MULTICULTURAL VOICES
THE INSTITUTE FOR MULTICULTURAL RESEARCH AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
·SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY·
SPRING 2004
VOL. 8 NO. 1
From the Editor’s Desk
I would like to welcome our new members, Drs.
Lisa Hines and Halaevalu Vakalahi, to our Institute.
They are two of the five new faculty members that
our School recruited this year. Their presence has
further enhanced our school’s racial and ethnic
profile. Therefore, in this issue, we invited four of
our faculty members, together with two of our
MSW students, to share with us their perceptions
and ideas of their identity.
The Institute belongs to the SFSU School of
Social Work community. We always treasure our
students’ involvement. In this issue, we are pleased
to have an MSW student, Jenny, who submitted her
review of two video materials on racism, which are
useful for anti-racist social work education.
As we promised in our last issue, the
Institute will take a more active role in organizing
activities that relate to our mandate. In this issue,
we are delighted to report on the Intercultural
Communication Forum which was co-sponsored by
the San Francisco Neighborhood Centers Together,
a coalition of eleven neighborhood centers in San
Francisco. With a positive review from the
participants, we decided to organize a series of
workshops to further operationalize a dialogical
model presented in the Forum.
With the leadership of one of our new
members, Dr. Lisa Hines, the Institute is going to
organize two special events. A Race and Culture
Summit of the School and a Forum on Social
Justice and Social Service will be held on April 1
and 23 respectively. Details of these two events are
included in this issue. We will also report the details
of the two events in next issue. We look forward to
your joining us in the upcoming events. If you are
interested in any of these events, please feel free to
email Dr. Hines or me.
Miu Chung Yan, Editor
Email: mcyan@sfsu.edu
Voices of Members of the Community
It is our tradition to invite students in each issue to
talk about their own perceived identity. This time,
we also invited four of our faculty members to talk
about their own identity. San Francisco State
University School of Social Work is one of the most
diverse social work education institutes in the States.
Although no classification can precisely capture
people’s own perception and experience of their
own identity, our full time faculty can roughly be
classified as three African-Americans, six AsianPacific-Islander-Americans and -non-Americans,
one Caucasian, two Jewish-Americans, two mixedraced Americans, and one Latino-American. We
believe that our own lived experiences, particularly
as in related to our educator’s role, are worth
sharing with our readers.
Liz Dunbar Knox
Assistant Professor
MSW Program Coordinator
Almost invariably, I culturally identify myself as a
person of African descent. At the same time, I am
quite cognizant that being an American
distinguishes me from my African roots. In Darder
(1995), the scholar Akinyela derived the term
Americanized Africans to capture the essence of the
worlds that have encompassed the once free, then
enslaved and once again freed slave. There is
reality in this classification because the obvious
historical connection of enslaved Africans in
America, has in many ways, affected who I am and
how I respond culturally.
Though my history is filled with the pain, I
have come to very comfortable place where I feel
very liberated. I can talk about my identity without
the anger, guilt, or feeling some degree of loss
which are all a part of my identity journey. The
drawings of Tom Feelings (1995) chronicled the
forced trip of slaves through the Middle Passage.
He poignantly states that "the joy is in the
MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
pain". There is a resounding truth in this passionate
statement. My journey has been, at times, painful
but I have also experienced the joy of my existence.
I see myself on an endless road of self-discovery. It
means being able to let go---through healing--- and
moving in a positive direction that has led me to my
own humanity.
I have taken this attitude into my work as a
professional social worker and now as a professor
where I have an opportunity to teach others from
my experience. I maintain a high degree of
assuredness that I can make a difference. This has
become my transformative liberation.
of my Chinese heritage, its traditions and customs.
I am also interracially married to an African
American male, and that makes me a wife, an
“instant” stepmother, and “instant” stepgrandmother. For the past eight years, I have been
immersed in two cultures and have personally
endured the obstacles of prejudice and racism from
my family members. It took nearly five years for
me to convince my family to accept my husband.
During those five years, I had to help my family
“unlearn” and forget their preconceptions and
stereotypic thinking. That was a large task. Now,
my family has had an opportunity to know my
husband for his personal attributes and not base
their judgments on his race or other media
stereotypes. In addition to the above identities, I am
also a student.
