I don't want to do "DEI Work" at work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and we were forced to read and have discussion with our co-workers about White Fragility.
I thought it was way out of line

I wonder what would happen if someone just walked out. I have been so tempted to and one day I may do just that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your office is heavily dominated by whites, has it occurred to you that a room with mostly whites and disproportionately less minorities might make it uncomfortable for the smaller minority group to speak openly or even simply endure such a dialogue?

While some people like to share, not everyone does.

That’s why it takes a very special facilitator who is a gifted trainer with a top notch curriculum to do this well.

Like Ashleigh Shackleford?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my group, we were recently informed that our DEI officer would be "walking alongside us" in our hiring process for 2 positions to make sure they were diverse hires. This means she would participate in application comparative analysis, selecting interview questions, interviews and scoring.

One of the positions had a very specific subject matter focus, think air quality and federal regulation. We got exactly one qualified applicant, who incredibly had a background perfectly matched to the position, we would not have to train her on the project, governmental rules or goals at all. Exciting. But, she was a white lady.

A team member asked the DEI officer how to go about prioritizing subject matter expertise and hiring "diverse voices". She answered clearly, that we need to hire for lived experience and diversity, because the technical stuff can be taught, but lived experience cannot be.

The position was taken down and is in the process of being reposted.

This makes me ill.

[Anonymous]

Society is racist and should be better. This includes most corporate America, as well as most non-profits.

Most DEI committees in the workplace do not make things better. Some make things actively worse for minorities. Most programs are run by straight up grifters.

Both statements can be true. They seem to be true in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s uncomfortable, a distraction, and unpleasant. Which is exactly how your non-white/gay/whatever colleagues may well feel about the crap that they deal with every day in the workplace.

But truly, what?? People are treated as people at my workplace. They don't deal with any crap that's different from the rest of us.

White supremacy culture. Perfectionism, punctuality, etc. These are all standards for the workplace created by whites that contribute to harming minorities.

I thought white people have no culture?

[Anonymous]

Employees need to have things in common. That might be golf, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s uncomfortable, a distraction, and unpleasant. Which is exactly how your non-white/gay/whatever colleagues may well feel about the crap that they deal with every day in the workplace.

But truly, what?? People are treated as people at my workplace. They don't deal with any crap that's different from the rest of us.

White supremacy culture. Perfectionism, punctuality, etc. These are all standards for the workplace created by whites that contribute to harming minorities.

I’m sorry, punctuality is a problem in the work place? I think we’re all rather peeved when our meal takes 1.5 hours to come out at a restaurant or our Amazon shipment is 4 days late…

Punctuality is a result of the move towards industrial organization. Nobody, I repeat, nobody likes it on the producer side - no matter what industry you’re in, but to imply that it’s somehow prejudice is a difficult concept for me to understand. Could you please elaborate?

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_bias_of_professionalism_standards

n a world driven by capitalism, professionalism is based on a monochronic relationship to timeliness and work style. It centers productivity over people, values time commitments, accomplishes tasks in a linear fashion, and often favors individuals who are white and Western. In contrast, polychronic cultures, while still able to get tasks completed, prioritize socialization and familial connections over economic labor. Within black and immigrant communities, there is often a deep ancestral connection to polychronic cultural orientation.

Most employers probably don’t care if the employees socialize as long as they’re getting work done. Some people lack that ability . Also in my experience in the workplace, the people who can’t show up on time to save their live tend to be worthless workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my group, we were recently informed that our DEI officer would be "walking alongside us" in our hiring process for 2 positions to make sure they were diverse hires. This means she would participate in application comparative analysis, selecting interview questions, interviews and scoring.

One of the positions had a very specific subject matter focus, think air quality and federal regulation. We got exactly one qualified applicant, who incredibly had a background perfectly matched to the position, we would not have to train her on the project, governmental rules or goals at all. Exciting. But, she was a white lady.

A team member asked the DEI officer how to go about prioritizing subject matter expertise and hiring "diverse voices". She answered clearly, that we need to hire for lived experience and diversity, because the technical stuff can be taught, but lived experience cannot be.

The position was taken down and is in the process of being reposted.

This makes me ill.

Me, too. I just hired a young white guy who looks like something out of a Ralph Lauren ad. It made me nervous to do it. But, he is so incredibly competent and personable and experienced. One of my best hires ever. I’m sure it upset some people although the candidate list forwarded by HR was small to begin with.

[Anonymous]

We had to share about objects from the culture that we descended from. They specifically said it had to be outside the US, so not states. I had a lot of trouble with this. My surname and most of my ancestors were British but I don't have any foods or anything that even ties me to them. Heck I think my most recent ancestor came over before the Civil War. I passed and felt like an idiot when they went around the room. Newer immigrants really did have neat objects that they shared and stories. I appreciated hearing those.

