FORMER CAPE STUDENT URGES MULTICULTURALISM

Public schools have an opportunity to help create an inclusive, multicultural society or to isolate people into ethnic enclaves, said Charles Taylor, a former Cape Girardeau student.

Taylor spoke Thursday about multiculturalism and said it's time to convince educators and community leaders that diversification is in everyone's best interest.

"We have to look at who our students will be in the year 2000 and what we must do now to serve them," Taylor said.

Taylor attended May Greene Elementary School, graduated from Central High, and Southeast Missouri State University. He then earned masters degrees and a doctorate.

Currently he is president of Praxis Publishing, a small book publishing company specializing in multicultural titles and authors.

A diverse selection of books including those by minority authors he says is important to creating a multicultural environment.

"Public schools are still separate and unequal, perhaps more so than when I went to school," Taylor said.

For example, in Cape Girardeau May Greene Elementary has 64 percent minority enrollment. Of the school district's 350 teachers, less than three percent are African American.

At the same time, he said, "People of color -- Africans, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans are the fastest growing population group."

By the year 2000, 5 billion of 6 billion people in the world will be non-white.

These changing demographics affect the bottom line for businesses as well as schools, Taylor said.

"One-third of all new workers will be people of color by the year 2000," he said. "People of color also represent a $400 billion consumer market."

However, he said, change has been slow in coming.

He asked how often teachers attend church where black students attend, visit the homes of black students, invite black students to their own homes.

"Institutional racism permeates our society, schools are just a mirror of that," he said. It's so pervasive, that many people don't recognize it exists, Taylor said.

It's evidenced by the fact that textbooks often leave out contributions by minority groups. "Even if a school had not one minority student, that school still needs multiculturalism," Taylor said. "What a tragedy to go through school and never be taught by a black teacher."

"Just imagine if we could have educated Rush Limbaugh in a multicultural system right here in Cape Girardeau."