Breaking Down DE&I
Inclusion goes beyond having a diversity of perspectives represented in decision making; it means that diverse perspectives feel fully welcomed and are meaningfully engaged with. It further means that people who are involved in our work feel that they have a way to participate that does not minimize their cultural background.
One of the biggest barriers toward a positive organizational culture is the continued marginalization of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) perspectives. Organizations that lack a historical and contextual analysis of how we are socialized to work together often miss that white normative expectations set upon BIPOC individuals. To counter white normativity, we must begin to identify how it shows up in our culture, our language and our mindsets.
Who is considered diverse?
When we use the terms diverse and diversity, we often speak or write from a white-normative perspective. This means we are often looking for diversity only in the context of identifying BIPOC people as “diverse.” It is seldom that people also acknowledge the diversity of ethnic backgrounds that exists among communities labeled as “white.” This further reinforces a racialized hierarchy that has historically been used to divide communities.
What are we striving to include into?
Similarly, the term inclusion often connotes the idea of having integrate into a white-dominant culture. An idea that is often evoked to demonstrate inclusion is giving BIPOC folks a seat at the table. But whose table are we talking about? And who sets the rules of engagement at the table? We must consider these questions when engaging with inclusion initiatives in our organizations.
How equity is different?
The term equity is used to describe outcomes. For example, changing policies and practices to have a more equitable impact is something that an organization can strive to do. Organizations can also use data to determine whether their programs and operations have equitable impact. Striving for equitable outcomes gets us started on the path toward racial and economic justice.
