Learning from Others' Differences
(Posted October 24, 2016)
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The media is responsible for how most people think and talk about many issues, including diversity and inclusion. Matt Glowacki, a speaker on diversity, wants to change how we think and talk about each other and our differences.
Glowacki was born without legs, and while he faces obstacles, he teaches that his disability is not his defining characteristic. He shared his experiences of people pointing out his disability to him and treating him differently because of it, and to those people he says: “It seems to me that my disability exists in your mind more than it does in mine.”
The first step to ending discrimination is by having open conversations about it, but everyone participating should understand what they are talking about. A lot of people struggle to define diversity, but Glowacki offers his own perspective. “Diversity is not walking around and pointing out differences in people. It is a learning process where you learn more about yourself from the differences of others.”
Diversity should not be intimidating, but rather a chance for self-exploration.
In his presentation, Glowacki showed clips from TV shows “South Park” and “Family Guy,” and afterwards led a discussion on how they teach us to approach diversity. We are so exposed to media that it is challenging to separate our own experiences and ideas from what is presented to us. Glowacki reminds us that when we see or hear something that denigrates a group of people, “those images are no more real than the cartoons we watch.”
Laura Snyder ’18, Juniata Online Journalist
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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.