students from 12 middle
school districts have participated in Calling All Colors. Since 2001
more than 340 children have been matched with mentors under our Migrant
Mentoring Program.
But the people whose lives have been changed
tell the real stories. A teacher who attended a recent Calling All
Colors workshop with a student suspended for racial harassment wrote:
“The conference really made an impact on his attitude. As a result, I
was able to help him think about the direction of his life and his
future. If I ever felt like I truly helped make a difference in the
world, it was at that moment.”
A month after arriving in West
Michigan, a migrant worker watched news coverage of a KKK demonstration
in Kalamazoo. “We come here to do work no one else will do,” she said.
“Why do people hate us?” After her children took part in our Migrant
Mentoring Program, she saw another side of our community. “People here
care,” she said.
A recent graduate of our Institute for the
Healing of Racism declared: “I am much more aware now – and I thought I
was before! I have a new sense of urgency about healing racism.”
Does that mean racism is going away?
No.
We still face many challenges in combating racism in this region. Two
local studies bear this out. One study, released in October 1997,
revealed significant differences in the ways minorities were treated in
Ottawa County's juvenile court system. Another study, released in April
2005, revealed significant “differential treatment” of people of color
seeking rental housing in the Lakeshore market.
Statewide, the
challenges are just as great. Speaking in 2003 in support of the
Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance's Lakeshore Fair Housing Center,
Governor Jennifer Granholm noted that the U.S. Census revealed Michigan
to be the most racially segregated state in the nation. “Identifying
and eliminating the causes of segregation and finding effective tools
for building a healthier racial balance in our neighborhoods is of
utmost importance,” she said.
Why is eliminating racism an economic imperative?
It's
not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do if we're to
compete effectively in a global economy. Racial segregation leads to
economic stagnation. It's the way many other Michigan communities have
gone. It's the way we will go too, unless we articulate – and act upon
– a different vision for ourselves.
The strength and vitality of
our region will be determined by our “cultural competence” – our
ability to understand and embrace different economic, religious and
socio-economic perspectives. To accept diversity isn't enough. We need
to transform it into advocacy for social and economic change.
What does the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance propose to do about this?
Our
fundraising campaign will be a 3-year investment in raising the
dialogue about the causes of racism and its solutions. By adding a
second full-time staff member and parttime administrative assistant,
and securing permanent office space, we will be able to accomplish the
following:
- Expand our Cultural Competency Training, including
the Institutes for Racial Healing, from to 8 to 25 training programs
annually and provide more employers, elected officials, teachers,
church leaders and members of the community at large with skills to
shape a more aware and accepting community.
- Provide Community
Educational Forums on various aspects of cultural diversity in order to
increase our community's cultural competence and foster a more
inclusive region.
- Expand Calling All Colors from 12 to 20 middle schools annually and add 15 high schools in the Lakeshore region.
- Increase the number of migrant farm children matched with volunteers in our Migrant Mentoring Program 60 to 85 annually.
- Continue to pursue the effort for greater regional Cooperation and
Collaboration among private, public, non-profit, and faith based
organizations interested in fostering appreciation for diversity in our
community.
- Provide Benchmarks, assessed in each program area
through various tools designed to measure outputs (i.e. # of people
served, # of sectors of the community served, etc) and outcomes (i.e.
self-reported change, changes in demographics, assessment by
evaluators, etc) and other appropriate measurements. Benchmarks will
relate to the specific program and participants served.
How is the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance supported now?
Most
of our operating support comes from gifts and grants from corporations
and foundations in the Lakeshore region. Others, including a number of
individuals and families, have supported our annual programs. We are
grateful to all of them, but we need to expand our support if we are to
move to the next level.
Help us meet our challenge
Now
in its 13th year, the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance has energized
a broad cross-section of the community to address racial justice
issues. But major challenges lay ahead. If present trends continue,
Ottawa County's overall growth rate will encompass much higher growth
rates among Hispanics, Asians and African Americans. The need to combat
ingrained fears and racial stereotypes that permit social barriers to
persist will increase with this growth. We will continue working to
achieve our vision of a community where racial and ethnic differences
are not merely tolerated but embraced and celebrated. Thus we seek your
support in making the Lakeshore region a better place for everyone to
live and work.
