TY - JOUR
T1 - Demanding More
T2 - 4-H’s Diversity and Inclusion Efforts Are Simply Not Enough
AU - Webster, Nicole
N1 - Funding Information:
When we peel back the history of 4-H, we see an organization developed within a culture of Jim Crow and other segregation policies that forced young black youth to learn valuable life skills in a separate “yet equal” system. African American 4-H clubs were formed and supported by Black agricultural colleges and extension agents within the 1890 Cooperative Extension system. Under these separate yet equal policies, Extension educators were delivering content to meet the needs of African American youth with little to no support from the National 4-H System and earning significantly less than their white counterparts. After the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision on public school segregation, excluded 4-H programs were deemed unconstitutional. By no means did this court decision translate to the full inclusion of African Americans in Cooperative Extension. Instead, African American Extension agents mainly filled servant positions, such as those hired under the World War I emergency funds in 1919 to show residents how to safeguard their homes or as “helpers” for white county agents during canning season (Jones, 2002). In Extension’s history, there are numerous documented examples of Black Extension agents creating opportunities (Wessel & Wessel, 1982). Federal civil rights laws were in place, but black Extension agents worked in an environment that reflected the values, attitudes, and beliefs of a separate but equal system. After more than 50 years since this particular civil rights era, is it still relevant to ask whether 4-H and the broader Cooperative Extension system facilitate, foster, and promote inclusive environments?
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Several youth organizations, such as 4-H, are reaffirming their commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace due to social and political events in 2020. Despite the national reckoning around civil rights, the author argues that racial and ethnic minorities are still not fully integrated into the 4-H culture. Addressing inclusion presents challenges; however, these can be better addressed when individuals realize the difficult conversations and actions needed to evoke change. The article concludes with a set of action items for the 4-H system, which focuses on investments, accountability, recognition, and transparency.
AB - Several youth organizations, such as 4-H, are reaffirming their commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace due to social and political events in 2020. Despite the national reckoning around civil rights, the author argues that racial and ethnic minorities are still not fully integrated into the 4-H culture. Addressing inclusion presents challenges; however, these can be better addressed when individuals realize the difficult conversations and actions needed to evoke change. The article concludes with a set of action items for the 4-H system, which focuses on investments, accountability, recognition, and transparency.
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U2 - 10.34068/joe.59.04.13
DO - 10.34068/joe.59.04.13
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122592668
SN - 1077-5315
VL - 59
JO - Journal of Extension
JF - Journal of Extension
IS - 4
M1 - Article 13
ER -