Is Diversity Training Anti-American?
Image Credit John Sanders, American flag on ground
Published on: 10/30/2020
Dr. Linet Mera
Thanks to an executive order banning diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) training for federal agencies and federal contractors, folks are cancelling contracts left and right because the executive order claims DEI training goes against America and American values.
We wanted to do our part in demystifying what DEI training does and doesn’t do. A lot of the claims imply that all diversity training is inherently anti-American because it portrays America and specifically white America as evil. Is America evil? Are all white folks racist? Let’s dig in.
Does diversity training…
Claim that the United States is inherently racist? No. No country is inherently racist. What is unfortunately true is that the US constitution, economic system, healthcare system and many other building blocks of the United States that are key to its operation are built on racist principles because they were conceived of while intentionally permitting slavery or unequal treatment of Black People or currently permit infringement of the rights of Black people.
Claim that the United States is inherently evil? No. We don’t know of a single diversity training that claims the United States is inherently evil. Diversity training is not here to tell you what is good vs what is evil, diversity training is here to help you notice when you can be hurting people’s feelings, health, careers, and way of life based on unfair biases and what to do about it.
Claim that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil? No. We define race as a social construct grouping individuals typically by shared physical characteristics and phenotypic expression. We define ethnicity as a social construct linked to cultural expression and identification.
What our diversity training *does* teach is that we are all susceptible to acting in biased and racist ways regardless of our ethnicity, race, or gender. In fact, we hold that each person can be responsible for their own actions and thoughts regardless of their race or ethnicity. Color of one’s skin or location of birth has zero genetic predisposition to ‘evil’ or racism.Tell attendees that virtually all White people contribute to racism? Yes and no. We ALL contribute to racism, regardless of race or ethnicity and it is our collective job to be *antiracist*.
Tell attendees that virtually all White people benefit from racism? Yes and no. If we are not negatively affected by racism, then yes we *do* benefit from racism. I write this as a white-passing Latinx, I do benefit from racism. I do not consider myself “White” since I have a mixed racial background and I have been the subject of anti-Latinx discrimination, but I am certain the lightness of my skin color has benefited me. I also see it as my job to point out these instances whenever I can and counter these effects.
Claim that there is racism embedded in the belief that America is the land of opportunity? Yes and no. It is an incredible ideal and it is not racist at face value. However, this is not true for everyone. Race, gender, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, and other identity factors whether voluntary or involuntary continue to be at the core of why everyone is not able to access the same opportunities as everyone else.
Claim there is racism embedded in the belief that the most qualified person should receive the job? Yes and no. The most qualified person should always get a job, however, much like #6, this isn’t true for plenty of women, people of color, elders, and people with different ethnicities or disabilities. The phrase “most qualified person for the job” is often used to defend discriminatory hiring practices. For example, I have a PhD, in the sciences there is a range of 44%+ of women in graduate programs, pretty close to 50%! But tenure-track faculty still count very few women, 26% in 2016. Can we say that women are simply not qualified for the job? Not really, we have plenty of data showing this isn’t the case. And it’s not the case for Black scientists either. And it’s worse if you have any intersectionality.
Run counter to the fundamental beliefs on which our Nation has stood since its inception? Yes. Many of the fundamental beliefs on which the US has stood upon since its inception are racist and sexist and many other -ists, so diversity training does ask us to challenge, question, and change our understanding of the effects of these beliefs. Does this mean we can’t believe that every person should have the ability to pursue happiness or that America is a land of opportunity? No, but it does mean we can acknowledge that these phrases were written at a time when slavery existed and that our “founding fathers” made the conscious choice to *not* get rid of or condemn slavery when the opportunity was available.
Engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce? No. Well, ‘bad’ forced training can leave you with increased awareness of differences without giving you tools to reconcile those differences. But most diversity trainings out there equip you with tools to do something about that increased awareness. Our trainings are never forced and we always have our workshop participants practice tools to reduce bias within our workshops. Our workshops are meant to give folks tools to work with one another because our workforces are increasingly diverse and we need to understand how to work with each other to achieve our goals.
Is diversity training propaganda? No. While there are many different types of diversity training out there, diversity training is meant to give folks the understanding and tools they need to work within a diverse workforce.
Image Credit: City of North Charleston, South Carolina, scales of justice
Well, is it anti-American or not?
No. Diversity training is not anti-American. America is not inherently evil and white folks are not inherently evil. The effects of socioeconomic oppression based on race that is rooted in the colonial history that built the United States is directly tied to slavery and othering of anyone that is not white. Because of these systems, many people, including non-white folks, do end up acting on biases against many groups of people merely because of the color of their skin, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, way of speaking, body shape, abilities, religion, etc…
Diversity training does show and reveal these issues because it’s important to understand where these problems are coming from and how we are complicit in continuing the cycle. Once we understand these core facts, we are able to begin tackling the problem at the personal, institutional, and systemic levels.
I don’t think America is evil, but America does have some deep-seated issues with racism and other -isms that we haven’t been able to fully address with our laws and policies so far. Diversity training is about helping Americans recognize these problems and equip us with the tools to do something about it. Take these unjust claims about diversity training as a guidepost on what we ought to dig in deeper to understand better.
Sources:
Our own Unconscious Bias and Bias reduction trainings & services
Memorandum from the White House on DEI Training
The Professor Ladder Remains a Challenge for Women in Academia
Why Diversity Programs Fail
1619 Podcast
Biased
Stamped from the Beginning
How to be an Antiracist