While journeying through life, I seldom
think of my identity in such a categorical way. I
look at the many roles in which I play for myself
and for others. Even though I do not think about all
my identities at once, I know that others may not
view me the way that I perceive myself. Hence I
created my second list of “other-imposed” identities
by remembering past experiences as well as
assuming what others may see as my identity.
Some of the identities that others may perceive me
to be are: an ethnic minority, female, an immigrant,
and a foreigner. My list of “other-imposed”
identities was not as long as my self-imposed
identities and I also had a more difficult time
thinking of the “other-imposed” identities.
According to our in-class discussion on the
need to understand concepts of diversity, ethnicity,
race, culture, and gender, we have unique
experiences that shape our cultural awareness and
give rise to a different lens with which we view the
world. Whether or not culture defines the
dimensions of our identity, culture is a valuable tool
for acquiring resources. Culture is not fixed, nor
stable; it is a negotiation process. Culture is not
deterministic. We can accept our different cultures
but do not have to identify with them.
It is important to understand the concepts of
diversity, ethnicity, race, culture, and gender as it
relates to my life and how it affects my social work
practice. I feel that it is vital that we examine our
culture and be aware that there are other cultures
Reference:
Darder, A. (1995) Culture and Difference: Critical
Perspectives on the Bicultural Experience in the
United States. Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey.
Feelings, T. (1995).The Middle Passage: White
Ships/Black Cargo. New York: Dial Books.
Shirley Chen Ledbetter
MSW Year 1 Student
On the first day of class, I was asked to create two
lists. One list was for the identities that I placed
upon myself, and the other list was for the identities
that are imposed on me by society or others. Before
I could write down the identities, I had to reflect
upon who I was and what I considered to be my
identity. What is my ethnicity? What is my race?
What is my cultural background? What are my
religious beliefs? What is my socioeconomic
status? Are there any other factors that help
identify me? Those were some of the questions that
I contemplated while compiling my list of identities.
What I realized is that I am not merely a
“single” identity. I am a native San Franciscan and
second-generation, Chinese American female raised
in a traditional Chinese family. I am bilingual and
can speak multiple Chinese dialects, such as
Toishanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin, fluently.
Growing up in a Chinese family has helped
construct my cultural background with knowledge
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MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
present in the world. As individuals within a
society, we all have multiple identities or roles
which guide us through life. We live in such a
diverse society, that it is essential for us to
understand the complexities of multiculturalism as
it pertains to our identities in this society. I believe
that we are all multi-faceted individuals who have
much to contribute to the society—we are all
multicultural individuals. My encounters with
different groups of people of different ethnic
backgrounds, races, nationalities, genders, and
religious beliefs shaped me into a multidimensional
individual. My goal is to strive for multicultural
awareness within myself.
parents who have overcome so much whether it is
domestic violence or financial insecurity. Those
who struggle and need my help are the ones who
fuel me.
Through my variegated career path I have
accomplished a lot I am proud of. The greatest
pride I have experienced though has been as a
lecturer for the School of Social Work at San
Francisco State University since 1999. It has been a
place where I felt reborn when I was a student in the
MSW program from 1993-95, and it is a place that
still feels like home in times of chaos. I know that I
am lucky to have a place like this school where the
students teach me as much or more than what I
teach them. I can look at my students and see their
ethnic and cultural diversity and see that I can
contribute my own cultural heritage to the mix.
My cultural identity is tied closely to my
professional identity. I am a Korean American
Woman Social Worker. I feel that I have continued
to evolve and attempt to understand what it means
to be a social worker who continues to work in the
community, as a medical social worker and who
also teaches at San Francisco State. I feel that the
students know that striving for community means
stretching yourself further so that you may bring
people together and be an active member of society.
That knowing oneself is an eternal struggle, but it
makes life worth living.
Jenny Kwak Ow, LCSW
Part-time Lecturer
Since I was three years old I have struggled to find
my place in this world. That is when my family
immigrated to the United States from Korea and
uprooted me from the familiar. That is when I first
had to fend for myself in a new language and
culture. Perhaps that is why I have lived the last 30
years feeling at times lost in translation.
