I debated with myself whether I would post this comment, and decided to do so because it may be (to use a currently popular phrase) a "teaching moment".

I believe that multicultural competency is more than what Bill D wrote about his friend in his 02 Jan 10 - 01:23 PM post to this thread.

I believe that multicultural competency is more than personal responsibility-as Amos wrote in his 02 Jan 10 - 02:56 PM post- to develop and utilize "the ability to deal with people from different cultures comeptently, acheiving desired ends without embarassing or alienating the participants".

In addition to personal cultural competency, I believe that there should also be institutional cultural competency. What I mean by this is that institutions should have and should vigorously implement rules & guidelines which support cultural competency and address incidences where cultural competency does not occur.

On a larger scale, "Protected class" is a term used in United States anti-discrimination law. The term describes groups of people who are protected from discrimination and harassment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class

The majority of persons posting to this institution probably strive to be multiculturally competent in their personal interactions. However-based on my five years plus of regular posting on this forum-I have concluded that Mudcat Cafe as an institition, does a poor job of "protecting people from discrimination and harrassment". This may extend beyond race/ethnicity/religious affiliation etc. However, in this post I am speaking of how Mudcat administrators and other posters deal with instances in which people are targeted because of their race.

I quote a post in Mudcat's FAQ:

"We believe that Mudcatters are blessed with common sense and admirable judgment, and should have little need of rules. The Powers That Be at Mudcat are tolerant of just about everything but intolerance."
thread.cfm?threadid=126099
-snip-

However, Mudcat's FAQ does not clearly spell out what the consequences are for posting intolerant comments.

In February 16, 2006 I started a thread called "Responses to Racism" thread.cfm?threadid=88950. And in Feb 25, 2008, I started a thread called "Mudcat Is Difficult For People Of Color"thread.cfm?threadid=108931. These are only two of the threads that I started on this subject. In other threads I posted comments in which I tried to understand and asked for help in understanding what the best reactions should be when I and/or others felt that there were incidences of racism/cultural incompetency on this forum.

I'm sure there are those who doubt that there are such incidences. I'm also sure that there are those who believe that there have been such incidences but when they occur,the best response is to consider the source, develop a thick skin, ignore those who post such comments, and otherwise act like those posts never happened.

For those who doubt that these types of posts occur and are tolerated on Mudcat here is one example that was posted in response to an informational post that I wrote after not posting on this forum for about 1 1/2 months:

Subject: RE: Origins: What a Jimmy-john is?
From: GUEST,,gargoyle - PM
Date: 30 Dec 09 - 09:30 PM

Az ol gal....it hab ben a grevin me tar bul bout ur lonliness.

Yo b in d only "parson o color" on d mudcat....


So, tell you what I am going to do sister,
For the next decade we, thee and me, will be legally bound together.
The government census is coming around and I am walking over to your side and declaring myself, "a person of color."


It is good for me.
It is good for the family.
It is good for the city.
It is good for the pity of the poor race.


You made me see the light. Right On Sister! When two or more are gathered as one race....


A new decade bound together in deliverance. Amen sister.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle


love sister love.

end of quote

I've just reached a point where "considering the source", "developing a thick skin", "ignoring those who post such comments", and "otherwise acting like those posts never happened" has become untenable for me. I have decided that in my leisure time I don't need to deal with such incidences or the possibility of those incidences, and the knowledge that, when those incidences occur, they are likely to be tolerated by administration and ignored by other posters. Furthermore, I believe that such posts turn off potential persons of color who might have been interested in posting to this forum.

I'm sorry about this. I will miss discussing various topics with folks here, but I am glad that I may be able to interact with some people who post here on other venues.

Best wishes,

Azizi