Stop The Racism! |Diversity With Diana
I had an interesting conversation last week regarding my new found love— Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy ideology... The conversation started off with me being an avid advocate of the two concepts, and my mate asking me to look further into diversity before I jump on that bandwagon. I had already done a bit of ground work and had started the journey 6 months earlier to be precise, but here we were... My contention was that I see diversity as our differences (physical, cultural and ideological) and inclusion being active participation with people who are different from us. So let’s take my plight for now.
The differences I see in our modern society starts off with the “fear” or “discomfort” we feel towards anything or anyone that is not like us — male vs female, old vs young, black vs white, educated vs uneducated, circumcised vs uncircumcised, Bachelors degree holder vs Masters degree holder, scientist vs socialist, democrat vs republican… I’m sure that by now you follow my line of reasoning… Let’s now focus on the white vs black differences, the racism that has been rampant and now is being highlighted thanks to technology…The Power of Tech.
I agree to the notion that diversity is bigger that racism, but how do we dismantle racism and the blindspots that nurture deliberate preferential treatments?
Dear readers, whoever told you that diversity is a dirty word lied to you. If they told you that it’s just a corporate strategy, they lied to you too. If they told you that it is a ploy to replace white workers with people of colour or persons from another gender, they lied to you too. A Havard Business Review Report noted that best workplaces for diversity noted 24% higher revenue growth, thus equally ethnically diverse companies have shown 35% better performance rate.
What about merit? You may ask. I too believe in meritocracy. But let’s go back to when we were born. We did not choose which society we would be born in to. We did not make any decisions to be black, white or any other race for that matter. Nor did we have a choice as to what opportunities our fore-parents / our ancestors, were accorded with... Plainly put, we were born in to an unfair world where the playing field was not levelled. That stated, we (human beings) must also acknowledge that we are on this world for a finite period. (I thought it wise to remind you, least you assume that you are here for an eternity.) None of us are making it out of here alive. Hence, we are all in this world together and must co-exist peacefully.
Let’s come back to the present world. In a society where women are still being discriminated against and the black people are systemically oppressed. I must ask…
Where is the humanity?
How do we (women) get into corridors of power if we did not go to school due to cultural barriers that held us back? Meritocracy states that we must hire/give opportunities to the best people regardless of race, gender and ethnicity. While I agree to the concept in a fair world, I propose alongside my fellow diversity directors that in the real world, we must proportionally let some opportunities to be taken up for representation and inclusion sake so that playing field can be somewhat levelled. Are we together? This is the only way those highly qualified, highly favoured, highly protected persons will interact with those that aren’t and possibly get to understand the plight of their fellow humans. This way, they will be more likely to respect the people that are different from them, reflect upon the big picture of life and expect reciprocity when elements of care come into play. This will deliberately bring forth the diversity lens that is much needed in the society and by the leadership.
We all have biases, therefore we must all do an inventory of the biases we have and intentionally weaken them through speaking out against any form of impunities that make us think we are any more important or less important from ANY human being.
The illusion of objectivity you may hold makes you believe that you are free of the biases you recognise in others yet that could not be far from the truth.
Finally, I got enlightened about the hashtag Black Lives Matter. Like many who may have not experienced the insecurities associated with being black while living in a predominantly white community, I had thought that All Lives Matter was more appropriate. I have since learnt that Black Lives Matter is not in dispute with any other lives but instead brings forth the silent code that exists in the societies where many human lives have unfairly been ended because of their being black. This is also to teach the young generation that the systemic and institutionalised discrimination must not be passed on to them as they have to charter their own paths in life and create their own values and live by them.
This piece is a demonstration that humanity is equal and we must shun racism and any other form of impunity at all times with all might. Thanks to all who shared their contributions on this article.