Likewise our elementary school has diversity night, which celebrates the diverse countries that we come from. You have to dress up, bring a food and dances are encouraged. DH joked we could make Bangers and Mash and plot to take over the other countries represented. But in all seriousness I would feel like I was appropriating British culture if I even tried that. I know other white people felt very similarly and that's why only minorities attended or showed off their cultures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my group, we were recently informed that our DEI officer would be "walking alongside us" in our hiring process for 2 positions to make sure they were diverse hires. This means she would participate in application comparative analysis, selecting interview questions, interviews and scoring.

One of the positions had a very specific subject matter focus, think air quality and federal regulation. We got exactly one qualified applicant, who incredibly had a background perfectly matched to the position, we would not have to train her on the project, governmental rules or goals at all. Exciting. But, she was a white lady.

A team member asked the DEI officer how to go about prioritizing subject matter expertise and hiring "diverse voices". She answered clearly, that we need to hire for lived experience and diversity, because the technical stuff can be taught, but lived experience cannot be.

The position was taken down and is in the process of being reposted.

This makes me ill.

Me, too. I just hired a young white guy who looks like something out of a Ralph Lauren ad. It made me nervous to do it. But, he is so incredibly competent and personable and experienced. One of my best hires ever. I’m sure it upset some people although the candidate list forwarded by HR was small to begin with.

NP. I recently advertised a position at a lower salary hoping to get more intermediate level employees to train (I saw a gap in our skill set- too many higher level people and there was more admin type work piling up that they didn't want to take on). I got accused formally of trying to hire "younger people" and I had to write up an explanation on why I was offering a position at a lower salary. I honestly hadn't even thought of ages, I just have entry level work that needs done. Luckily I hired a 45+ year old person who was changing careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my group, we were recently informed that our DEI officer would be "walking alongside us" in our hiring process for 2 positions to make sure they were diverse hires. This means she would participate in application comparative analysis, selecting interview questions, interviews and scoring.

One of the positions had a very specific subject matter focus, think air quality and federal regulation. We got exactly one qualified applicant, who incredibly had a background perfectly matched to the position, we would not have to train her on the project, governmental rules or goals at all. Exciting. But, she was a white lady.

A team member asked the DEI officer how to go about prioritizing subject matter expertise and hiring "diverse voices". She answered clearly, that we need to hire for lived experience and diversity, because the technical stuff can be taught, but lived experience cannot be.

The position was taken down and is in the process of being reposted.

That’s so sad. You know the candidate is just wondering why the heck she didn’t get the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In my group, we were recently informed that our DEI officer would be "walking alongside us" in our hiring process for 2 positions to make sure they were diverse hires. This means she would participate in application comparative analysis, selecting interview questions, interviews and scoring.

One of the positions had a very specific subject matter focus, think air quality and federal regulation. We got exactly one qualified applicant, who incredibly had a background perfectly matched to the position, we would not have to train her on the project, governmental rules or goals at all. Exciting. But, she was a white lady.

A team member asked the DEI officer how to go about prioritizing subject matter expertise and hiring "diverse voices". She answered clearly, that we need to hire for lived experience and diversity, because the technical stuff can be taught, but lived experience cannot be.

The position was taken down and is in the process of being reposted.


That’s so sad. You know the candidate is just wondering why the heck she didn’t get the job.

Yep. And another potential MAGA voter created. MAGA thrives on resentment politics, and convincing white voters that they will be discriminated against. Instances like this convince them they are right. You are hiring for a technical position, you hire the person with the best technical qualifications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had to share about objects from the culture that we descended from. They specifically said it had to be outside the US, so not states. I had a lot of trouble with this. My surname and most of my ancestors were British but I don't have any foods or anything that even ties me to them. Heck I think my most recent ancestor came over before the Civil War. I passed and felt like an idiot when they went around the room. Newer immigrants really did have neat objects that they shared and stories. I appreciated hearing those.

Likewise our elementary school has diversity night, which celebrates the diverse countries that we come from. You have to dress up, bring a food and dances are encouraged. DH joked we could make Bangers and Mash and plot to take over the other countries represented. But in all seriousness I would feel like I was appropriating British culture if I even tried that. I know other white people felt very similarly and that's why only minorities attended or showed off their cultures.

I work a lot with the British in an international context. I laughed aloud when I read this.

[Anonymous]

This works both ways. I was once called out for only hiring minorities. I work in mission support (operations). The vast majority of applicants for these positions are minorities. I literally had to go back and get all the data for 4 positions to show that for each of them that 100% of the applicants were people of color. The leader that brought up this bogus claim was floored. So now, I beg white people to apply or come detail to my division. All of them reject because our organization treats mission support staff (IT, budget, HR, admin services) like the help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This works both ways. I was once called out for only hiring minorities. I work in mission support (operations). The vast majority of applicants for these positions are minorities. I literally had to go back and get all the data for 4 positions to show that for each of them that 100% of the applicants were people of color. The leader that brought up this bogus claim was floored. So now, I beg white people to apply or come detail to my division. All of them reject because our organization treats mission support staff (IT, budget, HR, admin services) like the help.

The irony.