The work I have done these past 12 years
has helped shape my identity. I feel I am home in
the Bay Area and know that my work keeps me
focused. Social Work is a career that gives me
more than what I give in return. Today, I do social
work because I love it when I make connections
with clients and can help them achieve their goals.
I do it so that my students can understand that the
field is wide, the road long, but the breadth is
amazing. You can be so many different things to
different people and can create change amidst
career change. Like my clients, I have jumped
through different hoops and become a much more
comprehensive social worker.
Through my
different job responsibilities and agencies I’ve
worked at, I have learned what it means to be
flexible and adaptable.
When you help children who have been
abused- sexually or physically and see how resilient
they still are it is awe-inspiring. It is the same with
Sally Regalado
MSW Year 1 Student
I made a list of what categories I identify with, this
list was long and it tied me to other groups. I am
Latin, Central American, Salvadorena, Mestiza
(Indian & Spanish), bicultural, bilingual, female,
single, daughter, sister, eldest, friend, catholic,
democrat, social worker, grad student, MSW
student, dancer, lover of art and music, etc. The
identities imposed on me are Latina, American,
Filipino, Hawaiian, Middle Eastern, Puerto Rican,
female, young, monolingual, etc. The categories I
chose to identify my self are not fixed nor bound;
they are changing and expanding over time as
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MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
mentioned in the article by Susan Wright. The
categories imposed on me are not only superficial
but dependent on what context they find me in, thus
forming stereotypes. If I am with my “Latina”
friends others will assume I am Latina, if I want to
introduce myself to a “Filipino” they assume that I
am “Filipino” etc. People and myself, when I first
meet somebody I look for cues, physical
characteristic, mannerisms and maybe previous
knowledge to help me organize my thoughts and
behavior. When I first met two males with grey
pants, white shirts and a name tag that read the
church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints I
automatically knew they were Mormon. Based on
previous information, I knew to address them as
Elders and felt comfortable addressing them as such
but I was concerned that all they wanted was to
convert me.
This prejudgment limited my
conversation to just a quick hello. Had these two
males been dressed like lay people in a party I
would have had a different encounter.
So is identity for my benefit or for the
benefit of others? I have come to realize that it’s
both. I think it benefits all to acknowledge people
for who they are whatever that maybe. On an
individual level I believe this can be achieved by
exercising my lens until I see people through a
magnified lens. The magnified lens will give me
the ability to acknowledge the bigger group people
belong to by ethnicity, race, and culture but also the
small subgroups that they identify with. This
permits me to see the person as a multidimensional
person, different and diverse.
It is therefore important for us to understand
our identity so that we can negotiate with our
surrounding for our benefit, and resist the
dominant’s group who formulate and impose
negative or glorified labels to the minority groups in
order to maintain their resources and privileges.
One’s self-identity is shaped by many forces, both
external and internal. From the time we are born,
we are bombarded with environmental factors that
influence who we are and how we identify relative
to society and the world. Many times, society
defines us, but we differentially internalize multiple
factors from the environment.
As one case example, I will briefly describe
how my identity was influenced by micro, mezzo,
and macro variables. I will especially focus on the
latter two because they reveal how our identities are
often constructed by external forces at the mezzo
and macro levels and internalized at the micro level.
For the purpose of this paper, I use the term micro
when addressing self and family factors; mezzo
when referring to organizational and community
factors, and macro when connecting larger societal
factors.
Let me begin at the macro level. The
shaping of one’s Identity is strongly linked to the
policies passed by the nation state within which one
is situated. These policies reflect the climate,
context, attitudes, and beliefs – all of which also
influence one’s identity. As an Asian American, I
was affected by the policies, programs, and
practices directed toward persons of Asian ancestry.
The U.S., where I was born and raised, has a long
history of anti-Asian sentiments (and economic selfinterests) that drove local, state, and federal
governments to pass punitive, discriminatory, and
exclusionary policies. Some examples include
exclusion from immigration; ineligibility for
naturalization; restrictions on land use and
ownership (alien land laws); imposition of poll
taxes; and restrictions, exclusions, and incarceration
(of Japanese Americans during World War II).
