A Challenge to My Fellow Planners & Community Organizers

Where else in the USofA is there a multi-ethnic community that identifies diversity as its core strength? That is what Silver Spring (Maryland) does. What I’ve found here in Silver Spring is that all segments of our community – the political, civic, business, faith, and residential communities – celebrate our multi-ethnicity and diversity.

I know there are plenty of places that have minority-majority and are rightfully proud of their achievements. These include my own fellow Cuban-Americans in Miami; my African-American friends in Atlanta; the Asian community in San Francisco; the Arab-Americans in Detroit; my Mexican-American cousins in San Antonio; and our Salvadorian friends in L.A. – just to name a few.

In all these examples – great as they are – there is a prominent minority that has risen to the occasion and established a thriving, healthy minority community. In most of these, however, ethnic strife continues; racial tensions prevail; the traditional white power structure remains weary of the change and reluctant to share power.

In Silver Spring, the multi-ethnicity is real: Ethiopians, Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Eastern-Europeans, Middle-Easterns, Nigerians, African-Americans, and European Whites are all here in substantial numbers. None are a majority. The generational diversity is also real. The youth is a constant element – if not always at the table – in community dialogues and decision making arena. And so is the socio-economic diversity, tenure diversity. We also have a healthy mix of home-owners vs. renters, a topic persistently considered and discussed.

The established power-base, while not numerically balanced, is increasingly reflective of the general population. More importantly, the establish power-base includes a core of leaders that regardless of their ethnicity or socio-economic status are legitimately committed to promoting multi-ethnicity and diversity as a – no, the – main asset of Silver Spring. The consensus is clear that this multi-ethnicity and diversity is the driving force for economic development, entrepreneurship opportunities, and the force that will gives Silver Spring a competitive advantage as a thriving community and a place where businesses can succeed.

Silver Spring is one heck of an experiment! I am not sure this has ‘worked’ anywhere else in the USofA – or in the world for that matter. Being part of the team that is committed to making this experiment work is exhilaratingly exciting!... But, it will be tough; there will be setbacks; there will be nay-sayers when a youth concert goes bad at the end, or when there are no brown faces at a community meeting… Nonetheless, we know we are trying; we know we will be relentless in our efforts to make it work.

So, I challenge my planner and community organizers friends to identify other such communities. We are looking for communities that are intentional about celebrating their multi-ethnicity and diversity as a key asset. And - more importantly - all segments of the community (particularly the public, civic, business, and residential leadership and grassroots) are equally excited about working together for the greater good.…

I am sure there are out there – and we’d love to connect. Chime in!