Fri, May 11 2007

You don't get class by just going to class

I was kind of saddened when I read about Santa Cruz City Council memeber Tony Madrigal having behaved badly on the job. I went back and read an interview done with him just after he was elected to the council in 2004. He seemed to be expressing some good ideas and hope for improving life in the area. It sounds as though he's been through some good times and bad times of his own. He's dealt with labor issues and knows how to relate to the public in general. He even knows what it's like to look a certain way and be treated stereotypically because of that. So it's a little extra disappointing that he would use stereotypical language that made him look bad, put police officers in an uncomfortable position and might have offended taxpaying voters in general if they had heard his remarks. (The latter might be doubly true for female taxpaying voters.)

What I do realize is that Mr. Madrigal is, at least in part, a natural outcome of the loose-tongued talk that goes on all the time in our society. Companies, organizations and city councils try to combat the trash talk with sexual harrassment policies and forced classes in sensitivity training, but the truth is that these comments are everywhere. I'm not saying this gives Mr. Madrigal an excuse to say whatever he wants to say. I'm saying this should give us all pause to think about our own words and even our private thoughts toward other people. We don't teach people true sensitivity by putting them through forced class time. We teach it by choosing to make it a habit to respect and care for ourselves and for others every day of our lives.

posted at: 11:51 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry