“Popcorn style”—giving voice to what pops up in your head or heart without regard for narrative conventions or rules. That’s been my MO this week as I am still reeling, not feeling quite myself. My thoughts and feelings continue to crash over me like waves. I’m struggling to find words even with the space to search for them.
So, no.
Today is still not a day to “make nice.” Don’t look to me for comfort. Don’t look to me for “permission” to move on. Too much has gone unsaid and undone. The stakes continue to rise higher and higher, and melanated people are continuing to pay the cost with our lives.
This is my Popcorn Edition
A recent conversation prompted me to revisit a “no” written over a year ago to a major client who, even after the murder of George Floyd, remained too vested in white comfort and too “risk averse” to make good on its words of commitment to Black lives.
They had invited me to facilitate a series of 2-hour workshops and also extended an invitation to observe the workshop before coming onboard. It was after that observation, that I submitted my “no.” Here are two points I made in my letter which help explain the title of this edition:
- The focus on unconscious bias is just too persistent and does a huge disservice to those who continue to be the recipients of racism at work and in the world. My passion is to tackle racial inequity and injustice and to move the needle on racism. This 2-hour course is NOT designed to allow a space for that.
- Introducing 21 different biases further decenters race and gives participants 20 other reasons to not tackle race head on.
Just like we know POC is the umbrella term used for all melanated people, a term which disregards the unique lived experiences of Black people in this country….
Well, the same thing is happening with DEI and how companies are approaching it.
And therein lies a COLOSSAL PROBLEM.
DEI and anti-racism are not the same thing.
Say it three times while clicking your heels together.
DEI and anti-racism are not the same thing. DEI and anti-racism are not the same thing. DEI and anti-racism are not the same thing.
Some Context
Post May 25, 2020, companies were jumping on the BLM and anti-racism bandwagon, releasing PR statements and making promises. Once the heat wore off, and Blackness reverted to “its place,” companies fell into a pattern of repurposing DEI and merging BLM and anti-racism into it.
In other words…..
DEI became the new POC, a catch-all category that absorbs Black folks generally while erasing us specifically.
It’s a “brand” of DEI that avoids and deflects from directly addressing white supremacy and anti-Black racism. It’s a watered-down pivot from Black lives mattering. It’s a “save face” that avoids an explicit abandonment of BLM and anti-racism.
DEI is killing us by erasing us, minimizing us.
We’d like to order a DEI workshop please. Heavy on the LGBTQIA+ but go real light on the Black.
This is the “happy meal” approach. Companies want what’s “trendy and popular.”
We’re looking to host a DEI session for our employees. Many of them [aka white people] are uncomfortable talking about race and racism, so we want to make sure we’re covering other dimensions of diversity.
The priority here is keeping white employees comfortable, so the preference is to focus on “new and improved” dimensions of diversity without regard for racism that Black employees are facing.
We want to focus on inclusion and belonging. We already had a session on unconscious bias that covered race and microaggressions.
This is the “one and done” or “check-the-box” approach. There’s no ongoing commitment to do the work, nor is there accountability.
So here we are.
2022.
Less than a week away from the 2-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.
Black people were expressly targeted, hunted, and killed at a grocery store in Buffalo.
Racism—especially anti-Black racism—is rampant.
People are being killed based on skin color.
But let’s go ahead and move on to other stuff.
Let’s forget about Black people killed by armed white male terrorists with genocidal ideation.
Let’s ignore that the number of unarmed Black people killed by pattyrollers actually increased in the last two years. In 2021 alone, the number was 1055.
Let’s gloss over the fact that for over two decades now, white supremacists, domestic terrorists, and far-right militants have been consistently identified as the biggest danger in the U.S.
And let’s just chalk if off to “laziness” that Black employees are leading the pack in not wanting to return to the office.
We are tired.
Tired of white supremacy.
Tired of racism.
Tired of workplace gate-keepers who uphold white supremacy and racism.
We are absolutely and utterly Blaxhausted
Call it Out for What It Is
Venus Aviv, a trauma-informed spiritual life coach and one of LinkedIn’s top minds, suggested recently in response to one of my posts that we should stop calling it “white supremacy,” a term that perpetuates the false narrative, the big lie.
Inspired by her, I’m reframing white supremacy as “unchecked white genocidal hate.”
“There’s not a single thing superior about whiteness.”
Consider a people-group that from the beginning has
stolen
cheated
kidnapped
enslaved
chained
beaten
raped
brutalized
tortured
lynched
shot
killed
It’s time to kill white supremacy once and for all. Deprive it of the oxygen of alleged superiority. We start by naming it for what it really is…
UNCHECKED WHITE GENOCIDAL HATE
Recent Comments