According to the Fond du Lac (Wis.) Reporter, the Moraine Park Technical College Multicultural Club sponsored a diversity training session.
Imagine a card game in which players have only a few minutes to read the rules and then must play the game without speaking or referring to the rules.
[….]
The simulation was designed to show the group how a lack of understanding and communication can get in the way of accepting differences, said Alvin Hill Jr., a training consultant with H & S Consultants of Milwaukee….
Oh sweet Jesus…not the card game!!! Argh!!! We had to play that thing at my last job. It came after an hour-long session that told us of different ethnic groups’ “communication styles,” and that some of our co-workers may not have complete mastery of English just yet. This was in a room with about 30-40 black and white American-born Southerners, people who, despite their differences and deep antagonisms, spoke the same language in essentially the same style. It was so silly.
We had to play a card game called “Barnga” at Bryn Mawr orientation. Everyone was given a rule sheet with different rules on it for the game (though, of course, we weren’t supposed to know this), and the only word we were allowed to say while playing was “Barnga.” So, apparently, when coming to the US, foreigners don’t speak the language (and this is supposed to be our fault?), and not only don’t know the different customs of our society, but also don’t know that our society might have different customs?
Here’s the website. I can’t even summarize the horror. Go see it for yourself.
And for this your parents are paying $35,000 a year? What suckers they must be….
i don’t really care i wnaa know how to play a dversity game for school
u guys have no games what the proublem is ?
Clearly the objective of Barnga, or any card game like it, is that players become more open-minded towards cultural diversity, and perhaps this objective was not met by some commenters. But since I, too, should be open-minded after playing, I will say that I guess I can understand the misinterpretation of the game. But really I don’t think that it’s just about the U.S., or about the group that’s playing at the time (even if you feel like you disproved the worth of the game by coincidentally having a smooth experience where everyone picks up on the rules rather quickly). It’s about internationalization, too, and recognizing that when we go to different places as strangers or welcome strangers to our homes, communication isn’t always easy, not just because of language barriers (“no speaking”) but cultural barriers, as well (“different rules”). It’s not that most people don’t recongize this, however; it’s that they don’t DIGEST this and accept it and appreciate it. We Americans are so closed-minded if we think the game is only about us…This game is an extraordinarily simple and wonderful way to open discussion on diversity, and if it frustrated you at first (as it should almost everyone), that’s natural, but it only proves how truly closed-minded and non-diverse we are. Isn’t that an important lesson to learn? Isn’t that THE most important lesson to learn? Isn’t misunderstanding the source of all hatred and fear and chaos in the world? Think about it. This “silly,” “horrible,” “worthless” game is a wake-up call.
I am participating in a class on Cultural Diversity and would like the specifics to the game “Barnga”. (and any Good Diversity games ASAP!!! Please
email hidden; JavaScript is required
>Do you think Mr. Hill got paid for this?
– Did this mean that it was a stupid way to teach about diversity.
>If the Supreme’s uphold racial preferences, may we look forward to diversity-enhancing preferences in these areas as well? If not, wouldn’t we be “privileging” (as those who like to make verbs out of nouns say) race over other areas?
Did this mean that the consultant said something discriminating.
If yes what is it? If no, what the comments mentioned above.
I just didn’t get it.
I disagree that this game is inherently about “cultural” differences. When we look carefully at the people around us we see different groups within our own “groups”; there are teen groups, women’s groups, soccer groups, as well as the overt groups of people who migrate to the United States.
To care for other people is to understand that we all communicate in slightly or largely different ways. Look at you communicate with your significant other. Do you always understand what the other is trying to say or are there wrinkles? Do you understand and get along smoothly with your teen? One way into that realm of understanding, be it with strangers or family members, is to engage in a process of unpacking what it means to be in groups, out of groups, and the difficulty of trying to understand a system with its own unspoken rules.