DEI training is worse than useless if it’s not done well. In yesterday’s post, I talked about how I was unwillingly dragged into being a DEI trainer when I was a ‘mere’ admin assistant for a DEI department (or the equivalent thereof before DEI was officially a thing).
I was supposed to just deal with paperwork, more or less, but my boss discovered that I’m really fucking good at other things–like writing and computer-related things that she did not want to do. As I said in yesterday’s post, she was in over her head and really should not have been in the position.
The one thing I learned while doing DEI training was that most of it was shitty. This was thirty years ago, and while it may have gotten better since then, I think it still probably sucks. I mentioned it at the end of the last post that I came up with an idea for a diversity town in which people who are now in the majority (cis het white Christian dudes) expreienced life as the minority for a month.
I want the actual minorities to treat the people in the majority the way they themselves have been treated, no holds barred. It’s nearly impossible to explain to someone what life is like as a minority, especially as a multiple one. There are some people who have empathy, but there are more who do not. And there are a big number of people who haven’t had to be empathetic. The same people who would benefit from diverrsity town.
The reason I dismissed it was because, well, there were several reasons. One, it’s not very ethical to fuck with people like that. Two, it would take an astronomical amount of money. Three, it would be really difficult to govern. Four, crimes would happen. I’m just speculating on the last, but I’m pretty certain that it would happen. Or rather, there would be no way to guarantee that it wouldn’t happen.
Those ore the four off the top of my head. I am sure there are many more that I haven’t thought of–such as not being allowed to do any such thing. Also, people who are in the majority are already afraid of how they’d be treated if they truly were in the minority. This certainly would not help in that area.
I think it would be a good way to really open people’s eyes to prejudice, though. And I would make sure that they got to experience ALL the harrassment, microaggressions, gaslighting, and other delightful bullshit that minorities have to go through. Which, again, is neither ethical nor moral. And probably not legal, either.
It’s so frustrating, though. I read a work blog, and the legal definition of a hostile workplace is very stringent. It’s only discrimination that is based on certain biases, and it has to be persistent or a really big incident. Other than that, you’re free to be as hostile as you want! I mean, a company can certainly discipline you under their own rules, and if it gets really bad, it can be a problem for the police.
Side note: I included I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton above because she died yesterday. It wasn’t a shock, exactly, but it was very sad. She was a country legend, and I loved how down to earth she was. What’s more, although she was a pretty devout Christian, she was very accepting of her gay fans. She said it wasn’t up to her to judge, and she scoled other Christians for doing so.
She also used the earnings from allowing Whitney Houston to use the above song in the movie, The Bodyguard, to build a building in Whitney Houston’s neighborhood to help the community. I just found this out today, and it made me warm to her even more. I loved her Southern accent and how she was so authentically herself. I mean, sure, she had a persona, but she managed to convey sincerity.
To me, this is what I’m looking for when people interact with me. I don’t care if they truly accept me as I am, but I expect them to at least be civil and tolerant. That was an argument that raged in the nineties to the aughts. Tolerance v. Acceptance. I always went with the former because it’s much easier to legislate than the latter. Als, I saw it as a step towards acceptance because people were not going to leap from hatred to acceptance in one fell swoop.
Nowadays, though, I think I would have to plump for acceptance because i have seen how scarily easy it is to go from tolerance to hatred. Granted, it was barely tolerance in the first place, but still. Deep down, I know it won’t really change how horrid things are going right now, but I can’t help but hope–ah hell. I don’t hope for anything because I know it’s going to get so much worse.
Sigh. With DEI being cut and slashed to all hell, none of this really matters right now. What’s the most dispiriting is how quickly and viciously the laws against queer folks and immigrants are being passed. Yes, many of them are being struck down, but many of them are not. It proves that laws can be passed quickly if one is willing to be ruthless about it. Sure, it may not be the most democratic process in the wrold. And sure, it may get overturned at some point. Eventually. Maybe. Maybe not depending on our pissant Supreme Court.
I really would love to be able to be the mayor of Diversity Town. You know what? If it was all voluntary and waivers were signed, maybe I could do it? I would have to look into it, of course, and it would be a hell of a lot of work. That much I could guarantee.
Also, I don’t know if I should say this, but I hold out very little hope for this country. Countries do crumble, and maybe it’s time to let this country go. Granted, it’s only been a few hundred years, but it seems to have run its course. I’ve never had much faith in it, but it’s completely gone down the drain during the current administration.
I have no heart. I’m sick to my sttomach that I returned from the dead (twice!) for this bullshit. I feel like what’s the point, really? With all the bullshit that is going on, I just have no heart. I know that things will change again, but there’s no guarantee that it’s goin to get better.