Sharing an Excerpt from "Lost in Translation"

I was raised in an eastern Washington valley where...let's just say racial tolerance and harmony were not always where they should be.  While I dislike the cliches surrounding the issue of diversity, racial justice and equal access issues are terribly important--especially given the current economic climate.  I have had a small pet project I was working on recently...but one of the people I was trying to help decided to lob over a verbal "holy hand grenade of Antioch."  Consequently, I made the decision to use this short essay to spark discussion within state agencies, but remove myself otherwise from the endeavor for a while.  It should be seen as referring in a generic or generalized sense to all state and federal agencies--which is actually one of the problems associated with the piece, but I digress too much.

Should you be interested in reading part of the piece, I am sharing an excerpt below.  If you are an Oregon State employee, I'd be happy to share the whole essay.  Otherwise, you just get this sneak peek.  (Sorry!)  

If you are an Oregon State employee, feel free to contact me at karl@karlerickson.com for details.

In my last article, we explored what adaptive communication means.  Today, I encourage readers to look at it again, focusing this time on the state’s efforts to bridge the communication gap between state agencies and our non-English clients—specifically those who communicate in Spanish, the largest demographic group of non-English speakers.  At the outset, I should perhaps disclose that I favor all United States citizens learning English.  While I personally believe that this creates a strong bond and unifying strength, fluency in English remains only a distant dream to many of the people we serve.  We all likely agree that these people, from employers to claimants, all deserve clear and unfettered access to state agency services, but are we walking the walk?