Why I am Optimistic About Inclusion
It might seem like a strange time to be optimistic about
inclusiveness in the U.S. Many of us are
in streets protesting police violence against Black people, as yet more
incidents of police targeting and killing Black people have been made public
and visible. White supremacist groups
are much more visible and even being mainstreamed by political leaders. What was considered fringe has become
legitimized for many. It is a scary
time, and it feels like we are peering into the abyss of intolerance, or
perhaps we have already fallen over the edge.
Have we really taken so many steps backwards, or are we just seeing more
clearly what was already there? I think
both are true to some extent, but I favor the latter; I think we are starting
to develop a more widely held view of “what is”.
If we take a step back we can see that diversity and
inclusion have been a dilemma for this country since the beginning. I use “dilemma” intentionally; inclusion of
diverse groups is not a problem to be solved, it is an ongoing dilemma to be
managed. When our country was created we
weren’t very open, fair or inclusive.
However, our stated values often were, though probably the founders
didn’t fully realize how diverse and dynamic the country would become a couple
of hundred years later. Their ”enlightened”
ideas though were expressed and have survived the test of time, at least
rhetorically. The way in which we became
a country, and we are a very new country still, created conditions in which we
would always be grappling with this dilemma as we simultaneously 1) created a
culture and set of laws and practices which put immigration, and the attendant diversity,
at the core of our development, 2) went
even further via articulated notions of equality of opportunity and 3) enslaved
millions of people and denied full rights and freedoms to millions more. This implicit paradox and hypocrisy have been
the fuel for substantial progress over the last couple of hundred years, as
they create a vivid picture of the gap between who we say we are and how we
really are. The moments when we see and
feel this gap so clearly are moments of cognitive dissonance that drive
change. I believe we are in one of those
times right now, and that our current polarized, and intensifying, societal
dynamics can be understood as a sign of progress, a sign that accelerated
change is underway. That is why I optimistically
believe this period will ultimately lead us to discover even more deeply, the
value of inclusion.
Our history is an important guide. As a country we have moved inexorably towards
becoming both more diverse and more inclusive. The end of legal slavery more than 150 years ago and the extension of voting rights to women 100 years ago were big steps, though with a lot of time in between. This progress has certainly not been in a straight line, and at times it
has felt more like regression than progress.
However, if we step back and look at the past several decades the big
picture shows tremendous progress and change.
The successful challenging of barriers based on race led to full legal and
civil rights for African Americans and the end of Jim Crow laws. Significant workplace barriers were overcome,
including workplace non-discrimination laws banning discrimination based on
gender, race, age, religion, and more, including just this year, sexual
orientation and gender identity. In
another significant achievement, the Americans with Disabilities Act, a
sweeping law to create access for people with disabilities, was passed 3
decades ago. Messy and painful though
the conversations are, we are getting better at honestly confronting and
talking about sexism and gender bias. In
recent days, there are signs we are slowly becoming more able to talk about
race, at least in a way that includes white people in a broader and more
serious way. I not only see this in the
public discourse, I also see it in my personal and professional interactions.
We will continue to evolve
I believe this evolution will continue, for 3 main reasons: inevitability, progress, and necessity. Diversity and inclusion are increasingly inevitable
in the U.S. As a nation we've been heading down this road almost since
our inception, and it has accelerated in the last several decades. We are
already quite racially diverse, with the % of people of color now nearing
40%. Beyond just plain demographic
diversity, we have also increased the level of diversity in all kinds of roles
in our public and private institutions and in government. It isn’t realistically possible to turn back
from this progress because this kind of change has built on itself as many
Americans’ definition of what is possible has grown as diverse representation
across roles has increased. We simply
are going to be diverse, increasingly so, and the only question is how
inclusive we will be and how quickly. Even inclusion is inevitable, though,
short of a complete revolution of our legal system and culture.
Progress has been sure, though slow at times as
described earlier in this essay. Measures of public attitudes over the
last 50 years reflect a growing awareness, tolerance and acceptance of more
diversity. This trend has accelerated particularly among younger
people. We have become more aware, but
also more effective, and this shows in the growth of a more diverse group of
leaders across almost all institutions and organizations, public, private and
non-profit. At the highest levels of our government we had a 2-term
African-American President. One party
had a female candidate in 2016. The
presidential field this year was diverse by race, gender and age. At least one of the VP candidates on the
ticket will be a woman. Though uneven at
very senior levels, private companies are increasingly diverse in their
management ranks, and their focus on being both more diverse and inclusive is
only increasing, as seen in the billions of dollars being invested in diversity
and inclusion efforts.
The last reason, necessity, is the driver that hasn’t
been fully acknowledged, but is driving institutional behavior, like the
examples cited above of companies putting pressure on state and local
governments to not adopt non-inclusive laws, ordinances and practices. Institutions see the business value of both
diversity and inclusion. In fact in my experience working with dozens of large companies, they
don’t just see the value, they see that the full engagement and inclusion of an
increasingly diverse labor pool and marketplace is essential to their ability
to thrive, and even to survive. In a global
and multi-cultural context we simply must be more inclusive if we are going to
treat patients, serve customers, build effective strategies, and more fully
utilize our human resources.
