Spring 2021
This issue Funded in part by a Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism
Community Engagement Grant
English
From the Editors
By Charlotte Fife-Jepperson and Rob Ware
Interpreted by Vicky Lowe
View PDF VersionWhile building this issue of The West View, we found ourselves returning frequently to a discussion of diversity. We hear over and over from community members that cultural diversity is one of the most beautiful things about Salt Lake City’s west side. Even the mayor’s recent report card lauds diversity as a marker of community growth and strength.
But how is diversity a source of growth and strength? We assert that diversity for diversity’s sake is not valuable as an end in and of itself. However, the diversity of cultures represented on the west side can be a constant reminder that no set of experiences or specific cultural background is inherently superior to any other. Every community member is entitled to dignity, respect and opportunity; however, we recognize an undeniable inequality in access to those things.
Discrimination against Black and Indigenous people, immigrants and other people of color, has existed in the Salt Lake valley since before our west-side neighborhoods were established – on Goshute, Ute and Shoshone land.
As a society, we’ve recently made progress in recognizing that history of discrimination, but as 99-year-old Poplar Grove resident, Mrs. Florence “Honey” Lawrence, said in an interview for this issue, “We have only made slight progress” towards equality over the past 70-plus years. “If there are still incidents [of hate and racism] happening, how can we call that progress?” she said.
We must recognize that our playing field is not equal, even on the west side, because some of us began the game with certain advantages that come with the color of our skin, the language we speak, our religious beliefs, or certain documents we obtained by chance at birth. We believe that, in a moral society, it is incumbent on all of us to help secure equality for all. This is especially true for those who enjoy a position of relative privilege.
Let us not look the other way when we see harmful policies, acts and even symbolic gestures of hate. Let us admit when we make mistakes. If we truly appreciate our community’s diversity, let us work harder to address the inequities by making changes in the systems of our organizations and institutions to build a community that is welcoming and prosperous for all.
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