She wasn’t the first person to say that, and sadly she won’t be the last. I shared with her the same thing I’m going to share with you.

If I write “Hispanics are Diverse, Too!” most people would agree. Hispanics are a very diverse group of people. Most people assume that Hispanics are the same, they are not. Even their language is different. That is why meeting planners now request that their presenters speak formal Spanish known as Castilian Spanish (the language standard for radio and TV speakers) because of the variation among Spanish speakers. The food is different from country to country. Religious beliefs are also different. Hispanics religious beliefs include Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, and yes even Jewish and Muslim.

If I asked you are “African Americans are Diverse, Too!” people would say yes….but when questioned further people share that “African Americans are Diverse, Too!” most often the reason cited is because of economics or education. When I ask an audience “What is ‘Soul’ food?” Most audience members will say chicken, black eyed peas, collard greens and corn bread. The word ‘Soul’ was applied to food (Soul Food) when, according to Wikipedia, “in the mid-1960s, the word ‘soul’ was a common definer used to describe African-American culture (for example, soul music). However African-American culture varies for instance. During African American History month many people serve ‘Soul Food” as the food of choice for African-Americans.

For a second generation Nigerian that may be different:
“When Nigerians crave “home cooking,” though, the specific dishes won’t necessarily be the same, says Kehinde, because favorites differ among tribes and even within tribes.For instance, the Hausa people of northern Nigeria favor meat kebabs; the Ibos of the south are partial to luxurious stews of fish, shrimp, crab, lobster, rice and vegetables — precursors of Louisiana gumbo or jambalaya. In the central part of the country, the Yoruba people, to which the Kehindes belong, enjoy stewed meats but divide on whether to serve mashed yams or mashed cassava alongside. Aderonke grew up with yams; Modupe’s family must have cassava.” shared Aderonke Kehinde in an interview for Meagwali.com

Or a second generation person from Belize, Central America:
Whose comfort food may include escabeche (an onion broth with chicken), chirmole or relleno. The food might include fish sere and hudut both of which are made from coconut milk, conch soup and the ever popular, thick cowfoot soup. .

We, you and I, must look deeper and not make assumptions of people. Not about Hispanics, African Americans, or women. The same goes for White Guys. We must look deeper and learn about the individual. No one owns diversity. We are all diverse.

White Guys are very diverse group of people. Religion, cultural history, immigration and family foods . You may think that comfort food is the same – hamburgers and fries… Well many people worldwide eat hamburgers and fries. White Guys and their families may have different comfort foods depending on their background. Here is a sampling of comfort foods that have been passed down through families.

Irish – Irish soda bread, Cockle soup, turnip soup, Irish stew
Polish – Pierogi (filled dumplings), Bigos (Hunter’s Stew), Kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet with seasoning)
English – Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings and Fish and Chips
Australia- Anzac biscuits, meat pies, sausage rolls, potato croquettes and Promite

Know that “White Guys Are Diverse Too(tm)!” Just as Hispanics, African Americans, women, veterans, as well as you and I.
Have you seen the video at www.WhiteGuysAreDiverse.com?

Military, Defense, Government and Federal Contractors Employees

US Navy, US Army, National Guard, US Marines and US Coast Guard officers have already attended and continue to attend.

Jacksonville, FL    Washington, DC   Norfolk, VA   San Diego, CA

Team Pegine is on the ‘tip of the spear’ for getting the training and awareness to millions of people with this dimension of diversity and inclusion. White guys must understand their contributions and differences to remain an inclusive part of the organization.

Dr McGuire DEOMI, Deputy Dean of Education, Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute

If you work with a white guy, lead a group of white guys, are part of a team of white guys, work for a white guy or are a white guy… then it is a career imperative that you attend.

You are invited to the diversity and inclusion leadership training for

Military, Defense, Government and Federal Contractors Employees

called

“White Guys Are Diverse Too(tm)!”

which will be conducted in the following cities

• Washington, DC April 23, 2012
• Jacksonville, FL April 30, 2012
• Norfolk, VA May 14, 2012
• San Diego, CA May 21, 2012

Does this sound familiar?

“Diversity doesn’t include me!” “I’m just an Average White Guy”

or

“They’re not diverse” “‘They’re all the same”

3 hour training

Participants will learn the following:

• Identify the demographic changes that are taking place in the US and their impact on the workplace
• Challenge assumptions that all white guys have the same perceptions, opinions, backgrounds and preferences
• Identify that the definition of “diversity” is inclusive of all individuals, including white guys
• Recognize the connection between employee engagement and productivity
• Celebrate the value white guys bring to the organization
• Expand your network to be more inclusive of all types of people
• How to create and mentor diverse teams
• How to apply and be champions of diversity and inclusion

The program:

3-hour program with break

• Dynamic modules that combine lecture, exercises, and discussion for interactive learning
• Customized data that transfers general knowledge to organization-specific skills
• Powerful “tactical plans” to immediately improve engagement levels

Check out the website with the 4-minute mini movie.

