- Professor Orfield adds;
- “Imagination and creativity can yield some wonderful gains.”
- “What are the basic shared values? What do we all want? We need the discussion.
- “Make day care available on nights of parent teacher conferences.”
- “You (Oak Park) need strong marketing of schools through the realtors. Racial
- “There’s not a lot of outside support, you’ll have to do it internally.”
- “Nothing can be solved eternally, just as each generation must continually work
- “Vicious cycles will occur, if there is not a plan to overcome them.”
- “When neighborhoods change in their socioeconomic status to a lower
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"Oak Park - An Intergrated Community
Now and Into the 21st Century"
- Oak Park has just had its
discussion of Diversity for 1999. The event was attended
by some
126 people or so. A good portion of the audience was from different boards and commissions
in the Village. It is good to see the attendance by many of our elected parties. There is a lot
to be done now and in the future. When we called the Oak Park Housing Center to confirm our
attendance we asked if they had good numbers of persons from diverse backgrounds. We mentioned
that we had been asked to help solicit more African-American participation. We were told
that there were plenty of people from all the Villages ethnic background. I could have brought at least
five persons of color with a few short phone calls, but didn’t. When I arrived at the meeting I saw
that I should have, and the organizers should have given more effort as well. How do you get more participation by persons of diverse backgrounds ?
It helps if you know the differences between
the groups in question. This conference helped define
some of the differences as represented by
scientific studies, not matters of opinion or conjecture.
Barbara Furlong (Village of Oak Park Board President) introduced herself and commented on the importance of Oak Parks work on diversity. “If Oak Park does not succeed, than other communities are bound to fail.”
Mr. Stephen Huth (District 97 School Board President) added to President Furlongs sentiments his own advice on cooperation. “It is important to stress how important it is that we all work together.”
Mr. Chet Stewart (District 200 School Board) also called for open talks on all levels. “We need to be putting things on the table for discussions.”
Don DeMarco (panelist from Philadelphia,
wrote 1977 ‘Racial Diversity in Housing’ book for Park Forest,
Illinois. Works on ‘Fund for an Open
Society’ in Philadelphia),
“We’re conflicted because we’re told to be color blind, but also to be aware of race”
“Different views of populations and the views
of housing require constant attention. Whites want
housing appreciation (to buy a home and have
it increase in value). Blacks want the most house for
their money (right here and now, not worried
about appreciation).”
Dr. Gary Orfield
(Keynote Speaker, The Civil Rights Project Harvard University, Professor
and
Co-Director of Education & Social Policy)
Professor Orfield opened with the following comment:
“It’s kind of imposing coming as an expert
to a town with so many experts”. He then explained for
the group that, “We are going to have the
largest democratically diverse country in the world, and without a plan.”
We will need to do some talking and discussing of issues in order to create
any kind of temporal plan
for the future. He added, when referring
to the process that, “people would like to get integration without having
to do anything for it, and with people just like you.” This is really
no more complex and idea than
water seeking its own level or taking the
easiest course, the one of least resistance. The path of least
resistance may very well be to move to a far
western suburb and drive two hours each day to get to and
from work. Many have chosen these roots
and decided not to talk with persons of different or diverse
backgrounds. Oak Park is a wonderful
town and with a lot of wonderful people in it. The time for
discussions are now, unless you’re headed
west.
Professor Orfield asks : “Why do different
peoples choose to live in integrated communities? “
“Blacks don’t come to white communities just
because they want to sit next to white people. Blacks typically come
to integrated communities for networking their careers and gaining success.
Whites move into integrated communities mostly based on their view of the
world.” If this is to be understood then the
next time we as a Village want to get more
black participation we should do so in conjunction with an
Oak Park business seminar and work harder
at it by contacting more people of diverse backgrounds.
There are now two different ideas and each
should be followed for different results.
“Diversity has become a cashable skill.” adds
Professor Orfield. If you have worked with an environment
of different races, and religions in it, you
will have many more doors opened for you in business. Companies need
persons of diverse backgrounds to help them in this changing world.
Think how much companies like “Denny’s” could have saved if they had some
diversity training given to their store managers..
MILLIONS !!!!!
“Energetic, articulate people in a group like
this is wonderful. Children should be listening to and included
in these discussions.” adds Orfield.
Think for a moment about how these diverse groups came to Oak Park.
If you are a child whose parents came to Oak Park, you had no choice but
to follow. The young people should be discussing some of these issues
with their friends and persons of other groups.
“Offering a choice of magnet type schools can
help compete with private schools.” adds Professor Orfield
could be something to think about in the future.
Many people have voiced opposition to this plan. I would
prefer our current plan to make each school
a magnet school with the best of all possible worlds in them.
Below are some additional quotes from Mr. Orfield
that should be given some thought and others
action too. There are some additional quotes
from varied speakers to have a look at as well.
aspects of the schools.”
George Bailey
“How are we to establish a collective in a
diverse community?”
“Kids are watching how we grapple with issues”
“We are in a struggle to create some new tools”
“If we want more people in these discussions
to be of color we have to work at getting them here”
Dr. Yanos
“We’re in a raft floating in one direction,
and that direction is a problem. Do we need to do something
about it? Yes, I think that’s why we’re all
here.”
“Unleash the schools, track a variety of integration efforts”
“I like magnet type schools with jazzy curriculums
to attract students.”
Barbara Moore
“Listening is not the same as agreeing.
Keep communicating”
From Group breakouts: These Points Were Brought Up..
1 Urgency is called for and needed in all of these various issues of race and diversity.
2 Diversity is broader than just race. (Two different groups agreed with this statement)
3 Some blacks felt that whites were getting
uncomfortable with increased numbers of blacks
in Oak Park.
We need to keep talking about our views, attitudes,
history, and varied cultures. We will not agree on everything and
in some areas we may not agree on much. If everyone thought by dictates
of their culture,
race or religion it would be easy. One
person could work it out for all of us, with one member from each
group. It would be much simpler and
a lot less exciting for all of us.
Welcome to Oak Park
Report by Ed Vincent
Oak Park President Barbara Furlong Addresses
Oak Park Elected Officials Introduce themselves.
the Opening of the Meeting.
Door on Stage is Opened to Evacuate Noxious
Fumes Orfield Answers Questions
from the Participants.
coming from trucks in the alley. At
first it was
thought there was a gas leak in the building.
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