Diversity is Not Just for the “Diverse”
On Saturday, I turned 38th years old. I celebrated my birthday with my husband of more than nine years and three of our closest friends. We had dinner at the uber chic, Blue Ribbon Sushi. Yum! Somewhere close to midnight (feeling a little tired and tipsy), we realized that if we hurried we could catch the 12:15AM train from Grand Central Terminal to Stamford. If we missed that, then we would have to wait another 62 minutes until the next train – the life of a suburbanite! So outside of the restaurant we tried to flag down a cab. Just our luck – an occupied cab stopped nearby to drop off a passenger. Anyone savvy in the NYC taxi game knows this is the key to scoring a cab. But then it happened. The cab driver took one look at my husband and said he was off duty. The door of the cab was open with my husband standing right there so the cab couldn’t pull off. The cabbie couldn’t articulate a reason why he was now so suddenly off duty and my husband was giving him an earful (my husband is a pretty skilled debater…unfortunately for me).
This is the all-too-common experience of “cabbing while black”. I can’t speak for all black folks, but this is a pretty regular occurrence for my husband and me. Aside from the fact that we are gainfully employed, overwhelmingly people would say that we are generous people. So this is even more frustrating. For us, tipping is not optional. And for us, being appreciative is not optional. Case-in-point, the cabbie actually took us to Grand Central. Maybe it was when I took his picture with my iPhone or got his cab number, or when I exclaimed with glee that I would finally be able to use that law degree that I earned and was collecting dust. Maybe it was realizing that Josiah was not going to let that door go or let that cab leave. I don’t know. But even in this instance, my husband gave the cabbie $10 for an $8.50 fare and instinctively said, as he leapt (inside joke) out of the cab, “thank you sir”.
How is this relevant to this blog, you might ask. This incident reminded me of a couple of things:
“Post-racial” is a fairytale
With the monumental election of President Barack Obama four years ago, many declared that ethnicity was no longer a designation that warranted some special consideration. We’ll see how the Supreme Court feels about that pretty soon. Our world continues to change and though we have made progress in many areas, we still have many of the same issues of a generation ago. You need only look at an average MBA classroom to see how far we have left to go, where many top schools are still under 30% women and 6% under-represented minorities in their student bodies. Schools must recognize that there is a problem and then have the fortitude to find innovative solutions if we are to achieve gender parity and ethnic equality.
Diversity is not just for the “diverse”
Diversity is often focused on outreach to the underrepresented group, to women, to US minorities. Of course, if you are going to increase diversity, you want to find that which is not currently included. However, the full benefits of diversity are not achieved by just having people who are different in one room, but by having those people interact, learn from and respect one another. They don’t actually have to understand each other – contrary to the expression you can’t really step into someone else’s shoes. Frankly, for business schools and other institutions incorporating diversity and inclusion topics within their curriculum may be more important than increasing representation. If we don’t help managers of all backgrounds to value each other and respect difference, we are setting ourselves up to be having the same conversation with the next generation.
We must continue to empower the powerless
The cabbie incident reminded me that we have to continue to empower the powerless and speak up for the speechless. When I read articles and blogs online, I usually spend more time reading the comments than the article itself. Any article that touches on ethnicity, gender or diversity always has comments that are downright nasty. There is always someone that questions why a particular group won’t “get over it”. Instead of moving on, we have to give voice to the experiences and challenges that people have – acknowledging that each of us (even the commenters on those articles) is entitled to speak up about our own personal stories. In fact, we have a duty to do so. For those that have disenfranchised, this is not about trying to convince others of how life was so unfair – that ain’t happening! It’s about acknowledging the legacy of disempowerment to reclaim power and pride in who you are and to use your experiences as the fuel and fire as you strive for something better.
