Multicultural conference presenter has difficult but rewarding job

Spencer Terry's job can, at the same time, be frustrating and incredibly rewarding.

Most often it falls into the latter category. As program director for the Conference for Inclusive Communities (CFIC), he works hard trying to eliminate prejudice, bigotry and discrimination in Nebraska and western Iowa.

"Every day is difficult and every day is a challenge," Terry said of his work. "We've been socialized with so much false information that we almost begin to think it's true."

Terry will present morning and afternoon breakout sessions at the Grand Island Multicultural Coalition's fourth annual fall conference Thursday.

"I will talk about who we (CFIC) are, what our philosophy is and how our programs are developed," Terry said.

CFIC works with schools, businesses, local governments, nonprofits, police departments and faith institutions, raising awareness of biases and encouraging advocacy for a "just and inclusive society," as its mission states.

"Step one is always awareness," Terry said. "We need more opportunities to talk about what's going on in our communities. We try to get people to think about their similarities rather than their differences."

In some ways, Terry said, younger Nebraskans are a bit quicker to grasp CFIC's anti-prejudice message.

"Younger people are soaking up a lot," Terry said. "But some are also challenging it. Much of our adult population has already internalized all that stuff."

Terry said 9/11 "awakened some biases to a specific culture."

"When you say ’terrorist,' people think of dark skin, a beard and a turban," he said. "In the two years after 9/11, hate crimes went up 1,600 percent in America."

That is what makes Terry's work difficult but vitally important. And as history shows, biases that have festered for centuries can't be erased overnight.

"We take baby steps," Terry said. "There is no such thing as a big step."

This will be Terry's second trip to Grand Island in the past four months. He and CFIC's Pam Goudriaan presented a workshop in late June in the Grand Island Public Schools' administration building.

That session dealt with eight "isms" -- racism, ageism, sexism, heterosexism, faithism, classism, appearance-ism and able-ism, which is discrimination against people with physical or other disabilities.

"He was very, very, very good," said Odalys Perez, director of the Multicultural Coalition, which sponsored Terry's visit in June. "Evaluations of him were awesome."