With reference to the latter, I will specify
how macro policy impinged on mezzo and micro
variables, both of which, in turn, affected my selfidentity. Within the Japanese American community
(mezzo level), one’s identity is strongly linked to
the family’s World War II experiences after the U.S.
Government passed Executive Order 9066. This
federal policy led to the en masse exclusion and/or
concentration camp incarceration of all persons of
Japanese ancestry residing in the U.S. Whether one
was a U.S.-born citizen (as my parents and more
Rita Takahashi
Professor
Internal and External Forces Shaping Selfidentity
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MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
than two-thirds of the others were) did not matter.
This ingrained strong senses of oppression,
inequality and injustice.
Although 62 years have passed since the 19
February 1942 executive order was issued, one’s
identity is still influenced by the direct and indirect
experiences emanating from the concentration camp
policies. Affinities within the Japanese American
community have been maintained through the years,
based on which camp one was (or was not) held in.
My identity within the community, for example, is
connected to the World War II experiences of my
parents.
Even if I was never in concentration camps
located at Santa Anita, California (and unlike my
mother, I did not reside in a smelly horse stall at the
race track), or Rohwer, Arkansas (because I was not
yet born), I am still an identified part of those
groups because my mother and her family were
incarcerated in both places. I am also connected to
the group defined as “voluntary” movers because
my father’s family moved inland to Idaho from
Seattle to avoid going into the concentration camp
(which explains why I was born and raised in
Idaho).
Because of the negative attitudes and
oppression at the macro level, many within the
Japanese American community tried to modify their
identities, names and behaviors so they will be more
in line with what they perceived as that of the
dominant majority. Many changed their names (my
mother, Ayako, became Joyce and my father,
Yoshio, became Frank, for example) and avoided
giving their children Japanese names (I was named
after the famous 1940s actress, Rita Hayworth).
Some preferred to eat sandwiches when in the
company of the perceived dominant majority, and
rice balls when with family and other Japanese
Americans (this has certainly changed now, as rice
and sushi are commonly consumed by all).
Others carried over the U.S. Government’s
wide-ranging “Americanization” and “assimilation”
policies and programs, which were designed to
make “minorities” more like the “White majority.”
During World War II, government officials
restricted or discouraged the use of Japanese
language in group meetings and this became self-
imposed long after the restrictions ended. This, as
we know, is an example of internalized oppression.
Many within the Japanese American
community (especially those in areas with few
Japanese Americans) submerged language and
some aspects of cultural background. For instance,
my parents did not teach any of their post-World
War II children (all born in the 1940s) the Japanese
language. My siblings and I received the message
that speaking Japanese was not only unnecessary,
but also undesirable in the U.S.. Further, we
understood that we were to blend with the majority.
I vividly recall the day when a neighbor drove into
our driveway while we were eating dinner. My
mother immediately went around the table and
collected all the chop sticks and replaced them with
forks before the neighbor got to our door. Such
unstated actions send powerful messages affecting
one’s internalized sense of identity.
This brief article conveys how my identity
was shaped by the aggregate of multiple external
and internal forces. Space does not permit greater
detail and more examples. Whether the variables
were explicit (e.g. federal policies) or implicit (e.g.
actions in the context, not words), each were
powerful. Micro, mezzo, and macro factors are not
mutually exclusive. As interconnected, interrelated,
and interactive forces, they come together to shape
one’s self-identity.
A Review of
Anti-Racist
Video Materials
Many social work educators have been using video
materials to facilitate the teaching. Jenny submitted this
short article to the Multicultural Voices. We found it
useful for us to share her review with people who
concern about antiracism.
Jenny Kenny-Baum
MSW Year 2 Student
Video One: Two Towns of Jasper
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MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
In 1998, in the town of Jasper, Texas, James Byrd
Jr., an African-American man, was brutally
murdered by three White men who viscously beat
him and chained him to the back of their pick up
truck. dragging him for three miles to his death. In
1999, two friends, Whitney Dow and Marco
Williams, went in search of answers to this horrific
act of racially motivated violence. In Two Towns
of Jasper, Dow and Williams take two film crews,
one White and one Black, and separately interview
the two sides of the segregated town of Jasper,
chronicling the course of the three murder trials.