What seems to be getting in our way is actually
accelerating change
So even if you find the optimistic case as compelling as I
do, why can change seem so slow, or do we appear to be going backwards at
times, like these last few years? When
it comes to inclusion, it has been a rough few years. After the high of electing our first non-white
person as President, it seemed we had made a great leap forward as a diverse
and inclusive society, regardless of whether one supported President Obama’s
political views. It doesn’t feel that
way, though. These last few years of
regression, of increased overt discrimination, a rise in hate crimes, and an
increased polarization between identity groups, is disturbing, upsetting and
frustrating to many, including myself, a White, Gay, Jewish man. It feels not just like a step back, but like
we are turning back. However, this is a
normal dynamic when significant change is happening. Often, when change accelerates, or becomes
real, there is a counter-reaction, or resistance to that change. So perhaps the extreme polarization, and all
of the attendant acting out and reactivity, just reflects inevitable resistance
to inevitable societal change. What if,
in fact, the intensity of this resistance is actually a sign of how deeply and
quickly we are changing? In my work as
an organizational change consultant for large companies, I have noticed that
big changes produce big backlashes.
Think about big changes you’ve experienced and how you and others have
reacted to it. Don’t you or others push
back even if the coming change is inevitable, or push harder the more uncertain
the future? Don’t our worst behaviors
tend to come out in these times, especially if we feel uncertain, vulnerable or
afraid? That is what I believe is
happening at a societal level among many people. However, the good news: the more that resistance to change becomes
overt and explicit, the more quickly change can accelerate. Why? Resistance
reflects energy and engagement, and real change requires energy and engagement.
As resistance intensifies, underlying
biases and bigotry come to the surface and there is a much greater possibility
that those biases and the attendant behavior can be confronted, examined and
shifted. I believe this is happening and
helps to explain the shift in public opinion showing up in multiple surverys (i.e. Pew, Monmouth, Civiqs) about racism (more of us believe
it is a problem) and the Black Lives Matter movement (a majority of us support
their work), as well as what appears by observation and anecdote to be a broader and more sustained participation of whites in
the protests and ongoing dialogue. Perhaps
sunlight is, as has often been said, “the best disinfectant.”
We are all a part
of making our way forward
As a nation that is young, and constructed in a way unlike
most any other nation, we have a tendency to continually reinvent
ourselves. Our “reinventions” are often
messy but usually fast, as least as compared to much of history. George Friedman's new book, The Storm Before the Calm, speaks powerfully to our national reinventions. We succeed because we find new ways to engage
each other, new ways to tap the inherent talent and capability of our
population, and we keep our founding principles alive. In this way, diversity and inclusion have
been at the heart of our evolution ever since the founding, although most of
the real progress has been in the last 60 years. This is not going to change, and importantly
it will continue and accelerate. Sometimes we emphasize our differences,
sometimes our similarities. Both are
important and relevant, and both will always be part of our national culture
and dialogue. Some thought the election
of the first person of color to the Presidency meant that we were “post
racial,” like we had solved the “problem” of racism. Diversity and inclusion are not “problems”
that we will ever “solve.” They
represent an ongoing and somewhat unique dilemma that we will always have to
manage. In managing this dilemma we need
to continually engage each other on these topics. It is important that we don’t project our unowned
biases onto each other in search of a scapegoat, but that instead we ask
questions and we seek to understand all who are well-intended. We must leave room for discussion, and for
disagreement, and we must sometimes draw lines consistent with our founding
values. It will never be enough, but we
will progress. As each wall comes down,
we will need to manage the invisible shadow of that wall, and quickly another
wall will appear; lather, rinse and repeat.
The skillset that is needed to be a good citizen, an effective leader or
influencer in the United States will always and increasingly include
understanding the meaning and power of our differences. Effectiveness will increasingly be measured
by the capability to dissemble bias in ourselves, others, and in groups and
institutions. Creating dynamics that
more fully include more people will continue be a source of innovation and a
driver of success. The next challenge
always emerges even as the earlier ones persist. We’ve made progress on racism, sexism,
heterosexism, transphobia, etc. but barriers remain. For 20 years at least, we’ve been talking
about socio-economic class diversity and a wealth gap, but we are only at the
awareness phase. I hear this topic come up more frequently with my clients, and I imagine this
awareness will transition to some action as part of this next national
reinvention. Socio-economic class
intersects with gender and race, and we are in the process of figuring out how
to talk about that, particularly as the current socio-political backlash
appears to be led by working class whites.
This conversation is never-ending, because our change and reinvention
process is never-ending.
So as we sit here now, in a period that feels like a big
step backwards, with an added layer of intensity due to a pandemic, it is still
true that our fate rests with each other.
In some ways the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates this point, as it
provides a clear sense of shared fate, that we are all in this together, and
that our diversity, as evidenced by the heroes of this pandemic, is implicit to
who we are, and that our ability to be inclusive as a society is directly
related to our ability to survive.
Because of our unending interdependency it is important to
continue the work of increasing our awareness and our effectiveness in living
and working together across our many differences. We still have a rough period ahead of
us. We will figure this out and make our
way forward, but our work won’t end anytime soon.
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