Fighting prejudice

By Lynda Helm
The Collegian

Stereotypes and prejudices can be commonplace among an extremely diverse population, but Fresno State’s National Coalition Building Institute is attempting to remedy this.

The National Coalition Building Institute is scheduled to present “Welcoming Diversity: A Prejudice Reduction Workshop” Saturday.

This interactive workshop is geared toward students and requires audience participation, Matilde Gonzalez, a graduate assistant with the Women’s Resource Center said. The participants will come up with the topics they would like to cover. The list can include height, disabilities, weight and religion. The workshop is meant to help stop all prejudices the participants discuss.

“You can’t change others but you can change yourself,” Erika Mendoza, a social work major, said.

Mendoza attended the same workshop in September.

“We work to change people’s heart, not their minds,” Gonzalez said.“We believe that is where change happens.”

The workshop will begin with recognizing a number of differences in each person.

Participants will then discuss the prejudices and stereotypes related to each topic, Gonzalez said.

Each person chooses a group that represents him or her them and looks at stereotypes within that group, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said when she attended two groups she chose were women and Catholics.

As a woman she said she would like men to look at her face while speaking to her. She also said she is a Catholic but when she tells this to certain people it seems difficult for them not to link Catholicism with sexually abusive clergy.

The workshop also helps with how to be aware and stop using slurs through role-playing, Gonzalez said. Using simulations, trainers show ways to easily interrupt the offensive conversation.

Because the participants choose what topics they would like to discuss each workshop can be a different experience, Gonzalez said.

When Mendoza and social work major Nohemi Acuna went in September each person chose a partner.

In the first round only positive words were spoken of each topic. The second time each person was required to spill anything that came to his or her mind. No filters were allowed.

“It was awkward to speak to the group without filters,” Mendoza said.

“I learned that certain prejudices that you have about one ethnicity or culture isn’t necessarily generalized to that group,” Acuna said.” Many groups experience the same problems.”

After 9/11 University President John D. Welty wanted to create a comfortable environment for the diverse population at Fresno State, Gonzalez said.

In order to do this Welty secured funds to create the NCBI. The NCBI is a team of trainers who help present a number of workshops each semester.

The team began with six members and now consists of over 2,000 students, staff, faculty and community members. Every trainer has attended a workshop.

“I attended a workshop and loved it so I decided to become a trainer,”Gonzalez said.

This workshop is presented two times every semester.

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