“Be nice or leave.  Often the approach to diversity education is to spend a
great deal time encouraging and educating people to celebrate the many gifts
that diversity can bring to their communities.  Sometimes, however, we focus on
teaching people things we think they don’t know, when we really need to start
by helping them un-learn what they’ve been taught all their lives.  Language,
understanding privilege and the impact of group think are all examined from
this perspective in a program that uses media, humour, and story to encourage
us to continue making a difference.”

This program takes a look at diversity education from the perspective of
helping people to identify why they may (consciously or unconsciously) struggle
with some aspects of diversity.  We are socialized to believe certain “truths”
from a very young age, and these truths often revolve around those who are
different from us.  While learning about diversity is critical, starting to un-
learn the beliefs we have been raised with is paramount to accomplishing true
attitudinal change.  The role of privilege, group think, stereotypes, and
language in supporting these truths we’ve been taught is examined.  The impact
of ‘isms’, including the prevalence of hate acts is also highlighted.  The
program serves to allow participants to identify their own areas for un-
learning, as well as inspire them to help others celebrate and teach diversity
in a powerful way.  Central is the concept that those who are highly evolved in
terms of the celebration of diversity are not those who have no bias, but
rather those who have identified what bias they have and committed to changing
that within themselves.  In order to facilitate conversation around what some
may consider a “high risk” topic, music, media, humour and story are used to
highlight the issues.