Vision Pledge & Declaration of Tolerance

"Partners in Diversity Pledge"

(Developed and used by permission of the Mayor's Commission on Race and Ethnicity, City of Rochester, 2000)

In order to create a culturally inclusive community where all people are respected:

• I pledge to honor the human spirit that expresses itself through all races and ethnic groups.
• I pledge to look inward to examine my own actions and reactions around race and ethnicity.
• I pledge to demonstrate empathy when listening to the stories of others around race and ethnicity.
• I pledge to see both the diversity and the unity in our common humanity.
• I pledge to teach my children to value people from cultural backgrounds different from ours.
• I pledge to challenge racial and ethnic stereotyping when I hear others speaking in derogatory generalizations.
• I pledge to accept responsibility to address social issues that affect human beings because of their race or ethnicity.
• I pledge to increase my understanding of cultural diversity by exploring another culture through reading a book or magazine, viewing a movie or video, going to an ethnic restaurant, festival or place of worship.
• I pledge to foster intercultural dialogues and relationships by making a new friend from a culture different from mine.

Declaration of Tolerance

(Declaration taken from Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance Initiative at Tolerance.org)

Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination.

To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.