I totally agree!

The leftists who create such things as "diversity action teams" have several cute tricks up their sleeves.

If you should dare to question the necessity of their program, they automatically say "Oh, you question us, you must be racist or intolerant, it is obvious that we are needed here."

So it comes to be that the majority will be afraid of being labled by these leftists so they remain silent, allowing the leftists to do what they want. They have empowered themselves using these fear tactics time and time again over the last 50 or so years.

I wonder how well I would be received if I rolled in to Palm Springs and announced that I was going to do a study on divesity, because "I" thought that the city wasn't diversified enough, and "I" thought they needed to be able to attract more poor people, and less rich jews.

Why are some people so concerned about having the population of Janesville match the statistical diversity of the US population in general? Is there any city in this country that meets that criteria? Is it not natural for people to feel more comfortable surrounded by others of a similar ethnic background? Doesn't this philosophy discourage diversity and replace it with homogeneity?

I moved here from Madison, Janesville is a great place to live. Seeing this celebrate diversity, rednecks don't understand,Ban plastic bags Bumper sticker agendas in Janesville is making me ill. local boy is right.
Focus on the basics. Attract new jobs. More people are leaving Madison because of all the wonderful diversity that's in Madison now.
How do a few cracked pots get so much attn: from the newspapers. Because they know it ticks most people off so they get worked up about it and read and comment. I may stop reading this paper so my pleasent outlook on this town isn't tarnished by the left wing panseys.
Don't let these people take over this town- With their agendas- or they will make this great town bad news.

I bowled against the Diversity Action Team once...they're not very good.

janesvillean - can you provide to me where in these posts, or your daily travels, have you experienced Janesville people not "welcoming" to diversity? As usual, people (DAT) will use "alarmist" tactics to force people to conform to diversity by making them feel guilty. How does a minority or someone different even know that Janesville is "openly hostile" to diversity, unless they move here? If you are refering to most of us that are concerned about additional welfare families and system suckers moving in (regardless of race) to our community, it is a valid point due to the increased strain on the system recently because of the economic downturn this city is already experiencing. Don't confuse the two, which will be the rally cry of the DAT I am sure.

janesvillean:

Your comment is either naïve or intentionally misleading. The only possible point of *welcoming* diversity is to *increase* diversity. For all intents and purposes, they are *exactly* the same in this instance. DAT is also focusing on increasing minority recruitment in the Police Department and other city offices. I recall earlier articles mentioning that Janesville had not been successful recruiting for those locally, which served as a clarion call to DAT and others to perceive a crisis and increase outside minority recruiting. Either way, the whole point is to infer that there is something wrong with Janesville, that we are insufficiently diverse, and must put money and effort into increasing our minority populations to fix the problem.
.
From where I sit, it ain’t broke, so don’t screw things up trying to fix it.

Northman, the goal of the DAT is to make Janesville more welcoming of diversity. This is not the same as increasing diversity, which as you say, is increasing by itself.
.
These comments demonstrate better than any argument I could make why Janesville is NOT seen as welcoming of diversity. In fact, it is too often openly and proudly hostile.

Edgewater - why is it when somebody doesn't agree with your agenda, they are "narrow minded"??? That is classic liberalism (global warming, prop 8,etc)and on the verge of mind control. What part of Northman's post didn't you understand? He hit it right on the head. If Janesville was so "narrow minded", we wouldn't support Japanese restaurants, Asian and Mexican grocery stores etc. Keep in mind, we accepted loads of "boat people" in the early 80's through church programs here in Janesville. Those people are raising second generation Janesvillians. We can achieve diversity without cramming it down our throats or wasting tax money on studies. We need jobs, not more ethnic or religious groups hanging around a city that can't support them right now. It is simple as that.

I was part of two diversity focus groups in Chicago. If trained and implemented properly it honestly works. However, in the case of Janesville, DAT would be a waste of money. Many of Janesville's narrow-minded residents (like the comments in this blog) would have difficulty with this because they don't understand that diversity goes way beyond face value. It's really not their fault either. It is simply Janesville's lack of cultural wisdom, education, and understanding that goes back several generations. That most likely will not change since this type of thinking is sadly and pathetically marching into the mindset of future generations. I wish you luck Santo and Jeanne. This is a big challenge and I hope you succeed even though the odds seem against the DAT.

And rather they use the word "Study" why not just say "waste money" when the CC states I think Study = Waste money

I second Northwinds statement

janesvillean:
.
What “problem” are you referring to? What exactly are you lamenting here? Diversity isn’t inherently good, nor inherently bad. It’s just different.
.
Diversity isn’t a goal you need to set and achieve. It happens all by itself, as the economy and demographics change. It is pointless and absurd to try and make your community more diverse. Janesville is more diverse now than it was 20 years ago, and in 20 years time, it will be more diverse still. There is no stopping that trend.
.
When people find Wisconsin to be too cold and snowy for their tastes, does it make any sense for them to get upset and demand warmer weather? Nope. They just need to call a moving company, load the van with their worldly goods, and head to Phoenix. They will get the warm weather they want, and the rest of Wisconsin can get on with enjoying winter. Similarly, if Janesville isn’t diverse enough for Ms Carfora and the rest of the DAT, they can load up moving vans and head to Madison. That city has a wonderfully eclectic mix of people and neighborhoods that should satisfy their carving for diversity. If not, they can always head to Milwaukee, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, or whatever city has the sort of diversity they want.
.
It may just be that some people prefer less diversity, rather than more, and move to places where they will have a cultural background in common with their neighbors. Are these people bad, wrong, or hopelessly bigoted? Hardly. They just want to stay inside their comfort zones, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to.
.
For the fuzzy-headed liberals who still think Janesville needs to be more diverse, consider this. The folks who move to Janesville and increase our diversity, are moving from somewhere else and *decreasing* their diversity. Now I ask you, does that seem right?

The Diversity Action Team is an independent group which has invested a great deal of volunteer time over the past decade to grapple with the issues presented by Janesville's changing population.
http://datrockco.org/
.
It is clear from comments that some people still think that the word "diversity" means only "people different from me". It isn't somebody else's problem. It's yours, too.

DIVERSITY: You want to spend our tax monies to study diversity,what a joke! WE have DIVERSITY already,we have all colors of drunks,all colors of drug dealers,all colors of wanna B bangers,all colors of welfare dead beats. How much does it cost to figure that out???

Northman - I could not have scripted it better myself. Well said.

So they want to be more like beloit and have more crime and drugs and gang's no one want's this in janesville NORTHMAN hit the nail on the head in his post.

Academy for International Studies? Diversity Action Team? We must be in New York City.

Can we have a little Bio on carfora?

Who is Carfora????

....sit around and dicuss the obvious. (forgot one word)

Northman...you are absolutely correct. Janesville is attracting more "diverse populations" but not because the job market is better. I do not want my tax dollars to go for conducting some sort of rediculous study regarding diversity. The city council and others of the city administration are not blind and it doesn't take a DAT to sit around and the obvious.

Our federal government has spent the last 50 years making the entire country more welcoming to minorities, more equal to people of all races, and now Janesville wants to hop on the bandwagon with their band-aid version? Please tell me we’re not wasting any tax money on this latest lunacy.
.
Here’s a little hint for the DAT. Create an environment in Janesville that’s welcoming to business, and you’ll have an environment that has jobs, and that welcomes everyone. Given our current job and real estate conditions, Janesville is becoming welcoming to low income people with few real prospects. We’re becoming welcoming to a demographic that transgresses race, one that brings crime and gangs with it.
.
So forget the DAT, write it off as a very bad joke. Get back to figuring out how to bring jobs to Janesville, while the city is still worth saving.

Just what we need a - "Diversity Action Team".