America has an integration problem. I know – this is not news. But we talk about diversity, equity,
inclusion – but there are too many people who just don’t have a concept of what this means. And –
those working in the DEI field are often judgmental and dismissive of people who don’t understand their own privilege or how they are promoting white supremacy. Being judged, scolded or made to feel shame and blame do nothing to move the ideas of equity forward.
So how do we promote equity? My premise is that we start with recruiting diverse populations to jobs and meaningful careers. Until the dominant class is sharing space with and seeing co-workers that look different from themselves, they have no context to acknowledge their own complicity in white supremacy or in how to recognize their own bias.
We are not good at retaining the diverse talent that we hire…and so we must keep at it. We must ask questions of that diverse population as to what would make them feel valued, included, and supported – and then we need to, first, BELIEVE THEM, and second, begin the steps of doing what they said would make them feel valued, included, and supported.
This work is hard. And it will continue to be hard. But like any new skill set, we have to start with
exposure, then education, practice and more practice. Diverse talent brings creativity, increased
productivity, and job satisfaction, but we have to see this in our places of work to learn the truth of this for ourselves.
And please, don’t forget how difficult this work is. It takes stamina and courage to look within and the willingness to do things differently. Everyone needs grace and everyone needs to be held accountable. The most valuable thing we can do to promote equity is to stay curious – do our very best to not become defensive and be willing to believe that things can get better.