Reach out and embrace diversity

The village of Hanover Park is facing what many companies face. And it's something more and more communities will be facing in the coming years.

How to help a growing minority population and how to get that growing population interested or even aware of the programs offered.

In Hanover Park, Trustee Toni Carter believes there's a need for seminars on such things as career building, resume writing, corporate strategies and domestic violence. She points to that village's more than 30 percent minority population -- a 2000 census figure that is probably even higher today in 2008.

Carter, who is black, asked her fellow board members to support the creation of a new cultural diversity committee and to seed it with $2,500. They said no.

Is that fair? Are they not seeing the big picture? Yes and no. Clearly, Hanover Park, like many suburban communities, needs to tackle diversity issues. But an inactive human relations committee tried doing that, Trustee Robert Packham said, and it died from an "enthusiastic lack of interest."

There's the dilemma. Many diversity committees face the same issues, whether in the corporate world or in the neighborhoods. Do you stop trying to reach a segment of the community that may be hard to reach? Or do you try harder because you know services are needed?

Packham, in a story last week by Daily Herald staff writer Kimberly Pohl, suggested the township -- Hanover Park is in several townships, including Hanover Township -- already offers the types of services Carter suggests. And indeed they might. But Carter says nobody is aware of the programs and in most cases aren't aware of townships in general. And, indeed, they likely aren't.

So maybe it's a good idea, then, for the village and the townships and the school districts and other governmental bodies to band together to make sure their constituents are getting services they need. And to figure out exactly what services should be offered. It takes time; it takes some money and it takes a commitment.

The issue of diversity -- and how to handle it -- isn't going away in Hanover Park or most any other suburb in the area. It's the focus each year when Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is remembered this month.

This week in Schaumburg, the Arlington Heights-based Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations will hold its annual dinner and celebration. It's also a good time to assess progress in diversity, said the Rev. Clyde Brooks, the commission president.

One accomplishment, Brooks said, was the contract his group had with the city of Aurora to train 400 employees of its police department in cultural competency.

"We were delighted because the city of Aurora is increasingly diverse, 40 percent Hispanic," Brooks told Daily Herald staff writer Eric Peterson. "We're delighted because more police departments are recognizing that it's just good business for their officers to communicate effectively with that diverse population."

Indeed it is. And as the suburbs continue to embrace that diversity, King Day reminds us that while it takes hard work to bring diverse groups together, we all benefit from the effort.