Fund for an OPEN Society will publish its first annual journal with a focus on integration in late 2008. Included in the journal will be a regular feature — Reclaiming Integration — with contributions by well-known public figures from various walks of life (entertainment, politics, academia, sports) and “regular people” including recent immigrants providing their personal definitions of integration and recounting their experiences that framed their thoughts on the topic. Finally, they will share their vision for a better integrated society. The journal will be aimed at a national American audience.
Integration, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is the bringing of people of different racial or ethnic groups into unrestricted and equal association as in society or an organization. Integration, the ideal that once inspired an interracial mass movement to dream of a better America, has fallen into disuse or disfavor. Reclaiming Integration seeks to recapture both the power and spirit of the word – rekindling the passion for just communities and recognition of integration as a civil right.
The last thirty years have witnessed dramatic changes in public attitudes, norms, and behaviors, with some of the most impressive achieved through concerted social marketing campaigns in such arenas as smoking, environmental pollution, and drunk driving. Attitudes toward diversity and its value to Americans in an increasingly global economy are evolving, and a growing body of evidence and experience shows that integrated neighborhoods can be sustainable and that kids who grow up in these neighborhoods thrive in an increasingly diverse work world. So it is not beyond imagining that over the next twenty to fifty years, Americans – whites and people of color -- could come to see integrated communities as the best environments for their families, make their housing choices accordingly, and demand public policies that support these choices.
Thus Reclaiming Integration is part of a reinvigorated effort to win more “hearts and minds” to the goal of racial and ethnic integration in the United States.
While, the scope of Reclaiming Integration will be expanded to embrace other areas including gender, religious and cultural integration, the main focus will be on the consistent struggle for integration, which opens doors to every group seeking to be included, respected and rewarded for their intrinsic contribution to society.
Reclaiming Integration also seeks to raise consciousness, especially among youth, regarding the backlog of social, economic and political agenda in forging a truly integrated world. The threat of racial stereotypes, bruised feelings and alienation, particularly among youth, is real and indeed, the clash of cultures today threatens the very survival of nations around the globe. The book will help to identify answers about how best to manage and mitigate conflict over language, religion, culture and ethnicity.
Please contact us if you would like to contribute a letter, poem, artwork or provide other support to Reclaiming Integration.
