Stories of Diversity (21st Century Skills Library: Social Emotional Library)

36 Pages·2018·8.162 MB·English

by  Jennifer Colby

C
O STORIES OF
L
B
Y
DIVERSITY
Social emotional library
Doing the right thing can be difficult. But true stories of great individuals and
organizations teach us about succeeding through persistence, cooperation, friendship,
S
and more. From past to present, these books present real-life role models who relied T
O
on their social emotional skills to achieve great things. The text encourages readers to
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reflect on their own values and form opinions, shows them how to enact the title traits
I
E
in future careers, and offers ways students can use social skills and embody empathy
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in their daily lives.
O
F

D
Books in This Series I
V
E
R
Stories of Cooperation Stories of Friendship S
I
Stories of Courage Stories of Honor T
Y
Stories of Diversity Stories of Persistence
Stories of Forgiveness Stories of Sharing
GR: X
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STORIES OF
DIVERSITY
Social emotional library
Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com
Content Adviser: Satta Sarmah Hightower, www.sattasarmah.com
Reading Adviser: Marla Conn MS, Ed., Literacy specialist, Read-Ability, Inc.
Photo Credits: ©iordani/Shutterstock Images, cover, 1; ©michaeljung/Shutterstock Images, 5; ©LIFE Photo Archive/
Wikimedia, 7; ©Wikimedia, 8; ©Tim Graham / Alamy Stock Photo, 11; ©Zvonimir Atletic/Shutterstock Images, 13;
©PH1 James Franzen, USN/Wikimedia, 15; ©Popartic/Shutterstock Images, 16; ©Supermop/Shutterstock Images, 17;
©Dragon Images/Shutterstock Images, 18; ©David Harmantas/Shutterstock Images, 21; ©bogdan ionescu/Shutterstock
Images, 22; ©Joe Bielawa/Flickr 25; ©carterdayne/iStock Images, 27; ©Steve Quinlan/Shutterstock Images, 28
Copyright ©2018 by Cherry Lake Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Colby, Jennifer, 1971- author.
Title: Stories of diversity / by Jennifer Colby.
Description: Ann Arbor : Cherry Lake Publishing, [2018] | Series: Social emotional library |
Audience: Grade 4 to 6. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017035926 | ISBN 9781534107441 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534109421 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781534108431 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781534120419 (hosted ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Cultural pluralism—Juvenile literature. | Biography—Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC HM1271 .C6344 2018 | DDC 305.092/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017035926
Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Learning.
Please visit www.p21.org for more information.
Printed in the United States of America
Corporate Graphics
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Colby is a school librarian in Michigan. She works at a school that is extremely
diverse and loves learning about different cultural traditions from her students.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
What Is Diversity? .................................. 4
CHAPTER 2
Mohandas Gandhi .................................. 6

CHAPTER 3
Mother Teresa ....................................... 10

CHAPTER 4
The O’Leary Family ............................... 14

CHAPTER 5
Not in Our Town ................................... 20

CHAPTER 6
Cities Showing Acceptance
of Gay Pride .......................................... 24

THINK ABOUT IT. .......................................................... 30
FOR MORE INFORMATION .............................................. 31
GLOSSARY ................................................................... 32
INDEX ......................................................................... 32
CHAPTER 1
W h a t I s
D i v e r s i t y ?
A
re you friends with people who are different than you? Maybe
you have friends who are from another country or have a different
religion than you. Maybe they speak a foreign language or have
a different skin color than yours. If so, you respect diversity.
Diversity requires having tolerance or feeling empathy for
others who have different beliefs and backgrounds. You respect
diversity when you accept others who are not like you. In our
large world, there are many examples of celebrating and
defending racial, social, religious, and gender diversity.
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[ 21st century skills library ]
There are over 190 countries in the world.
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[ Stories of Diversity ]
CHAPTER 2
M o h a n d a s
G a n d h i
D
efending diversity can mean taking risks. As a political leader,
Mohandas Gandhi suffered for the sake of diversity. During
British rule, he protested for the rights of the people of India.
He insisted on being nonviolent in his struggle for racial and
religious equality. He became an inspiration to many people
during and after his lifetime.
Born in the British-ruled Indian Empire on October 2, 1869,
Gandhi was a lifelong vegetarian. He believed that as long as
other food was available, animals should not be killed. Gandhi
left India after high school to study law in London. But before
leaving, he promised his mother that he would not adopt the
vices of an English lifestyle, which included eating meat and
drinking alcohol. While in England, he joined a Theosophical
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Gandhi was a lawyer in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Society, a group that embraced racial diversity and whose aim
was to study all religions, philosophy, and science.
After he became a lawyer, he returned to India. But in his
first court case, he was shy and unable to question a witness.
He soon left for South Africa to be the personal lawyer for a
distant cousin. Like other dark-skinned people there, Gandhi
faced discrimination and racism. He was beaten up when
he refused to sit on the floor in a stagecoach, he was kicked
to the gutter when he walked too close to a house, and he was
thrown off a train after refusing to leave the first-class car.
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[[ SSttoorriieess ooff DDiivveerrssiittyy ]]
Gandhi met with the British Secretary of State for India in 1946.
Yet, in the 21 years he was in South Africa, Gandhi developed
his theory of nonviolent protest. He left South Africa to return to
India in 1914 and worked in politics, seeking equal rights and
voting rights for Indians under British rule. Within a few years,
he became a leader of the Indian National Congress and declared
independence for India. Discussions with the British went on
for many years until World War II, when Gandhi demanded
immediate independence. He also campaigned against any
Indian association in the war. The British responded by putting
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