Duke Behnke
Jeff Bollier
Appleton Post-Crescent
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2022/06/07/northeast-wisconsin-more-accepting-diversity-but-work-needed/9715435002/
Dr. Yolo Diaz could feel the room take ownership of the Familias Sanas (Healthy Families) initiative.
Diaz and YWCA Greater Green Bay sought to develop a program entirely in Spanish to improve the Hispanic community’s access to health care. They invited residents to the YWCA to brainstorm. Diaz identified areas she wanted to cover: nutrition, physical activity, mental health, disease prevention and environmental health.
It didn’t take long for attendees to add to the list: spiritual health, drug and alcohol abuse and sex education. Their participation was a key step in making the program less of a lecture and more about sharing and empowerment.
Familias Sanas is an example of how community organizations in northeast Wisconsin have recognized the region’s growing racial and ethnic diversity and are consciously working to ensure historically marginalized communities feel welcome and safe and have equal access to everything from education and employment to health care and housing.
Those efforts are showing signs of success.
In a 2021 Brown County LIFE (Leading Indicators for Excellence) Study, 56% of the survey respondents held a positive view of the growing diversity of cultures, compared with 12% who held a negative view.
Five years earlier, the scale of perception was far different. The 2016 Brown County LIFE Study showed only 33% of the respondents had a positive view of diversity and that 30% had a negative view.
In another metric, a 2021 well-being survey conducted by Imagine Fox Cities found 51% of the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) respondents described themselves as thriving, up from 45% in 2019.
Conversely, 46% of the BIPOC respondents described themselves as struggling, down from 53% in 2019.
E-Ben Grisby, co-chair of Celebrate Diversity Fox Cities, has noticed gains in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in recent years, even amid the polarization of politics in the state and nation.
“I think there are a lot of improvements that have been made in the Fox Cities in terms of being a much more welcoming environment when it comes to our business climate, when it comes to a sense of community,” Grisby said.
“I feel like we’re getting a voice,” Austin said. “I never thought I’d be able to talk about being Black in Green Bay. Now we’re a community.”
Black, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous and multiracial people accounted for three-fourths of the population growth in Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago counties between 2010 and 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data.
Nonwhite youth make up about 60% of the students in the Green Bay Area Public School District and 35% of the students in the Appleton Area School District, according to 2021-22 data reported by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
The growth of northeast Wisconsin’s minority populations sometimes catches long-time residents by surprise, Grisby said.
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How to become an ally of marginalized populations
Brown has some straight-forward advice to advance the understanding and appreciation of the different customs, lifestyles and perspectives that make up the fabric of northeast Wisconsin.
“Take the initiative to educate yourself about the various cultures and identities that exist within our community,” he said. “Learn from your co-workers, learn from your neighbors, learn from the youth and understand that each person contributes to the success of our community. Be present and immerse yourself in cultures and opportunities that are different than the ones that are immediately to your left and right.”
Grisby said being an ally for marginalized people doesn’t mean one has to wear a Superman cape and vow to avenge a wrong. It can be as simple as giving someone the time of day or being a sounding board for their ideas.
Bomstad said the region needs to hear from and engage with more people who support diversity.
“If you believe in an inclusive, welcoming community, that is where we really need people to step up, quite frankly,” Bomstad said.
Wello put its approach into action when it received a federal grant to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates in minority populations.
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Read the complete article at the link.
I have noticed during our many jaunts to Wisconsin to visit family that there are many more vibrant ethnic restaurants in the Green Bay/Appleton area than there were when I was in college at Lawrence University in Appleton in the late 1960s.
Our daughter, Anna, also an LU graduate (‘05), was inspired by children of Hmong backgrounds that she met while practice teaching in Appleton to qualify to teach English Language Learners in Wisconsin (Menasha & Walworth).
She now teaches English in the Beloit Public Schools which has a very diverse student body. She and her husband Daniel have hosted foster children of different ethnic backgrounds, one of whom is now their adopted son, our grandson. So, diversity has had a very direct impact on our family.
Cathy and I also noticed when attending our grandson Nathaniel’s band concert at St. Bernard’s Elementary in Green Bay the diversity among the student body, the music teachers, and the audience. Everyone working together, contributing, and enjoying the moment.
El Sarape East in Green Bay is one of our family favorites. We order/go there at least once most times we are in the Bay Area! They have done a great job of combining “Packer culture” with an Hispanic flavor!
Obviously, diversity is contributing to Wisconsin in many other ways beyond the restaurant industry. Wisconsin has always had a strong immigrant history along with a vibrant Native American heritage!
🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!
PWS
06-11-22