Historic Perspective
Anyone can become “authoritative” about
diversity. Nobody comes to the table that
way. How you get there, in my opinion, starts
with understanding history. I’ve gained a lot
of perspective by reading books like Beverly
Tatum’s “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting
Together in the Cafeteria?” as well as Iris
Chang’s “The Chinese in America,” Isabel
Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns,”
Douglas Blackmon’s “Slavery By Another
Name,” Ira Katznelson’s “When Affirmative
Action Was White” and Taylor Branch’s trilogy on the civil-rights era.
History is important, but what I’ve found
transformative is personal involvement in
organizations that do not serve you directly
(by “you,” I mean loosely you as defined by
gender, race, orientation, etc.). For example,
I’m a trustee of Bennett College for Women,
a historically Black college, and I’m on the
foundation board of NJCU, a Hispanic-serving institution. At Rutgers University
(where I am also a trustee), I co-chair the
fundraising committee for Rutgers Future
Scholars. We have raised $2 million in the
past three years. I donate all of my speaking
fees through the DiversityInc Foundation,
which has distributed more than $500,000
since 2006. The life experience I’ve gained by
serving these institutions has been invaluable.
Any executive can take the
same steps to broaden their
experience and cultural
competence. We see how people work so
hard to complete advanced degrees—and they
are important—but life experience is how an
executive does not become a Hosni Mubarak
as our country and world change dramatically.
This change is not just visual; it is about the
rising power of liberated people to destroy the
concept of “melting pot” as they gain the eco-
nomic ability to command respect—as they are.
‘Different Like You’
I will note that people who are not in the
majority culture must deal with the majority culture as they try to retain their own
identity, but those in the majority culture do
not really have to deal with anything BUT
the majority culture (doesn’t make it right,
but this is the reality). In this country, the
majority culture is defined as white, male,
heterosexual, Christian and not having an
ADA-defined disability. But just because
a person in the majority culture starts out
with a much wider “blind spot” than people
not in the majority culture doesn’t mean it’s
impossible for white men to become open
advocates for diversity and inclusion. It
also doesn’t mean that a Black woman (for
example) comes with an automatic Ph.D. in
diversity management (it’s just a lot easier for
the Black woman to see the problem in the
first place). We must all come to the realization that, as a reader put it nicely, “I am not
different than you, I am different like you.” I
Have a
question
for Luke?
EMAIL HIM AT
askthewhiteguy@
DiversityInc.com
READ MORE
“Ask the White
Guy” articles
at www.DiversityInc.
com/atwg
CONTROVERSIAL Q&A
This column
generated
many reader
comments.
Here are a few
examples:
What a great way to start
your day! I am just blown
away by this article. I hadn’t read
something so powerful and inspiring
about diversity for a long time. Thank you
so much for writing this. Everything you
said validated my feelings, thoughts and
experiences. I’m also considered a white
woman, but I’m an immigrant from the
Middle East and was a minority there.
I’m a diversity manager and have had to
tolerate many critical looks and attitudes
from Black and other ethnic-looking
coworkers who are wondering how I could
be possibly qualified to do the work,
even though I have a graduate degree in
intercultural education. Again, thank you for
this thought-provoking and inspiring article.
Luke, you’ve done it again! Thank you. Your
insight is valuable. I agree that a white
person can talk about and teach diversity.
First of all, white is a race. And just because
someone is not a minority doesn’t mean they
can’t understand diversity or have not been
discriminated against. I receive questions,
as a Black woman, about why I hired a white
male as my assistant director. It was the best
thing I could have done. He’s compassionate,
educated about the laws and diversity issues,
and works extremely hard for those he feels
have been treated unfairly. Keep up the good
insights.
I agree. I’ve received this question to me
over the years as a white male conducting
training in EEO and diversity. It’s what each
person brings to the table based on their
life experiences, skills and one’s willingness
to step out of his or her comfort zone to
learn about bias. It all starts with me.
Thanks.
