Don’t let the title confuse you, I think that all minority groups deserve more opportunity and respect in each and every field. However, I don’t think these diversity quotas that brands and businesses are trying to check off are beneficial to anyone. What often ends up happening is that either people of color, the LGBT community, and women are there to be tokens to add into company photos or ad campaigns and not actually accepted. Or, they’re given a diversity program that makes it feel as though the company has to train minorities to be at a certain level when all they truly need is the opportunity. What we should ask for is inclusion. Inclusion means that your thoughts, opinions and feelings matter and that you have a voice in the conversation. We want to be included in a space which means that our ideas should be heard and we should be able to feel comfortable in the environment in which we work. Often our diversity is just a rainbow of colors and identities that are expected to be extras and background to present a certain image to the public.
The greatest example of diversity that isn’t inclusive is Loreal’s treatment of Monroe Burgdorf. After hiring this black trans-woman for an image of diversity they fired her instantly after she raised her voice on white supremacy’s role in American society. This is a great demonstration of companies pushing for diversity for appearances without actually having inclusion or allowing for a diversity of ideas.
I also believe that now is the time to take a chance and begin to build our own entities again. Inclusion is great and necessary but it is not the end all be all. Create our own and support our own.
No Comments “Why We Should Stop Asking for Diversity”
Makes complete sense. Thanks for sharing.
Yes!!!
Create our own and support our own- I love this post and I wholeheartedly agree! Inclusion is nice, but we can’t keep fighting for a seat at the table only to get there and be unwanted guests!
I totally agree
That part! Less token blacks and more appreciation of their talent and knowledge! I feel like MakeupShayla is a good example of this too. Brands seem to include her (and other vloggers) to be the “token black girl”. To save face for not including us in their products or having a diverse enough range. I’m tired of simply seeing a black face. I want these brands to acknowledge who these people are, their views and how they can change the brand for better. Excellent read!
I totally agree that’s probably why I stand up for Jackie Aina when brands try to remove her from PR lists and attack her online for having an opinion. Thanks!
Preach it girl . Some brands only take ”inclusion ” at face value to appeal to certain markets . We should as you say build our own products and support each other . Great article .
This was a well put together write up. I enjoyed your viewpoint and agree with it as well. Inclusion shouldn’t have to be fought for. Creating and supporting your own I completely agree.
Inclusion is the best word to phrase the situation. We don’t want to just be there for the sake of saying you employ people from different races.
Great post. I would maybe go a step further and say that we need diverse inclusion.We all know that there are token minorities and in my head when I think of only saying be inclusive it still leaves us out. However I totally agree that we should be creating our own spaces and supporting each other but we as Black people still have a long way to go when it comes to unifying as a community.
I completely agree with you!! I started noticing it when I learned that in some countries there has to be at least x percentage of women in companies. On the one hand it’s a good thing, but on the other it means they’re just hiring women because they have to, not necessarily because they want to or because they are worthy of the job. Same with people of colour in films or tv series; you often find that one black person who’s basically an irrelevant character, but you know at least there was a black person in there. They see colour, gender and sexuality before they see the person. They label everyone to see if they have a bit of everything so they appear to be open and inclusive, without actually taking the person into consideration.
Thank you for mentioning this issue, we too often let it go right passed us!
– Eleonore
Hi there I have nominated you for the mystery blogger award
http://bajezen.blog/2017/09/23/the-mystery-blogger-award/