"Find Ways to Teach Tolerance," highlights the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and focuses on Assets #27 and #34, equality and social justice, and cultural competency.

Download MS Word
Download Text

Asset Story Archive
12/02 Easing the Transition from Youth to Adulthood

11/02 Asset # 37, Personal Power

10/02 Asset #36, Peaceful Conflict Resolution

09/02 Asset #24, Bonding to School

08/02 Asset #7, Community Values Youth

07/02 Asset #38, Self-esteem

06/02 Asset #40, Positive View of Personal Future

05/02 Asset #32, Planning and Decision Making

04/02 Asset #29, Honesty

03/02 Asset #31, Restraint

Find Ways to Teach Tolerance

This month, we observe a national holiday commemorating slain Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday is an annual reminder to a nation still exploring the complexities of racism and oppression in our society. Dr. King's dream that someday people of our nation "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" remains unrealized for many people of color.

Equality and social justice are rights that not all Americans possess. These rights come from a common belief that every person has strengths to offer in a society, regardless of their abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics different from one's own. As our country grows more and more diverse, the struggle to secure these rights for all Americans continues.

Today's young people are growing up in a much more ethnically diverse society than their parents' generation before them. The messages - both verbal and nonverbal - that young people receive from family members and others in their communities have a great deal to do with how young people respond to the diverse people around them. As young people explore their personal identity and how it fits into a broader community context, they have their "antennas up" for information about how others respond to people of their own ethnic or social background, as well as those from other backgrounds.

Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY), a statewide organization working with communities to strengthen young people's lives, connects positive youth development and cultural competency. Says Maria Guajardo Lucero, executive director of ACY, "When young people see diverse groups of people interact with respect and compassion, they learn important lessons about equality, tolerance and cultural competency."

To model and teach the values of cultural competence, ACY provides the following tips to adults:

- Affirm a young person's curiousity about race and ethnicity. Point out that people come in many shades.
- Read books with multicultural and tolerance themes together.
- Together, research your family history and learn about your cultural heritage.
- Point out stereotypes and cultural misinformation depicted in movies, television shows, computer games and other media.
- Work to promote tolerance in your own community. For example, a group of students and adults in the Cherry Creek School District in south Denver got together to discuss how to improve their community and came up with the pledge: "We are a community of individuals striving for a respectful and caring environment. This will be accomplished through understanding and acceptance of every individual in our community. Make a difference!" Each attendee signed it.

Building healthy communities for our children to grow up in means learning and teaching the importance of valuing all its members. In the words of Dr King, "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."

To learn more about the developmental assets and what you can do to help young people succeed, contact ACY.

Get monthly news on asset-building, tips, upcoming events and asset stories delivered right to your desktop by subscribing to the ACY Breaking News e-mail. Send your subscription request to kirsten@assetsforcoyouth.org.