As
cynical as it might be, shortly into The
Evolving Language of Diversity, I couldn’t help but think, “By looking
broader- thus, at multiple identities that include age, religion, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, and immigrant status – we come to see new and exciting
ways to oppress people.” My point being, when the current matters of identity
are resolved, some new division will arise to replace them. Tying into this, I
must disagree in part regarding the “freedom fighter” vs “terrorist” distinction.
The matter is entirely subjective and does not particularly belong among issues
of diversity. Simply, one is a freedom fighter when their goals or values align
with yours, while one is a terrorist if their goals or values are in opposition
to yours. Though we can make great progress in promoting diversity and
understanding, there will always be matters that come down to us vs them. The
best we can hope to achieve is that such future conflicts are over freely-made
choices rather than circumstances of birth.
At
first, I was a little confused as to why an article on diversity would be
lumped in with issues of managing oneself, but in hindsight it makes perfect
sense, since using the proper language is very much a matter of
self-management. It ties in well to the self-assessment Peter Drucker describes
in “Managing Oneself,” especially in asking what your values are. It is this
component especially that helps one determine where they stand in an
organization or if they should stand within a particular organization.
Certainly, diversity should be among those values that one stands for.
I find it interesting that you touched on combining diversity with managing oneself. Communication is a necessity in a leader, and you mentioned that proper language is important in self-management. How would you perceive a leader with poor communication skills?
ReplyDeleteThanks Alex,
Christina
...liking Christina's question and how you addressed it with the discussion of self management. Your statement above about all the new ways to oppress people both made me smile and reflect on how long we have oppressed without consciousness. As we both stood listened to the equality rally on Monday, I was thinking of how many have believed they were not supported or seen because of language. Great posts, you have us wanting to keep writing back!
ReplyDeleteKeep your thoughtful posts coming and thank you for the invite. Looking forward to your speech and your service learning reflections. I suspect that they will support your integration of skills and bring new insights.
Best,
Deidre