DEI - Is there an Alternative?
In businesses, academia, and various organizations there’s been pushback and even reversals of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. It’s said they’re divisive, not of the Lord, and make certain people feel bad and uncomfortable. Therefore there’s no need for them. The most recent pompous and ignorant pronouncements by a Faux news commentator that we Black people will support ‘45’ because we love sneakers; and ‘45’ even saying we love him because of all of his indictments and his mug shot are enough valid reasons proving the need for DEI training!
Where do thoughts like this come from? Well, if you were blessed to go to school and receive a semblance of true education regarding racist stereotypes (if not, get to googling and educate yourself), you’ll remember during the Jim Crow period in this country, Black people were portrayed as: infantile, submissive, lazy, aggressively and sexually violent, lewd, playful, dimwitted, and criminal - all of the above. Our ‘place’ was to be found in either entertainment, sports, or menial service; definitely not positions of leadership/authority, i.e. President of the United States! Which of those stereotypes resonate in your conscious and unconscious thoughts?
Back to the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs: I humbly submit the following: 1) Earlier this month (in 2024) in Boston, three white girls and an older woman - presumably one of the girls' mother (some reports say two women) went into a Sephora store. The three girls, using makeup for darker skin tones, put on blackface and commenced walking around the store laughing and making animal (some reports say monkey) sounds. The women also laughed and went along with the girls. When a white Sephora female staffer confronted the group, while also videotaping them, explaining their actions were offensive, one of the mothers told her to stop the video, because they didn’t consent. One woman is seen walking away from the staffer, and the 3 girls when seeing they were being videotaped by another customer ran out of the store. 2) Also this month, at a California high school, a white student gave out cotton balls in celebration of Black History Month. 3) Where I live in the mid-Hudson Valley, a friend had to advocate for her granddaughter at her granddaughter’s school because it was found out, some white students were ‘auctioning off’ black students here on Facebook and other social media. Her granddaughter was one of the students being ‘auctioned.’ 4) A few years ago, a Florida H.S. white male student asked the girl he wanted to take to the prom by presenting her with a sign saying, “If I was black, I’d be picking cotton, but I'm white, so I’m picking you 4 prom?” Living here in Amerikkka, I could share more documentation - but, I’ll stop there.
For those who don’t see the correlation between the above racist behavior (apologists have tried to dismiss the above as children simply having fun) - I ask that you develop your critical thinking skills (critical and thinking are not bad words; nor is critical race theory) and see that without DEI training all of the abovementioned children (and we know there are others) may grow up, move into the workplace with their prejudices (like their misguided parents) and, surprisingly become insulted, offended and even try to play the ‘victim’ card, when they act/speak on their biases in the public sphere, and are confronted/called out by a person of color who refuses to be their ‘magical negro.’ I for one am tired of hearing, “I didn’t know.” I never knew.” It’s not my job to educate you. So, since we recognize that this country was founded in, and supported by institutionalized and systemic racist acts (sorry Ms Haley), what are we going to do to heal and fix this? What are the alternatives? Pretending and acting like racism doesn’t exist? Just let, ‘bygones be bygones,’ NO - that doesn’t work.
A current popular saying is, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” By having and participating in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training, you will learn what it is that you don’t know. I promise you, you will be the better for it!
