Today was the first day The Association of American Cultures 2007 Conference. There were opening remarks by Juan Carrillo and Louis LeRoy. After that Tatiana Reinoza and Justin Laing facilitated topics for the next few days. After the opening reception there was an introduction by James Early who prepared the group for remarks by Doudou Diène--United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance for the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights.

After taking some photos (which can be found tagged taac2007 on Flickr) I began to tweet Mr. Diène's comments with the intent of catching some of his comments.

James Early (left) Doudou Diène (right)

As Mr. Diène's words began, it became clear that he was going to weave compelling arguments combating social injustice. I am going to try and touch on, even just in a tiny way, the depth of his talk.

Pluralism is a value that projects the idea of diversity and multiculturalism. As a society, we must move toward pluralism to combat racism. Racism comes from the politicisation of bigotry and hate. By politicising it, it becomes acceptable to a society. Immigrants, for example, become pariahs. Typically the extreme right spearhead creating these kinds of environments--those who condemn others for being different. By slowing moving into positions of power, these elements eventually have enough power to legislate intolerance and one a society moves that far, it becomes nearly impossible for it to be stamped out. This is often excused as protection of national identity. In reality, national identity and multiculturalism clash with one another. National identity gives excuses to be intolerant towards multiculturalism.

Then 9/11 allowed the cold war to be replaced with a war of cultures. These cultures are the east and the west. In the US, the war between the east and the west is so far removed in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, that Americans can't put a face to the people being harmed.

The ethical dimension of culture is centred in values and unfortunately, all too often, this dimension is being refused. Without accepting the value of diverse cultures, the ethical side is refused.

Mr. Diène compared these concepts to a tree in a traditional African proverb:

"The branches of the tree fight each other while the roots kiss each other." You can cut the branches back, but that could kill the trees (the culture itself.) The roots are the intangible, they sit quietly with one another but no-one can see them. The roots feed the trunk (the society) which then feed the branches.

He compared racism to an iceberg. Most of it is beneath the surface--affecting what you see above the water won't change the underlying issues. You must touch it from the bottom up.

Mr. Diène used a second African proverb to discuss racism as it has existed in the Western white world:

"The white man only sees what he knows." I other words, those who are closed to diversity, can not see the richness of diversity. To combat racism you must choose to see what you do not know.

I want to thank Doudou Diène for sharing his thoughts. I was moved by his remarks and look forward to seeing how they help shape the conversation over the next two days.

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