A Seat at the Table

The rest of the list

Wally Haas — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:25:28 +0000

I know I wrote I would post three statements a day, but I decided to do the rest of the conversation stopper list today. You don’t have to comment on each one. Just pick a favorite or two and let us know your thoughts. The full list appears in Sunday’s print edition.

10. I was just joking
11. Things are a lot better than they used to be. Don’t you agree?
12. We’d hire more women and people of color, but are they qualified?
13. I love everyone.
14. Do you really think it’s that bad?
15. I’m so glad you’re not like one of them.
16. You know, you’re a credit to your people.
17. You don’t see other races complaining.
18. I think it’s reverse racism/sexism.
19. America is the best place to live.
20. Some of my best friends are colored.
21. You speak such good English, where did you learn it from?

The next three conversation stoppers

Wally Haas — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:06:40 +0000

Good comments so far. Here are the next three in the list of 21.

7. There are lots of other diversity issues other than race and gender.

8. I’ve never seen that happen before. Are you sure it happened?

9. Why does everything have to be so politically correct?

Three more ways to stop a conversation about diversity

Wally Haas — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:45:31 +0000

See the previous post for some excellent responses to yesterday’s “21 ways to stop a conversation about diversity.”

The list is according to Lee Mun Wah of Stirfry Seminars & Consulting. If you want to know more about Stirfry HERE’s a link.

Here are the next three sentences in the list of 21.

4. Racism/sexism happens all over the world.

5. I think some people use diversity as an excuse.

6. I think identifying into groups only further divides us.

Conversation stoppers

Wally Haas — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:23:04 +0000

One of the exercises we did during last month’s National Conversation on Race seminar was to discuss the “21 ways to stop a conversation about diversity.” The list is according to Lee Mun Wah of Stirfry Seminars & Consulting. If you want to know more about Stirfry HERE’s a link.

I’ll post three samples a day for the rest of the week.

Here are the first three. Tell me why you think these would stop a conversation, or if you have no idea why they would, tell me that also.

1. I don’t see color. We’re all just human beings.

2. We have more similarities than differences.

3. I think deep down we’re all the same.

Bruce Quast on Mr. Mustache

Wally Haas — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:27:19 +0000

Cartoonist Bruce Quast drew this cartoon about Bruce Lewis, Mr. Mustache.

Cartoon tribute to Mr. Mustache

Wally Haas — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:08:09 +0000

John DeRango submitted this cartoon about the late Bruce Lewis. If I get more tributes, I’ll post them here as I get them.

Remembering Mr. Mustache

Wally Haas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:31:10 +0000

I was off yesterday, so I missed the news about Bruce Lewis’ death. He was a wonderful man and a gifted artist. He will be missed. My condolences to his wife, Trudy, and the rest of the Lewis family.

I’ve been contacted by one local cartoonist who will contribute a cartoon about Mr. Mustache. I’ll post it here as soon as I get it and, as usual, it will appear in the Sunday print edition.

YWCA racism conference Friday

Wally Haas — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:51:54 +0000

Four members of the Editorial Board will attend tomorrow’s National Conversation on Race seminar at Rockford College. That includes both main editorial writers so if you try to call us tomorrow, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you Monday.

We think this is an important event as do about 225 other people. The Rockford School District, Rock Valley College and the city of Rockford will be well-represented.

Lee Mun Wah, one of the nation’s leading educators on diversity, will lead us in a series of conversations and exercises on racial barriers and understanding.

This is a difficult conversation that Rockford must have. I applaud YWCA CEO Kris Kieper and her organization for their willingness to tackle the issue.

Flash: McKenna, Murphy info

Wally Haas — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:00:42 +0000

I don’t know how Andy McKenna and Matt Murphy will fare during next year’s elections (read Chuck Sweeny HERE), but the Republican duo is the first to provide me campaign info on a flash drive.

It’s not exactly ground-breaking, but it is smart to send media something small and useable instead of the thick packets I got during previous campaigns. Some candidates would provide CDs, but most were old-fashioned and used paper.

Of course, I’m sure other candidates will try to befriend me on Facebook.

Illinois primary is too early

Wally Haas — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:42:50 +0000

That’s the opinion of the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. HERE’S an editorial about it.

One fact mentioned, that I hadn’t calculated yet, is that absentee voting will start right after Christmas. That seems insane. With the holiday season about to begin, I can’t imagine too many people will be excited about the primary.

I thought the March primary was pretty good. It was far enough away from the holidays so they weren’t a distraction. Also, not much goes on in February and March so folks can concentrate more on elections.

Locally, lots of people filed to run. Read the story HERE.