Fee: $200.00 for the training and all training materials.

One of Team Pegine Inc. Trainers will be conducting the program. They have experience training throughout the Military, Defense And Federal Government Employees.

For Groups of 6 or more please call us at 904 280 8806

Sharing your history is an important process to connect people with each other.

On an Irish History site they shared the following story:

“One honest immigrant wrote home at the height of the potato famine exodus, “My master is a great tyrant, he treats me as badly as if I was a common Irishman.” The writer further added, “Our position in America is one of shame and poverty.” No group was considered lower than an Irishman in America during the 1850s. “

The Polish immigration experience is shared by a description from the University of Delaware exhibit: Tradition and The Polish Immigrant experience

Many immigrants went to work in the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, the slaughterhouses of Chicago, and the leather industries of Wilmington, Delaware. These immigrants endured many hardships: pay was minimal, working conditions were poor and often dangerous, and health and death benefits did not exist or were minimal. Many took in boarders for extra income and children were encouraged to obtain employment as early as possible. Family, ethnicity, and religious and cultural institutions helped sustain these people as they adjusted to their new home.

If you are a Caucasian male have you read about your family’s immigration history? Do you know where they landed? Do you know the trials and tribulations your family encountered?

I found this interesting assignment given to a history class. I modified the questions to be used by ERG groups, White Male panels and Inclusion Groups to discuss Caucasian family immigration histories (of course you can use any groups for this activity). If you don’t know your family’s history you can easily access information on line to imagine what your ancestors may have experienced.

Historical Immigration Role Play

For the two weeks you will work in pairs or small group to role play an imaginary family from your cultural back ground. Your group will represent the family. Create a 12 minute group PowerPoint presentation which will be presented to your ERG. Choose the following:

Time Period ____________ (during the late 1800s to early 1900s)
Your family’s country of origin/ethnic group: _______________________________________________
Family name __________________________________________________________________
Ages (from three generations) _____________________________________________________
Occupations ____________________________________________________________________
Religion ______________________________________________________________________

Write a short history of your family experience up to the time you decided to emigrate. This should make clear the reasons for your decision to leave your home country. Each presentation should have this common history at the beginning of their program.

Each person must keep a album created by her/his assumed character. Topics to cover include:
• how it felt to emigrate
• type of dinner had on last night at home
• packing up/saying good bye
• the journey to the coast
• the voyage
• hopes/fears about the USA
• arrival in the USA
• settling in to your new community

Items for your scrapbook/album include – be creative:
• birth certificates, passports and visas
• maps
• recipes/favorite foods
• descriptions and pictures of traditions and customs
• pictures of neighborhoods, the journey, family, friends, etc.
• treasured family possessions

Diversity and Inclusion is both a top down and bottom up process. How people are perceived, how they engage with others and how they seek support impacts career development, leadership, productivity and profitability.

The program has been vetted extensively within the corporate arena. Leaders within Sodexo served as advisers, then Sodexo piloted the program (Alpha and Beta), reviewed by legal counsel, EEO and many, many people. The program was launched on March 2010.

The program has been vetted extensively within the federal government and DoD. The US Navy piloted the program at the US Naval Academy and several bases. JAGS reviewed the program. The National Guard Bureau in DC vetted the program through senior leadership. Sixty senior leaders reviewed the program and was approved. Senior staff from NASA, Fannie Mae, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission have participated and approved the program. The Congressional mandated Military Leadership Diversity Commission heard testimony regarding the program and the outcomes. The focus was on the impact on recruiting, retention and engagement of those with high propensity to serve.

We are passionate about the program and we want to share it with many people as possible. Do you have any coworkers that may be interested in attending? If so would you please tell them about the training? Do you have any contacts or could you suggest anyone who may be interested in finding out more about the program?

Any advice or help you can offer is really appreciated. I have also sent you the link to the invitation below. Thank you so much for your input.

White Guys Are Diverse Too(tm) Training in Jacksonville, FL Registration

Your leaders and employees are invited. Diversity and inclusion includes everyone. When everyone knows about the diversity of white guys they also recognize that everyone deserves a closer look, a deeper look, so that leaders and colleagues can elicit the innovative ideas and expertise among our colleagues.

Please join us on January 31st for the training. If you know of someone who may be interested in attending please spread the message.

