I remember when I was writing up a pitch for SXSW and realized that “diversity of speakers and panelists” was being used to eval submissions
As a white dude, there are two basic responses:
- “Huh. I’d better do a really good job.”
- “That sucks, my whiteness shouldn’t matter!”
Both are understandable gut reactions to Task X being potentially more difficult than I expected it to be. I mean, I’m human after all.
The insidious thing, though, is that the second response is built on an assumption:
The assumption is that a conf/industry dominated by folks like me… looks that way 'cause white guys just happen to be objectively better.
I mean, if we’re dominating the track lineups, and we’re a disproportionate percentage of the industry, wow, meritocracy, huh?
It’s impossible that I receive preferential treatment — conscious or no — because I fit a particular image…
Right?
[quiet] Right?
There is some deep, legitimate fear here: Perhaps, just maybe… I’ve had some structural advantages I didn’t realize I was enjoying.
And ‘equality’ is all fine and good in the abstract, but if that’s true… then… my work might not be as badass as I always felt it was.
If it’s true, then I may have to step up my game. That’s scary. It’s sobering. It makes me feel off-balance, vulnerable.
Thing is, even as I’m feeling those things… if I am honest and I look at the world, my discomfort doesn’t mean the correction is unfair.
It’s scary, threatening, but it is the exact opposite of unfair. Opposing diversity is opposition not just to equality but to quality.
I look at the people around me who are not white dudes. They are people who have had to bust their chops 24/7 to squeeze their way in.
Demanding “colorblindness” and “neutrality” in the face of efforts to make our industry and events more diverse is weak sauce.
It’s a claim that the positive effects of diversity are not worth the statistical risk to my career visibility.
So, yeah, I am totally sympathetic to the “It’s unfair that I lose out on something because I’m a white dude” feeling. But also?
It’s up to us to look past the immediate sensation of loss and examine the system that got us here. The air we breathe, the culture we made.
Changing it feels scary, like loss, because it is stacked in our favor. It allows our “good” to crowd out others’ “great.”
And that sucks.