Be Careful of Commercializing Diversity

Much like Christmas and Easter, diversity has become commercialized. 

You’ve likely seen an increase in conversations on diversity (equity, inclusion and belonging, too). Of course COVID-19 hasn’t stopped the show, it is only further reminding the country of its inherited and systemic racism; calling forth the gaps in our society based on race and class.

Admittedly, I have and will be participating in some of these talks and I usually agree to serve as the conversations contrarian. 

Regardless of how many talks, presentations or LinkedIn posts are shared though, it’s important for me to say out loud that vanity diversity is tired and irresponsible. 

You know what these discussions look like. They consider representative voices to be all of us because we all have differing perspectives. It centers every other -phobia and -ism outside of race because “we are more than race” or the dreaded, “why does it have to always be about race?” trope.

I get it, race is a scary conversation. But do you know what’s scarier? Being a person fetishized and demonized at the same time - celebrating our culture but killing us for expressing it. In particular, discussing Black and Indigenous people feels controversial. (And here’s the secret, it always will be unsettling; society wasn’t built to resolve its hate for people of color - or women, but I digress.)

But we have these conversations about understanding differences because we want to experience a new world, right? We talk ourselves to death about the potential of a new normal, but why hasn’t it happened yet?

Because change only happens when we can actually, out loud, acknowledge that there is a real challenge with our current world that keeps us disconnected and disenfranchised. And for me, that conversation will start with race - our most visible identifier.

Change can happen when we address why diversity must start as an exclusion of some - in order to include those who’ve always been able to build the foundation but never allowed in the house. (Maybe you’ll catch that later.) 

Change happens when we get to the root of the problem - which is that our very discovery story is written in the blood of this country’s original people. The root is that so many were raised hearing, seeing and believing the one-sided, “they were happy slave” stories written in history books, and then we call anything else that disrupts that doctrine a lie because our very existence is bore out of a series of untruths. And the root is also that some of your workplaces are racist, sexist, ableist, or generally discriminatory in its behavior towards anyone with non-majority cultural acclaim, and you don’t aspire to really change under the guise of “cultural fit”. 

Change is uncomfortable and aggravating and is more than sticking a person of color in a “chief” diversity role for performative photo shoots throwing money at the community (versus thoughtful and strategic spending) without actual decision making, policy changing power, and a real impactful budget to follow.  

Failing to recognize the value in the differences - particularly of Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color - is failing to see the fullness of a person, and that’s commercialized diversity - fun to celebrate, easy to take on and off the shelf and play with when there is time, but quick to go away after its designated “holiday” luncheon. 

So here are just a very few things to consider the next time diversity comes up so that you can pull back from the commercial appeal of diversity and move towards the value of people who are racial/ethnically diverse. 

1. Define and document all language for shared understanding. DEI is jargon, and jargon is where confusion lives. People use words others don’t understand as a tool to further push shame. “How dare you be a leader and not understand what we are talking about here.

   Be explicit about what you mean when you discuss any words that have the potential for varied understanding. Say it then explain it, qualify your words.

   This can be messy, you will make mistakes, your definitions might evolve, but give the words room to live and grow. This is how you can start to build shared language.

2. Set a call to action. At the end of a workshop, it’s not enough to ask “Any final words?” Nope, not enough! Consider, “what should we all do in the next 5 days, 30 days, and within the next quarter to push diversity (but most importantly an inclusive environment) that we can be held accountable to?”

   As an example, here are some quick ideas: Have everyone do some individual outside work to untangle their own privilege within the context of the topic and then report back; set up small group calls to debrief and discuss next steps; or pair attendees with each other as accountability partners.

3. Call people of color for more than DEI conversations. The best way I’ve seen action be sustainable in an organization, or a system, is to make it strategic. Embed the strategy and activities into the foundation of your organizational structure. That means that in every conversation centering diversity should be imprinted, not just on the singular topic that happens in a silo with industry leaders.  

As a culture we are obsessed with being busy and having lots of conversations with packed calendars because we believe through the action of moving that we are indeed having motion. Sometimes that is the case, most times we are only performing tricks for our brain and calling it ally-ship. So as you, the well intentioned, continue to push diversity, ask yourself, “is this for me to feel good (or guilty) or is this my opportunity to leverage my privilege and take a risk that will lead to action?”

about Kia Jarmon

Kia Jarmon is not an expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion, instead she works at the intersection of culture, community, crisis, and communications and those inevitably require extensive background knowledge on people, history, and how to rectify the unjust systems of power and privilege that make any of her work challenging. With that, don’t be shocked if she uses words and discusses topics that are not often talked about among traditional communicators, she’s an entrepreneur and a business owner looking to re-engineer what excellence looks like.