Gregory Freeman: 'Sensitive' Doesn't Mean 'Colorblind'. P-D 12/7/1990

Headline: 'SENSITIVE' DOESN'T MEAN 'COLORBLIND'
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman Urban View Column

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Fri., Dec. 7, 1990
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 1C, Edition: FIVE STAR

WHILE WATCHING television earlier this week, a commercial caused me to sit straight up.
The commercial, for a well-known local furniture company, was pushing its broad credit policy. But what caught my attention was not the store's assets. Instead, I was surprised by a man dressed up as a stereotypical American Indian chief - complete with headdress - saying something about customers being able to ''get um heap good credit'' at that store.
I found the ad to be offensive and wondered why such an offensive ad was airing. It didn't take long to realize that the store probably had not received many, if any, complaints from the public. Although some Native Americans live here, there are relatively few in comparison to some other cities.

Most people believe they are sensitive to other cultures. But are we as sensitive as we could be?

Years ago, when I was a student at Washington University, several Jewish students wrote on an underpass the words ''JAPS go home.'' They were jokingly referring to women known as Jewish-American Princesses. But the words touched off a controversy among Japanese-American students at the university, who were understandably upset. The students who painted the sign apologized and said that they had meant no offense to Japanese-Americans. They had never thought that the sign could be offensive to non-Jews.

That shouldn't be too surprising. It's natural for people to be most sensitive to that which is closest to them. While I am very sensitive about how I am referred to - I don't mind being called black or African-American, but I'd prefer not being called colored or Negro - I may not necessarily know that some people with Asian backgrounds prefer to be called Asians or Asian-Americans, not Orientals.

A lack of sensitivity can have tremendous repercussions.
One highly publicized incident occurred in a Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood earlier this year, when blacks began boycotting a grocery store operated by Koreans. One of the reasons for the boycott was a belief by customers that the Koreans were rude - that they didn't care about the customers.
But probably unknown to those customers was Korean culture. In Korea, merchants do not smile at their customers. They also do not touch their customers, so change is set down on counters rather than put into customers' hands. What is Korean culture may have been mistaken by Brooklyn residents as rudeness.

Lack of knowledge about a particular group can often cause insensitivity. When you don't know about a group of people, you may rely on stereotypes - some of them quite insensitive. So it's easy for those who don't know Native Americans to stereotype them as people who ride on horses, wear loincloths and don't speak English very well. But to a Native American, it's extremely insensitive.

So how does one become more sensitive, especially in the 1990s, when most people prefer to stay away from ''touchy-feely'' sensitivity groups?

Ron Jackson, coordinator of the A World of Difference program, designed to help people understand one another better, has several ideas. Chief among them: Talk to people who are different from yourself and get their opinions.
    He cited an incident not too long ago in which an organization wanted to show blacks what sorts of programs it did. A group of blacks was invited to a social gathering and was shown a videotape of many of the activities. The drawback: Not a single black was shown on the videotape. That fact became the talk of the evening, and the evening backfired.
   ''That probably could have been prevented had the organization shown the videotape to a black person, '' Jackson said.
     But people sometimes choose not to talk to others who are different about those differences because they feel uncomfortable. ''People sometimes think that if you talk about differences, it will make people mad, so they don't talk about them at all, and that's worse, '' Jackson said. ''It's like people who say 'I don't see color.' Well, everyone knows that's not true. So many of us have developed a patina of civility, but it's not really civility. It's pretending to ignore the differences.''

America is not really a melting pot. It's more like a tossed salad. We don't really all blend in and become one and the same. Instead, we come from different cultures and backgrounds and hold on to them to some extent. That's nothing to be ashamed of; it's something to be celebrated. Our country is made up of a diverse group of people. A knowledge of those people is a strength, not a liability.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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