This brilliantly filmed documentary is
emotionally wrenching. The filmmakers interview
law officials, local residents and friends and family
of both the Byrd family and the convicted
murderers. The filmmakers’ relationships with the
locals are evident in the way they honestly reveal
themselves and their opinions about race relations
before the segregated camera crews. The film crew
creates a platform for residents to speak and
ultimately illustrates the systemic racism that exists
for African-Americans; from the segregated town
cemetery to the removal of Martin Luther King Jr.
day by the school district. The inability for most
Whites in Jasper to acknowledge their part in the
racism that exists in their community is chilling.
Two Towns of Jasper is an incredibly compelling
and powerful film that is a must see for those
interested in an honest portrayal of race relations in
the United States.
speak honestly and openly about how racism,
sexism and homophobia have affected their lives.
The result is two films. In Last Chance for Eden,
Part One, Mun Wah encourages the group of 11 (6
women and 5 men), to share their lives, their stories,
their anger and their pain with each other. The
group (including the facilitators) of 3 AfricanAmericans, 4 Caucasians, 1 Latino, 1 NativeAmerican, 2 Asian-Americans not only share their
experiences, but they confront each other and the
facilitators in an honest dialogue about how racism
and homophobia have manifested in their lives.
Mun Wah encourages the participants to
take risks, to sit in their personal pain and the pain
of others and to examine what is learned in that
place of pain. The result is both emotional and
educational. Vulnerable moments continued to
emerge throughout the film, in particular when Mun
Wah invites the participants to ask the questions
they’ve always wanted to ask each other. A
question is posed to the members of Color, “When
do you feel safe with White people?” and to the
Caucasian members, “When have you yourself been
racist? Give specific examples.” This film has
layers of depth, pain and ultimately, hope.
Mun Wah, Lee. (Director/Producer). (2002). Last
Chance for Eden, Part One [Videotape]. Oakland,
CA: Stir-Fry Productions.
Dow, Whitney. (Director/Producer), & Williams,
Marco (Director/Producer). (2002). Two Towns of
Jasper [Videotape]. New York, NY: Two Tones
Production, Inc.
Activities Announcement
Video Two: Last Chance for Eden, Part One
Intercultural Communication Forum
Acclaimed Director and Producer of The Color of
Fear, Lee Mun Wah opens his latest film, Last
Chance for Eden, Part One with this reflection,
“Perhaps this is our last chance and maybe if we
were to live it as if this were our last opportunity,
we wouldn’t waste a moment.” Mun Wah and his
female co-facilitator capture the emotional process
of nine group members over the course of two
weekend retreats as they encourage the group to
Readers may remember that in our last issue, we
mentioned that the Institute was going to organize
an Intercultural Communication Forum. I am
delightfully to report that the Forum was
successfully held last November 7, 2003 at the
Mission Neighborhood Center. This event was
sponsored by the San Francisco Neighborhood
Center (SFNCT), a community partner of the
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MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
Institute. Totally, about 50 frontline workers from
seven neighborhood centers participated in the
Forum. With input from members of the SFNCT, a
dialogical model was developed and presented by a
team of SFSU faculty, Dr. Victoria Chen, faculty
member from the Speech and Communication
Department, Dr. Singkin Yue, former member of
the Psychology Counselling Service, and Dr. Miu
Chung Yan, faculty member of the School of Social
Work. It was decided that follow-up workshops will
be conducted to further operationalize the model.
For those who are interested in the Forum and the
Model please contact Miu Chung Yan at
mcyan@sfsu.edu.
Publication of NCORED Network News and Call
for Articles
The National Association of Social Workers
(NASW) publishes an online newsletter produced
by its National Committee on Racial and Ethnic
Diversity (NCORED). To view the latest NCORED
Network
News,
please
visit:
http://www.socialworkers.org/diversity/NCORED%20N
ewsletter092003.pdf.
NCORED will be publishing another newsletter this year,
and it invites diversity-related articles (see the abovementioned newsletter for examples) from NASW
members. For more information, please contact Rita
Takahashi at ritatak@sfsu.edu.