Click here to sign up and learn more

This is a perfect example of inclusion and exclusion at work among white guys. This is this man’s first day… how long will he last? Will he be engaged? What kinds of comments will the long term employees share with the manager about the ‘newbie’? Can’t wait to hear your answers.

For those who might not understand. The first two guys talking are Yankees fans – the new guy is from Boston (Red Sox territory) – therefore the tension.

These are white men and women who not only risked their lives but gave their lives for civil rights.

“September 30, 1962 • Oxford, Mississippi
Paul Guihard, a reporter for a French news service, was killed by gunfire from a white mob during protests over the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi.

April 23, 1963 • Attalla, Alabama
William Lewis Moore, a postman from Baltimore, was shot and killed during a one-man march against segregation. Moore had planned to deliver a letter to the governor of Mississippi urging an end to intolerance.

April 7, 1964 • Cleveland, Ohio
Rev. Bruce Klunder was among civil rights activists who protested the building of a segregated school by placing their bodies in the way of construction equipment. Klunder was crushed to death when a bulldozer backed over him.

June 21, 1964 • Philadelphia, Mississippi James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Henry Schwerner, young civil rights workers, were arrested by a deputy sheriff and then released into the hands of Klansmen who had plotted their murders. They were shot, and their bodies were buried in an earthen dam.
March 11, 1965 • Selma, Alabama
Rev. James Reeb, a Unitarian minister from Boston, was among many white clergymen who joined the Selma marchers after the attack by state troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Reeb was beaten to death by white men while he walked down a Selma street.

March 25, 1965 • Selma Highway, Alabama
Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a housewife and mother from Detroit, drove alone to Alabama to help with the Selma march after seeing televised reports of the attack at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She was driving marchers back to Selma from Montgomery when she was shot and killed by a Klansmen in a passing car.

August 20, 1965 • Hayneville, Alabama
Jonathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopal Seminary student in Boston, had come to Alabama to help with black voter registration in Lowndes County. He was arrested at a demonstration, jailed in Hayneville and then suddenly released. Moments after his release, he was shot to death by a deputy sheriff.

January 10, 1966 • Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, a wealthy businessman, offered to pay poll taxes for those who couldn’t afford the fee required to vote. The night after a radio station broadcasted Dahmer’s offer, his home was firebombed. Dahmer died later from severe burns.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center honors Civil Rights Martyrs

http://www.splcenter.org/civil-rights-memorial/civil-rights-martyrs

Research Shows Workplace Diversity Must Include Buy-in from Whites
“Without the support of whites, organizations and educational settings will fail to  manage the complexities of diverse workforces and constituencies,” said Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, an associate professor of management and organizations at Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

I am always curious when this happens because it brings to the forefront the underlying issues that many programs don’t address.  Their concerns.  Here is what these men shared about the concept that white men are diverse.

1) Is this program a trick?

Is the program a trick to get white men to a diversity program? Like other programs they attended in the past will they hear, once again, about all the things Caucasian men do wrong?

This program is about valuing all the wonderful attributes, contributions and dimensions of white men and how all of us have connectors to each other. People connect to each other on many different levels.  Additionally the program shares how diversity impacts employee engagement and productivity including the engagement and productivity of diverse white men.

2) I’m not diverse! And I don’t want to be a part of this diversity stuff!

“I am not going to be part of this agenda!  This is political correct agenda – don’t put me in it!”

The truth is Caucasian men already are diverse! There are multiple ways that men are diverse – economics, social strata, marital status and so on. As a human being and employee men are already a part of a diverse world. Men are impacted by the global market and white men are impacted by a changing world.  It is an organizational and global imperative that men not stick their heads in the sand instead our world needs them to bring their intellect,  innovation and insight to the table.  Caucasian men are needed more than ever not less.

Why did this happen?

Discussions with the men revealed that they attended many diversity programs in the past where they felt attacked, maligned and definitely not heard.

Why do diversity programs or better yet trainers do that?  How is attacking or making allegations helping build a cohesive strong group of employees that are productive, innovative and engaged?  Blaming, pointing fingers and excluding anyone is wrong.   Diversity programs that inspire, educate and train people to utilize the strengths of every employee is what is needed. Business needs to motivate higher levels of productivity which require an understanding of differences and similarities and how to build on them. Training people from diverse backgrounds to communicate their needs and educating all on what  next steps for innovation is what diversity programs should strive offer.

After the program the following occurred:

1-      The men joined diversity councils so that their experiences and ideas were heard

2-      They shared innovative ideas to increase market penetration in areas not previously considered.  Their diverse perspective was incredibly valuable to the organization.

3-    Women and men of color engaged in deep discussions with their Caucasian male counterparts in an inclusive manner.