No one culture has cornered the market on discrimination and prejudice—although some certainly have embraced it more heartily than others.
Over the next few weeks, an exhibit at Holyoke Heritage State Park’s Visitor Center offers a look at efforts from around the world to combat prejudice and embrace difference. The exhibit features 40 labor movement posters, mostly from the U.S. and Europe, on the topic of diversity. The posters come from the personal collection of Stephen Lewis, treasurer of Service Employees International Union Local 509, who has a private collection of about 3,300 labor-related posters.
“Hating someone because of their skin color, religion, disability, gender or sexual preference is a way of dividing people. It has been used by fanatics to promote themselves. It has been used by corporations to fight union organizing drives. It has been used by nations to help wage war over resources, which is what many wars are really about,” Lewis wrote in a description of the exhibit. “The nature of unions is to promote solidarity, to unite for the betterment of the whole. Hopefully, this exhibit will add to the positive message about diversity being something to celebrate, not to hate.”
The exhibit, which is free, runs through Nov. 10. The Holyoke Heritage State Park Visitor Center, at 221 Appleton St., is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. or by appointment (413-534-1723).
