Diversity Conversations in the Workplace
Written by Julicia James, from the College of Global Studies
On Wednesday, April 4th, I co-facilitated a workshop on Arcadia’s campus along with Judy Dalton, the Associate Dean of Institutional Diversity and Dr. Rebecca Kohn, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The topic was Sustaining Conversations about Diversity, and it was open to all staff and faculty members. We focused on knowing how to respond when an offensive comment is made. First, we looked at problematic statements that stopped a conversation on diversity, in particular, race. Then, we discussed why these statements were problematic. Finally, we covered a way to respond in a way that was respectful, engaging, and opened back up the conversation on diversity. Consider the following scenarios:
Scenario 1: Happy Hour
You’re at happy hour with a group of coworkers, and Marvin, who is the director of Accounts Receivable, is telling a story about the latest round of interviews for the Specialist position that is open on his team. “I don’t understand why HR wants me to interview ‘diverse’” – he makes air-quotes with his fingers – “candidates. I’d hire a women or a person of color, but are they qualified? This isn’t a secretary job; this is real work!” He throws back his head and laughs, and everyone joins in, but you don’t because you feel uncomfortable. There are no women or people of color in your group of coworkers, you’re all white men, but the comment is offensive to you, even if it doesn’t affect you personally.
Scenario 2: Class Presentation
You just finished giving a presentation in your history class on the Sumer people, the earliest known civilization in Mesopotamia. You practiced giving this presentation twice to your roommates, and once to your best friend in St. Louis over FaceTime. You know you’ve done a great job because the entire class applauds, including the professor. You can’t stop beaming. “Thank you,” you say. As you start to return to your desk, your professor walks up to you, places a hand on your shoulder, and says, “You know, when I look at you, I don’t see color. I don’t even see you as black. Great job on that presentation!” The color drains from your face, and you feel numb. What just happened and how do you respond?
Scenario 3: Finals Prep
You’re studying for your Calculus final on the lawn outside the library. You and your friends are all sprawled on blankets laid over the grass, reading through textbooks and quizzing each other. “I can’t study another page of this,” you say, closing your textbook. Your friend Jane closes her book too. “Me neither. Guys, I’m think I’m going to go to lunch.” Your friend Laura snaps, “Easy for you to say, Jane. You’re Asian. I’m sure this is all so easy to you.” Suddenly, everyone falls silent. You glance towards Jane, and her face is red. Laura looks up and realizes that everyone is quiet and staring at her. “Guys, I was just joking!” Everyone starts to laugh a little awkwardly, but you feel a knot in your stomach when you look at Jane’s crestfallen face.
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The scenarios above are all instances of offensive statements. These statements can make having a conversation on diversity difficult or can even stop it altogether. Sometimes, like the people above, we encounter or witness an uncomfortable situation, we want to respond, but we don’t know how.
I know that at Arcadia, we are a community of learners so I want to share this formula with you. Here is a basic formula that Deans Judy, Rebecca, and I developed for responding to problematic statements that make a conversation on diversity difficult:
- Acknowledge the statement. This can be by repeating the statement or by stating that what was said was uncomfortable
- Re-open the conversation. This can be done with a question (“Why did you think that was a joke?”) or a new way of thinking about the topic (“We’d hire more men and white people, but are they qualified?”).
Here are some ways in which our friends in the stories above could have responded in the moment. I also challenge you to evaluate your beliefs if you see a statement below that perhaps you yourself may have uttered before and be open to thinking in new ways.
Scenario 1: Happy Hour
“We’d hire more women and people of color, but are they qualified?”
- Why this phrase is problematic: Diversity and talent are not mutually exclusive. This statement also shifts the blame of a lack of diverse staff onto the shoulders of women and people of color, instead of a lack of effort on the hiring manager’s behalf to conduct outreach to diverse groups. I heard this commonly as an HR Specialist working in diversity recruitment.
- How you could respond: “That’s an interesting statement. Let’s turn it on its head. What if I said to you, ‘We’d hire more men and white people, but are they qualified?’ What is your initial reaction to this statement?”
Scenario 2: Class Presentation
“When I look at you, I don’t see color. I don’t even see you as black.”
- Why this phrase is problematic: Unless the speaker is legally blind or colorblind, the first sentence is physically impossible and false. It is not wrong to see color. Color, all colors — from brown to black to olive to white to tan — is beautiful, and variety is the spice of life. It is wrong, however, to treat someone differently because of the color of their skin. It is also wrong to say that you don’t see color because it is a lie which implies that color is a bad thing.
- How you could respond: “That’s an interesting statement. But could you explain what you mean by ‘you don’t see color’? If you don’t see color, then you don’t see me.”
Scenario 3: Finals Prep
“I was just joking!”
- Why this phrase is problematic: It allows the speaker to acquit themselves of the offensive remark that he or she uttered previously. By saying it’s a joke, the speaker seeks to minimize the gravity of what he or she just said and abandon the responsibility of owning up to their statement.
- How you could respond: “I didn’t find that funny. Why did you think it was a joke?”
Of course, there will be times when you don’t feel safe or comfortable sustaining the conversation on diversity. Racism and racial discrimination can create an environment of chronic emotional stress, and sometimes the best thing you can do for your health and safety is to walk away and recuperate. Nevertheless, I encourage you to use the tools above as often as you can.
We went over other scenarios in the workshop, but I’ll leave it at three for this article today. And remember the basic formula: Acknowledge the statement by repeating it or stating it was uncomfortable, and re-open the conversation with a question or a new approach to the topic.
