Exclusive Inclusion and diversions from Diversity

Exclusive Inclusion and diversions from Diversity 

rodney d. coates*

President Trump, in spite of legal opinion, politically astute advice, and reality, continues to target Muslims and other immigrants from specific countries. Ironically, the election of Donald Trump has caused many to rethink what we mean by diversity and inclusion. Suddenly, diversity experts in corporate America, according to a recent Forbes article, are trying to incorporate white men into corporate spaces. It seems that they, not blacks or women, Hispanics or Muslims, gays or transsexuals are being excluded, it is white males. We are coming to understand, thanks to our President, that poverty too must be included in our standard definition. This is a very good step forward. But we must get past the binary, single dimensions of identity, and what we mean by diversity.   

 

There are those who insist that they value diversity, yet demand that all conform to their definition of what that diversity should look, act, be like. So in the spirit of inclusion individuals and groups are subjected to a multitude of stereotypical, marginalizing, and insulting rules in order to be welcomed into spaces previously reserved as single identity designations. Therefore, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, or women have designated areas of concern. But we fail to grasp that black gay female mothers living in poverty are radically different than White heterosexual male truck drivers To these we can also add religious and political beliefs, dress and language, attitudes and educational levels. We construct rules, currently covertly applied, which penalizes those who step out of line, commits some heinous crime or social faux pas all of that group are expected to carry the burden, feel the shame, or make amends/apologies. And do not dare to be different than what is currently acceptable for your group. 

 

Strange, inclusion is always cast in terms of the other, but we seldom see how it applies to each and every one of us. We all make up this thing we call diversity. But when we use blame and shame, victim and victims as our chief rhetoric we seldom discuss allies and alliances that cross borders, build bridges and help reclaim public as well as private spaces.

 

Stereotypes that appeal to white sensibilities, black sensitivities, female attitudes, gay values, Hispanic desires, or Asian skill sets only preserve the exclusiveness of inclusion. Diversity is not a diversion, it must and is inclusive of all of us, not exclusive of only part of our various identities. We are complex wholes not reducible to the sum of our parts. We are not this minute black, white, brown, tan, or yellow, then gay, straight, lesbian, trans the next. Nether are we Islamic, Catholic, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, Hindu, or sectarian this minute and Anglican, Jainism, Shinto, Jewish or Taoist the next. We cannot slice and dice our identities into single, monolithic entities. To do such is to create exclusive inclusion, and create diversions from diversity.