Internationally recognized lecturer, Byron Kunisawa, visited

Sacramento State on Friday, Nov. 17 to present, “Cultural Solutions:

Addressing the 21st Century.”

The presentation was in honor of the “Year of Unity,” an administrative effort to unify the campus through forums, dialog, activities and academics. It addressed the problems of diversity at the institutional level including universities, corporations and government.

The generation Kunisawa was raised in never looked at institutions as

lacking diversity, but at the individual as the problem, he said.

Byron Kunisawa is a third generation Japanese American. He was born in an internment camp in Topaz, Utah. He spent his early childhood in Oakland.

He has a Master’s degree in Educational Administration.

“Cultural awareness in institutions is not making diversity any better,” Kunisawa said. “What you can stop is the unfairness and injustice in the institutions.”

America culture is looked upon as entertainment consisting of food and dance, not as educational, according to Kunisawa . He said he feels that educational institutions eliminate the value of culture of the various ethnicities on campus by creating an environment in which people must assimilate to the American culture.

These organizations create barriers and designs of omission, Kunisawa said.

He pointed toward the affects of some social programs such as Affirmative Action.

“This created another exclusionary model, where white males were left out,” Kunisawa said.