This lesson is designed to help satisfy Iowa's annual bias prevention training requirement for law enforcement officers.

Section one provides definitions regarding terms used throughout the lesson, including: cultural competence, culture, cultural identity, race, ethnicity, acculturation, assimilation, and biculturalism. It also explains why the subject of cultural competence is importance to law enforcement officers.

Section two examines culture. It describes the elements of culture. It examines racial groups used by the U.S. census and shows how those compare to classifications in other countries. It examines overlapping elements in race, ethnicity, and culture, including: language and communication; geographic location; world view, values, and traditions; family and kinship; gender roles; socioeconomic status and education; immigration and migration; heritage and history; sexuality; perspectives on health, illness, and healing; and religion and spirituality.

Section three provides a history of the U.S. civil rights movement and the experiences of African American or Black communities from the 1600s to the present.

Section four examines paths for self-evaluation and engaging with diverse communities.