If you are a leader of any sort and lift up people of color, minorities, and underrepresented people to make yourself look better, you are doing it wrong.
We are not here to be your tokens.
Underrepresented populations need to have a seat at the proverbial decision-making table. When there are minorities making and influencing decisions, the behavior of othering wanes. We don’t need to be singled out to represent the whole of our group, which is precisely what you do when you continue count us as the “first” or the “only.” It harkens to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s response “When there are nine.” This is a matter of representation, not diversity. Representation means that voices mirror the community. Representation is earnest. Diversity still “others” people and generally assumes white, male as the norm. Diversity deigns to include others. This is one reason I deplore the term “Inclusion.” Whomever is doing the including does so from an implicit position of power.
“Diversity is the presence of black bodies, as opposed to the presence of black ideas born from black perspectives, in predominantly white spaces.” -Syl Ko, “Black Lives, Black Life” essay
Othering is problematic in many ways. Simply put, it perpetuates the patriarchy and white supremacy. It’s undeniable that white males are still jockeying for power on all sides of the political spectrum. Just take a look at media coverage about democrats running in 2020, and one might think Buttigieg, Beto, and Biden are the only contenders.
“America’s failing one of the great tests of its next election, the one of transcending patriarchy.”-Umair Haque
While I have not made any decisions about whom to support in the democratic primary, I was hopeful that many talented, qualified women were in the running. My overzealous idealism took root as I marveled that there would be an all female slate for the presidency. Sigh…
It is imperative to listen to a variety of voices to drive change and improve the world. Without them, the world as we know it carries on with its lack of justice and a shaded lens of sameness. This just leads to a jaded perception of government and civic engagement. We must foster relationships with communities outside of our own and broaden our worldviews. We won’t engage new voices and voters if we fail to lay out the same tableau of leaders in all spaces, be it public or private. The failure of our nation rests on the shoulders of the majority who focus on maintaining power rather than bettering their communities.
Stop tokenizing all those you other.
Call out tokenism when you see it or experience it.
Listen when peers tell you about feeling othered.