APRIL 9, 2007 - WAUWATOSA, Wis. - When compared to activists in our global community, Jackie Valent, admits that she is a blip on the scene. As a human resources executive who specializes in diversity issues, however, she is experienced in coaching people to accept others who are different. She knows that changing prejudices is not easy.

"Much of our problem lies in what we don't know about different cultures and traditions, which causes doubt and unwarranted dislike." Valent said. "If we could spend time in someone else's life, where we exist as a one-of-a-kind person in the room, we may better understand odd looks and experience the ills of being shunned.

A human resources executive with Deloitte & Touche LLP and author of the children's book,"Stinky the Bulldog" (www.stinkythebulldog.com ISBN: 9-7814208269-7-5 • 36 pages). Valent identified five tips she believes may help people accept others into their trusted sanctums. As she tells children and adults in business seminars and literary gatherings, you don't have to like everybody you meet, but accept them for who they are regardless of skin color, religious affiliation, name or culture.

1. Spend a day in someone else's shoes. Attend an all-black church, go to a gay club, sleep outside in a cardboard box; put yourself in a situation where you are the only one of your group. Take note of the uneasy feelings you get when you're there. Remember that people in certain demographics feel this way EVERY DAY. Once you get that queasy feeling, perhaps you will better understand and respect what it's like to be a "minority."
2. Spend time with someone who is different than you (age, race, gender, national origin, religion, mental or physical ability, sexual orientation, socio-economic status). Have a meaningful conversation about things that make you different, but also identify your similarities. It can be difficult to discuss these things, but if done respectfully, people tend to want to talk and help you understand how they see the world.
3. Act as a mentor to someone whose societal status is lower than yours. Learn about the barriers they leap each day to try to achieve their goals. Is it a lack of education? Is it the ways they were socialized throughout their lives? Discover the concept of "cumulative disadvantage" and realize a person's place on the social ladder is not as simple as a person being less ambitious than another.
4. Create a slide show that depicts people of different races, genders and ethnicities and show it to children age five or older. Ask the kids what "type" of person each is, and record the responses. Then show this slide show to children under five and record their answers. How do they differ? Why do you think they differ? Could it be that adults pass their biases onto their children? Understand that people are not born with biases...they acquire them over time from others.
5. Venture to neighborhoods where you would not typically visit and eat at ethnic restaurants in those areas, enhance these outings by learning about the cultures of each group that owns the business.

Valent identified her tips in preparation for National Bulldogs are Beautiful Day (www.bulldogsarebeautiful.com), which will be celebrated on Saturday, April 28, 2007. It was created as a way to enhance messages of diversity as they are written in "Stinky the Bulldog."

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"Stinky the Bulldog" by Jackie Valent • ISBN: 9-7814208269-7-5 • Price: $12.75 • 36 pages • stinkythebulldogmedia.com

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