Diversity Calendars and Celebrations
[Image: Microsoft Office Clip Art]
"Dedicating a month to a certain part of the population is the government’s way of making the group feel that its history, heritage and struggles are recognized by the nation. Jason Low, a publisher focused on books promoting diversity said 'At best, ethnic heritage months increase awareness for a finite amount of time. Once the month has ended, the very problem that the given heritage month was designed to address resets itself, and "those books" are put away and ignored for another year.'"
According to an article about Jewish Heritage Month, heritage months may play an important role in "looking inward and educating the ... community that American history is also their own history." Even if a heritage month doesn't "live up to the dream that some people had...we’re better off having such a month than not having it.'" Guttman, N. (2015, May 30). Why does no one care about Jewish Heritage Month?
Some pages of this guide have been adapted with permission from Austin Community College Dimensions of Diversity guide