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5 Racial Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Considerations for Leaders

Grounding

Choose some ritual(s) that will bring your mind/body into focus as you take in the following chapter.

When you are ready to bring your attention to the material in this chapter:

  1. Try and remember the first experiences you had and messages you received about race, particularly individuals and groups who are from different races than your own
  2. What did you witness and or what were you told about what it means to be a person of color in your family settings, educational settings, faith settings, political and/or any other shaping communities of which you were a part?

Grounding & Groundwork

  • Race: the idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences. Genetic studies in the late 20th century refuted the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that “races” are cultural interventions reflecting specific attitudes and beliefs that were imposed on different populations in the wake of Western European conquests beginning in the 15th century (Brittanica, 2022)
  • Ethnicity: a sense of identity and membership in a group that shares a common language, cultural traits (values, beliefs, religion, food habits, customs, etc.), and a sense of a common history (Brittanica, 2022)
  • The Difference Between Race and Ethnicity (Merriam-Webster, 2022)
  • Whiteness: “a dominant cultural space with enormous political significance, with the purpose to keep others on the margin. … [W]hite people are not required to explain to others how ‘white’ culture works, because ‘white’ culture is the dominant culture that sets the norms. Everybody else is then compared to that norm. … In times of perceived threat, the normative group may well attempt to reassert its normativity by asserting elements of its cultural practice more explicitly and exclusively” (Frankenberg, 1997)

Tema Okun (with Kenneth Jones) and Layla Saad have developed tools that help self-advocates and aspiring allies explore the potential and actual supremacy associated with whiteness in the resources below.

  • Immigration Status (USA): Immigration status refers to the way in which a person is present in the United States. Everyone has an immigration status. Some examples of immigration status include: Us Citizen, Legal Permanent Resident, Conditional Permanent Resident, Asylee or Refugee, Non-Immigrant, and Undocumented Person (Esperanza United, 2022)

Language Matters (Choose at least 1)

Intersections & Institutions (Choose at least 2)

Stories and Celebrations (Choose at least 3)

References

 

Frankenberg, R. (Ed.). (1997). Displacing Whiteness: Essays in Social and Cultural Criticism. Duke University Press.
     https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1220r19

Okun, T. (2022) White Supremacy Culture. https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/characteristics.html

Saad, L. F., & DiAngelo, R. (2020). Me and white supremacy : combat racism, change the world, and become a

good ancestor. Sourcebooks.

 

 

License

Diversity Equity, & Inclusion Considerations in Leadership (Updated Spring 2024) Copyright © 2024 by Kerri Fisher. All Rights Reserved.

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