BATTLE CREEK, Mich.,
Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Michigan has long been a place
that has welcomed a diverse range of people and cultures, but its
history is one filled with significant inequities in treatment and
outcomes for peoples of color. This is the focus of a new report,
"Struggles and Triumphs of Peoples of Color in Michigan," released
by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Michigan Roundtable for
Diversity and Inclusion. The report will also be highlighted at the
Michigan Roundtable's 65th Annual Humanitarian Tribute
Luncheon being held today at the MGM Grand Hotel in Detroit.
The report consists of a series of essays contributed by
historians, academic researchers and community leaders detailing
key historical and cultural moments for African Americans, Native
Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Islander Americans and
Arab Americans in Michigan. The
essays are incredibly useful in providing an understanding of the
many diverse communities that call Michigan home and should be examined by any
and all leaders in the state looking to eradicate racial inequities
for Michigan's children.
"At the Kellogg Foundation, we believe strongly that in order to
put racial inequities behind us, we must first put them in front of
us and include the voices and participation of all people," said
Dr. Gail Christopher, WKKF's vice
president of program strategy and the lead of its America Healing
initiative to support programs that promote racial healing and
address racial inequity. "Through the rich essays captured in this
report, we hope to inspire people to take action to change hearts,
minds, laws and systems to forge a healthier pathway for our home
state of Michigan."
The report links key moments in the state's history to specific
geographic regions within Michigan. For example, one essay focuses on
the history of African Americans, who at first dealt with the
violence of the Ku Klux Klan – whose existence in Michigan is a little known fact – that
forcibly segregated blacks within Detroit. There are also several positive and
hopeful moments detailed, including the tremendous growth of the
Arab American community in the post 9-11 decade – especially in the
city of Dearborn, which is 30
percent Arab American and one of the very few cities in
Michigan to see a population
increase between 2000 and 2010.
"In bringing together the experts who wrote this report, I
sought to model it after Howard
Zinn's 'A People's History of the
United States' that chronicled the labors of everyday people
who sought to
change our country on a large scale," said Matt Hoerauf, Michigan Roundtable for Diversity
and Inclusion's community development manager who edited the
report. "I believe that each community has had within it people who
have struggled for or against inclusion of others. This is a
history that is seldom known in the community, but has a direct
correlation to some of its common strengths and challenges in the
present. I hope that this report encourages local experts to create
similar local peoples' histories and gives community members the
will and the tools to acknowledge histories of discrimination and
work toward reconciliation so that all community members can
thrive."
For more than 80 years, the Kellogg Foundation has been
committed to improving the lives of Michigan's children, with nearly $300 million currently invested in its priority
places of Battle Creek,
Detroit and Grand Rapids, as well as across the state.
WKKF works to engage all who live in and care about Michigan to raise their voices and take action
on important issues related to whole child development, including
education, childhood health and food systems, and family economic
security, all with a strong emphasis on eliminating disparate
outcomes for children based on race and poverty.
"Our community partners throughout Michigan have expressed a strong interest in
receiving credible and thoughtful perspectives on the history and
unique characteristics of the state's many diverse families," said
James McHale, vice president of
program strategy for the Kellogg Foundation. "This report will help
our partners ground their work to erase the racial inequities in
outcomes we see for Michigan's
children of color in the real lived experiences of the communities
they serve."
In addition, the Kellogg Foundation also commissioned "Native
American Children in Michigan," a report authored by David Cournoyer that provides historical context
for the "tenuous" relationship between Michigan's 12 federally-recognized tribes and
the state government, paying particular attention to attempts to
erode Native American education programs and the disproportionate
number of Native children who find themselves in both the child
welfare and juvenile justice systems.
Executive summaries and the full reports are available at
www.wkkf.org/michigan.
About the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and
Inclusion
Since 1941, the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity
and Inclusion has been a not-for-profit civil rights organization
located in Detroit working to
overcome discrimination and racism by crossing racial, religious,
ethnic and cultural boundaries. The organization brings together
community leaders from government, law enforcement, education,
faith, grass roots organizations and business to understand
different points of view and then take action to overcome
structural impediments to inclusion and equity. Its programs
are recognized by national organizations for bringing about
sustainable change. It works to address inequity throughout our
region through a process of recognition,
reconciliation/reorientation and renewal. It strives to build
relationships that create social justice and build sustainable
inclusive communities.
About W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an
independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer,
Will Keith Kellogg, is among the
largest philanthropic foundations in the
United States. Guided by the belief that all children should
have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to
create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their
full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich., and works throughout
the United States and
internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis
is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of
poverty and where children face significant barriers to success.
WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New
Mexico and New Orleans; and
internationally, are in Mexico and
Haiti. For more information, visit
www.wkkf.org.
SOURCE W.K. Kellogg Foundation