Race and Culture Summit
NASW Revisions to Diversity-related Policies
The Institute is going to co-host a Race and Culture
Summit for the School of Social Work on April 1.
The purposes of the Summit are through dialogue
among members of the School, including faculty,
staff and students, to review the racial and cultural
issues in classroom teaching, field internship and
curriculum. The event will be held from 10:00 am
to 4:00 pm at the Rosa Park room located at the
Cesar Chavez Student Center.
In 2005, NASW will make and revise policies at its
Delegate Assembly. In preparation, the NCORED
has agreed to review and revise four of NASW’s
diversity-related policy statements, including:
1. Cultural Competence in the Social Work
Profession (beginning on p. 71, Social Work
Speaks)
2. Racism (beginning on p. 287, Social Work
Speaks)
3. Affirmative Action (beginning on p. 16,
Social Work Speaks)
4. Gender, Ethnic, and Race-Based Workplace
Discrimination (beginning on p. 152, Social
Work Speaks)
Social Justice and Social Service Forum
The Institute has the honor to invite Dr. Gordon
Lewis, an African-American Scholar who has
published extensively on race and justice issues to
be a keynote speaker of a special forum on social
justice and social service. This event is scheduled
for April 23, 2004 at a local community agency. Dr.
Lewis’s speech will be discussed together with a
few presentations from frontline colleagues who
have been actively participating in social justice
issues in the community. Please contact Dr. Lisa
Hines at ldhines@sfsu.edu or Dr. Miu Chung Yan
at mcyan@sfsu.edu for further information.
Three NCORED Committee members, Vivian
Jackson, Claudia Long, and Rita Takahashi, have
agreed to be principal authors of #1, #=2, and #3,
respectively). The Committee would very much
appreciate receiving input from any and all persons.
Please forward your comments, questions, or input
to the specific policies as follows:
Vivian Jackson -- vjack10176@aol.com -- for
#1 – “Cultural Competence in the Social Work
Profession”
Claudia Long – clong@du.edu -- for #2 –
“Racism”
NCORED Call for Articles and Input
Information provided by Dr. Rita Takahashi
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MULTICULTURAL VOICES·SPRING 2004·VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1
Rita Takahashi – ritatak@sfsu.edu -- for #3 –
“Affirmative Action” and #4 “Gender, Ethnic,
and Race-Based Workplace Discrimination”
NCORED welcomes comments, questions, and
input in these and other diversity-related areas. If
you have agendas you would like to have the
Committee consider, please contact Rita Takahashi
(Chair) at ritatak@sfsu.edu. The Committee’s next
meeting will be 26-28 March 2004.
IMRSWP Mission
The Institute for Multicultural Research and Social Work Practice promotes respect for and knowledge of
diverse cultures. It seeks to develop effective methods for appropriately working in a multiculturally diverse and
complex environment. It disseminates cross cultural information through research, publication, education, and
training. The central focus is on empowerment of individuals, families, and communities. The commitment is to
progressive societal changes. Collaborative and cooperative efforts in multiple settings – from work place to
ethnic communities – are emphasized.
IMRSWP Goals
1. Conduct research that promotes greater
knowledge and understanding of diverse cultures.
2. Develop methods, to enhance effectiveness and
appropriateness in working with diverse populations.
Use collaborative and participatory methods.
3. Disseminate research findings and educational
information to students, organizations, and the
general public via publications, presentations, and
workshops.
4. Work with social work students interested in
multicultural service delivery systems, and provide
ongoing resources and support services to
enhance their educational experiences.
5. Conduct evaluations and needs assessments of
organizations and communities.
6.
Analyze
social
policies
and
make
recommendations that are congruent to the
Institute’s mission.
7. Sponsor conferences and workshops that focus
on cross-cultural research and social work practice.
IMRSWP Members
Lisa Hines, Eileen Levy, Liz Knox, Dianne Mahan, Susan Sung,
Rita Takahashi, Halaevalu Vakalahi, Qingwen Xu, Miu Chung Yan (Director)
Ideas and opinions published in this Newsletter are the authors.
They do not represent our Institute’s stand.
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