Sunday, August 23, 1998

Xerox develops tool kit to teach diversity

By DENISE LAVOIE

Associated Press

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Julie Baskin Brooks is manager of diversity at a company known for being a leader on minority hiring.

But it took a frightening episode with her son to drive home the need to teach racial tolerance long before people enter the work force.

Her son, Kameron, was just 7 when he was confronted by a group of older boys who held a pocket knife to his throat and said, "You're no good because you're burnt."

The episode left both Brooks and her son shaken. But instead of simply getting angry, Brooks, a manager at Xerox, came up with a tool kit to help parents talk to their children about diversity and racial differences.

"I was so incredibly devastated by what happened to my son. I said I can either cry because this terrible thing happened or I can fight and try to prevent this from happening to anyone else," said Brooks, who is black.

Since it was first offered in June, more than 1,500 Xerox employees have asked for the free kit, geared toward children ages 3 to 8.

The kit, called: "Who am I? Who are you? Raising Children in a Diverse World," contains a primer for parents on what they can do to help their children develop healthy attitudes about differences between people. It also includes multi-colored construction paper to show children the different colors of people's skin.

An activity book includes various suggestions on how to explore differences with children, including baking "people cookies" using dough that allows children to sculpt them to look like real people -- in different shapes, sizes and colors.

Other suggested activities include: making a family heritage album to help kids learn about earlier generations; learning American Sign Language expressions to discuss physical disabilities with children; and using a globe or atlas to teach children about different parts of the world and the people who live there.

Joseph Cicero, a housekeeping supervisor at Xerox's Rochester, N.Y., plant, has used the kit with his 12-year-old son, Joey.

Cicero, who is of Italian heritage, said he wanted his son to also learn about different cultures and people.

"When he's going to school, he hears all these little remarks about this type of person and that type of person -- prejudice -- and I just wanted to open him up, so if he heard it, he would know how to handle it," Cicero said. "I wanted him to know that everybody is good."

Xerox, which has won several national awards for hiring and promoting minorities, has a U.S. work force made up of 14 percent blacks, 7 percent Hispanics and 5 percent Asians and others. Women make up 33 percent of the total U.S. work force of 50,000.

While many companies offer diversity training to their employees, the tool kit is unusual because it is designed to reach not only employees, but also their children.

"This takes that training and development a step further and turns the student into the teacher, in this case, the employee," said Barry Lawrence, a spokesman for the Society for Human Resource Management.

"Not only do they teach their children about diversity, but it also helps bolster their feelings about diversity within themselves," he said.

WFD, a Boston-based human resources consulting firm, helped Xerox develop the tool kit. So far, it has been offered exclusively to Xerox employees, but beginning next year, WFD will offer it to its other corporate clients.

Judy Santiago-Cruse, a Xerox manager, plans to use the tool kit with her 7-year-old son Jason. A few months ago, her son -- then in first grade -- was called a "black boy" by a second-grade student.

"We talk about sex education -- I think this is even more important," she said.

Brooks' son, now 9, says he feels "mad and sad" when he thinks about the boys who threatened him. He said he hopes his mother's efforts will do some good, but he knows the tool kit won't correct all prejudice.

"Just because me and my mom did something to change it doesn't mean people will stop being mean."