The Reality of Diversity, Gender, and Skin Color – From Living Room to Classroom

Coupling powerful personal narratives with incisive observations, The Reality of Diversity, Gender, and Skin Color: From Living Room to Classroom reveals the myriad complexities and challenges related to diversity. The book gives voice to the experiences of marginalized individuals, illuminating the impact of oppression, ostracism, and hate on mental health and wellness.

Each chapter features a theme that explores a particular issue related to diversity, including colorism among African American women, the stigma of incarceration, and the aggression shown to American atheists. In the chapter introduction, contributing authors present a general framework, according to their given theme, on the impact of life experiences and bias on an individual's behavior and health. This discussion is followed by personal interviews, then an analysis of the interviews, emphasizing the impact of oppression and marginalization on health and wellness. Through this unique format, readers hear from Mexican American women, biracial individuals, white women, black professors in predominately white institutions, and other populations generally overlooked in conversations on diversity.

Designed to foster cultural humility, The Reality of Diversity, Gender, and Skin Color is an ideal resource for students, social workers, psychologists, therapists, organizational trainers, or anyone looking to understand social diversity.

Kimberly Finney is a board certified clinical psychologist and clinical associate professor of social work at the University of Southern California. She is a retired military psychologist and is medically trained in psychopharmacology. Dr. Finney regularly lectures on the neurobiology of racism and serves as a consultant and analyst on race-related issues in working with African Americans. Dr. Finney holds a M.S. in organizational development and doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Wright State University.

Terence Fitzgerald is a clinical associate professor of social work at the University of Southern California, a race scholar, and a policy analyst. He previously worked at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as a school social worker in racially and economically diverse settings in Illinois. Dr. Fitzgerald holds a Ph.D. in educational policy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.