They’ve done it again.

Trying to make “anti-racism” a dirty word.

By now, you know my line…

The language is in on it.©

White-centered colonized DEI is also in on it with its “innocent” professing that….

“DEI is more than just about race.”

“DEI should avoid a focus on race.”

Let all that post-George Floyd pivoting sink in.

Are these the words you hear spoken at your organization any time the conversation steers toward racial equity?

It they’re not willing to talk about it, then you know they’re not willing to “be about it.”

First, it was “Black lives matter” that had to go.

Now anti-racism’s gotta go, and let’s make sure by scrubbing race out of DEI.

More than two years after the murder of George Floyd, blatant outward displays of racism and worry over racism—and particularly anti-Black racism—are at high levels.

It’s a redundant point.

Systemic racism has yet to be universally acknowledged and addressed.

Organizations have “conveniently forgotten” their 2020 commitments and pledges. Some have even doubled down in their “unrememory” stance.

And I can’t even with this ongoing racial wage gap.

Oh, by the way, Black women are statistically the most degreed demographic. The logic ain’t logicking. The pay ain’t paying.

I guess the folks claiming to be nothing like their ancestors can’t be bothered to right the wrongs of the past or the present.

Why should they?

They stand to continue to gain and to enrich themselves.

Racial capitalism doesn’t run without heavy “infusions” of anti-Black racism.

Anti-Black racism is not just a sentiment or a belief.

Anti-Black racism is a way of life, the way business is done, a lever that keeps things running just white.

Exploitation and oppression are business as usual.

Do you really think there will ever be a majority number of whiteness-benefactors that “sign up” to strip the system, to dismantle it?

We may get a little money thrown at us every now and then when we start “grumbling too loudly.” But that’s it.

No acknowledgment.

No wrongs righted.

No amends.

No reparations.

Just the sweeping of a mountain under a scant rug.

People who “don’t see color” also don’t see mountains.

Do you understand what’s been happening?

Just like Black people are being erased and grouped under the POC umbrella,

anti-racism is being minimized in favor of a DEI that operates on an overriding paradigm of…

“I don’t see color; all lives matter— LGBTQIA2S+ lives, disabled lives, neurodivergent lives. And don’t say Black lives matter because that’s political, that’s offensive.”

Newsflash.

There are Black, Brown, Indigenous folks that are LGBTQIA2S+, disabled, neurodivergent, etc.

I personally check 2 of those 3 “boxes.”

It’s a “little thing” referred to as “intersectionality” coined by legal scholar and professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a sistah.

So, to be clear, let me put it to you in multiple ways…..

DEI has been

• colonized
• hijacked
• co-opted
• infected
• watered down
• neutralized

The end result is a DEI that is

• white-centered
• white-controlled
• white-led
• comfortable

Is it no wonder my friend and colleague Vonda Page is declaring that we….

“Dump DEI”

Before folks get all in their feelings about a DEI consultant/anti-racism educator who supports dumping DEI…

think it through.

Before DEI was even called DEI, it was us doing the work.

Us.

As I pointed out in a previous piece, the power majority wasn’t interested in this work. They were/are too busy discriminating, oppressing, and killing us.

The aim of true DEI work is the opposite of all that, namely the work seeks to eliminate discrimination, bias, and inequity and to promote equality, equity, justice.

Today’s DEI—in practice—has “expanded” to mean everything but that.

DEI has become so compromised that it is barely recognizable.

And there’s a reason for that.

Virtually everything whiteness touches “dies”……including DEI.

Case in point…..

Many of us are instructed by the DEI gatekeepers of prospective clients that they don’t want a focus on race or racism. They want an emphasis on LGBTQIA2S+, for example.

Dumping DEI as it exists now is about what we gain when we do….

A long-overdue, much-needed emphasis on addressing and eradicating anti-Black racism.

You know…because anti-Black racism is a thing.

You know…..because we “have to” quit, sue, or file class action lawsuits due to humans in the workplace being either incapable of or unwilling to be decent humans.

You know….because we get our books banned in schools, our history omitted from lesson plans, our content suppressed on social media.

You know…..because we “have to” dim our light to not be a “threat” to “superior” mediocre folks.

You know….. because we “have to” get laws passed for the way our hair grows out of our scalp.

You know…. because we still “have to” find white people to beard for us in order to get a fair appraisal on our home value.

You know….. because badged folks can still kill us and receive paid administrative leave.

As I am writing this, I’m hearing the news that this past Tuesday, unarmed 20-year-old Donovan Lewis was shot dead while in his bed by pattyrollers in Columbus who were attempting to serve an arrest warrant.

So yeah…..for the love of bean sprouts in a salad, let’s NOT return to our “regularly scheduled” DEI which….

• houses all the renditions of unconscious bias training that don’t address anti-Black racism head-on.
• considers  “race,” “racism”, and “anti-racism” to be “dirty” words
• gives us an “inch” while requiring us to endure the mile…. bootless

Run, don’t walk, to pre-order Vonda’s book “Dump DEI.”

And in the spirit of equipping teachers to combat anti-Black racism in schools…..

I’m offering 50 teachers in 50 states and a teacher in Washington, D.C. this…

a complimentary enrollment in my signature on-demand course, “Doing the Heart Work of Anti-Racism and Inclusion™.

That’s 51 teachers I’m reaching across the country.

The course, which retails individually for $1497, consists of 7 modules, 40 lessons. Teachers at all levels K thru 12, teaching any subject, are eligible to apply.

As I mentioned to someone in response to a comment on my education-related post yesterday, the back-to-school season has prompted me to do a lot of thinking….and reflecting.

A whole lot.

Though I no longer have school-aged children, I have far too many memories…..and so do they.

My hope is that teachers who are sincere about “getting it right”–whether they are in states like Texas or Florida–can access tools that educate and guide them on anti-racist speech, behavior, actions, tools in the classroom with students; during conferences with parents; during in-service, PLC, PD with peer teachers; in meetings with school administrators.

Interested teachers can get more information and apply here. The 51 selected teachers will be notified September 29, the last Thursday of the month.

Do you know of a teacher in your state who would be a good candidate? Send them the link. Does your child have a teacher who would benefit? Send them the link. Have you been in contact with a teacher in Texas or Florida? Whew chile……please send them the link.

My goal with this course is to reach one and teach one in all 50 states (and D.C.)

 Let’s get this done!

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Thru September 30 or until we reach maximum capacity of 50 (whichever comes first), you can apply to be a member of my “True Anti-Racism Allies Academy.” The optimum term here is “true.”

Having launched August 1, the Academy is a subscription-based community for aspiring anti-racism allies and anti-racism allies-in-progress to (un)learn and grow to become impactivists™. Benefits include community support for the journey, coaching, content not released on LinkedIn, minimum of one video lesson per month, monthly invitation to a live virtual learning lab.

The community is NOT right for those who are “fragile,” ego-driven, unreceptive to feedback and correction, averse or “allergic” to discomfort, or are looking for “ally cookies.”

 Membership is neither automatic nor guaranteed.

Our first week together focused on “adulting” (it doesn’t mean what you think it means in the anti-racism space) as a non-desirable trait for impactivists™ and on what it means to really listen. Having done a deep-dive on The Impact Apology, we are now immersed in “white silence”….confronting and combatting it in self and in others. We’ll be sitting in this space for a while…..because. We had our first live virtual Learning Lab of the month last Friday where we worked in teams on a scenario involving “What to do about Chad?” when Chad weaponizes “his Black friend” to co-sign racism.

Click here for more information and to apply.