Top 5 Ways DEI Work Fails
And why you should work harder to ensure it doesn’t!
Different types of people in a group. The people are of different shades and genders.
I’ve been a professional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultant for a little over 5 years. However, I’ve been doing what we call “the work” for close to 16 years. In the time I’ve been doing “the work” I have rarely seen successful DEI efforts. Over time I’ve thought about the reasons why these efforts fail and here are my top 10.
DEI is everybody’s everyday work but not everybody can do effective DEI work. Here’s the thing, just because you have BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) folk on your staff does not mean they are “experts” in the field of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Lived experience as a BIPOC individual does not a diversity expert make. So many times I’ve witnessed programs, offices, corporate America, hospital systems, non-profits, colleges/universities, and other organizations hire or appoint a BIPOC person who just showed up “not white” to be in charge of diversity efforts. Understanding that this work requires a lot of educational training and personal training. You can’t just show up “non-white” and do this work. You have to understand the concepts as well as understand the systems and institutions that support inequity.
Resistance is…futile…but scares folks from doing DEI efforts effectively. What happens in many organizations is that the higher-ups decided due to a variety of reasons (racism, sexism, homophobia etc. in the workplace or an incident of bias in the news re: George Floyd’s murder) to double down (or start) their diversity efforts. It’s usually with “good intentions” but most of the time it’s just to silence the BIPOC and rowdy white folks. Because of this, they mandate everyone to do DEI workshops. It’s effective in that everyone gets the information but there is always pushback and the results they expect to see aren’t always good ones. In a most recent consulting gig, we got pushback from two directions. One direction came from the most expected; conservatives and deniers. The complaint of “we talk about this too much,” or “why is it always about race,” or “these issues would be ok if people weren’t so sensitive.” The other direction is from the “hyper woke” folks. If you give humans grace they see you as betraying BIPOC folks, if you make a mistake during the training or workshop they jump down your throat, if you highlight material that they deem unacceptable they come at you. Both groups dismiss everything and refuse to recognize the fact that we all make mistakes, we are all flawed, that doesn’t excuse the bias of others but neither can throw the first stone. We all fall short. This results in a backlash against the higher-ups. Nothing changes because the backlash makes the higher-ups afraid. And basically, organizations paid a lot of money for things to go back to the way they were or the culture of the organization becomes more violent.
Wrong consultant; failed message. Most of the time organizations aren’t serious about their DEI efforts so you see the organizations either hire folks who are interested in catering to white folk's needs and desires without tackling the actual issues or they attempt to do it themselves with people who have no understanding of the issues. Both attempts fail. Even if there is bias in an all-white employee space (which in itself is an issue) you could find consultants who don’t understand the intricacies of intersectionality, systems, and institutions' support of bias can cause more harm than good. People can walk away from these experiences feeling justified in their harmful beliefs or angry because they felt unheard and unseen. Either way, the efforts fail…horribly.
The Question: Why Should white folks get on board is never answered Honestly, what would it take? How do you appeal to people who have privilege that there are others that do not? How do you explain to people who have been miseducated and misinformed that the way they perceive society is warped by the tent an illusion of “whiteness?” What is the benefit for white folks to loudly support BIPOC and other marginalized people if they can see the drawbacks of being “race traitors” and “PC cops?” Why should they challenge family members, colleagues, and anyone else when they can just be silent and not rock the boat? Why should they challenge the idea of ‘the right to comfort’ when they aren’t uncomfortable? Why should they accept the theory of intersectionality, when it’s easier to just blame BIPOC and other marginalized folks for the issues that they face every day? I suppose the easiest answer is, “they should do the work because a) their forefathers created this society that is built on inequity and b) the inequities that affect marginalized folks affect them too just not always directly.” And yes, that’s the easiest answer but if people can’t see the ways that systems and institutions uphold inequity and if inequity doesn’t touch that particular individual why does it matter? I usually find myself internally saying, it matters. And yet, that’s not good enough. Because saying, “it matters” is like saying, “cause I said so” to a toddler, child, or teenager. Those are not answers; they’re directives. And most of us could care less about directives.
“I don’t want to make a mistake,” the biggest cop-out said by nearly everyone! We all make mistakes. I know I have. I’ve misgendered people, I’ve laughed at jokes that are problematic, and I’ve been silent when I should’ve spoken out and that’s just the shortlist. I’m not perfect. No human is. So why are we afraid of making mistakes? A lot of times we hear, “We could get fired for making a mistake.” And I push back on that; very rarely do people get fired for making one mistake. Apologizing and doing better are always the next steps to the improvement of the culture of an office.
When I think about the work that I do, I often find myself wondering if I’m making a change. I tell myself that I am not responsible for what happens after I leave. And yet, I am often way too hopeful that my experience has shown me is true. People have a hard time changing unless they see a benefit and for the most part; the people that need to change often don’t see the benefit in having a society that cares for all people. For most folks, someone has to be on the bottom and they work hard not to be that one.
So where does one start? I am currently reading How to be Less S****d about Race by Dr. Crystal Fleming. It’s insightful and easy uncomplicated to read about complex DEI theories, issues of race in the larger community, and her own journey into Anti-Racist work. This is a book to start with.
The journey begins with taking that first step; as cliche, that is to say, it’s true. If you believe in equity then you’ll take that first step and maybe the ways in which DEI fails us will be just a fond memory of the past.
But I’m not counting on it.