SIMI VALLEY : Workshop Series to Examine Prejudice

In response to a series of racial incidents last year, Simi Valley is sponsoring two free workshops designed to teach residents how to recognize prejudice and discrimination.

The first workshop, which will be held Saturday, will demonstrate how adults who work with youths can diffuse potentially violent racial incidents. A second workshop designed for teen-agers will be held at the end of May.

City officials hope the workshops will help stop the cycle of racial violence that plagued Simi Valley last year.

Six racial incidents ranging in severity from the writing of racist graffiti to the ransacking and defacing of a black teacher’s home were documented in the city between May and November.

“We want to show that such acts of violence aren’t going to be tolerated,” City Manager Brian Gabler said.

Adults who attend Saturday’s workshop will be taught techniques to develop anti-racist attitudes in youths, Gabler said. Methods for confronting issues of prejudice and discrimination will also be discussed at the workshop, developed by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith as part of its prejudice reduction campaign.

“If adults are going to put themselves in a leadership position, they have to make sure they are well-equipped to deal with these kinds of attitudes,” said Gabler, who urged residents to attend the four-hour workshop.

The workshop for adult youth leaders will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Community Room at Simi Valley City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road. A second workshop designed for teen-agers will be scheduled at the end of May.