Intersectionality: What “Diversity” Really Means

 

When we talk about “Diversity” and “Diverse spaces”, what do we really mean?

Do we mean to include some people, and not others? Of course, we don’t mean to do that! After all, who intentionally goes out of their way to be exclusive?

In today’s political climate, we can’t afford to think about what intentions others had in mind when creating spaces for diversity. If a conference that focuses on gender diversity in education hardly has women of colour in attendance or represented, that’s inexcusable. We also can’t afford to hear excuses and defence. We didn’t have time… the topic was not on the agenda…we didn’t know who to reach out to…

Excuses show nothing but sloppiness, inconsideration and a lack of recognition of one’s own privilege.

I get excited to see amazing initiatives that focus around inclusion and diversity, especially when they happen in Canada. So when I came across a conference about women education in Canada on twitter that highlighted women leaders, I was disappointed to see that while their focus was on diversity and inclusion, all their speakers were White, and they even had a male speaker on the panel.

Don’t we have enough White men speaking on almost every issue? It’s time for them to give that platform to people who need to be heard.

This women’s tweet struck me as strange especially considering the fact that this panel could not speak for anyone like myself, much less other marginalized groups. Where are the women of colour doing amazing work in Canadian education? Where are different ability advocates? Are there LGBTQ rights educators represented?

I just wish the panel represented “everyone”.

I am glad someone else noticed, because it’s so exhausting for people of colour to constantly be the only ones who notice and speak out on these issues.

This panel in fact is a great example of what white feminism looks like. If you’re curious about what White Feminism means, please read this list of resources created by the Women’s March organizers.

Intersectionality matters! And that’s why to me this conference and every other conference that brands itself as inclusive and focused on diversity fails when they do not have proper representation of the people.

What does intersectionality mean? Merriam Webster defines intersectionality as the following:

It is not enough to talk about gender diversity, we must also intersect that with race, culture, ability, sexuality, and other types of intersections that go along with being a human being. We must not look to these issues as Black and White issues only, or Women Men issues. There are different intersections that we need to consider in order for us to be truly inclusive.

If you’re curious, I did try to bring up the issue to the organizers of that conference:

I worry that their reaction was more on the defensive side, than willing to learn and own the areas they need to work on and grow from. It’s so important that when we do mess up, or even just not consider an angle of an issue, that we’re willing to hear criticism and learn from our mistakes. Otherwise how do we grow to be better human beings? For me, like I said above, in this day and age, we can’t afford to make an excuse of “not knowing” or “we didn’t have time”.

Diversity is more than slotting a couple of minutes to discuss at a conference. We need to work on this throughout planning, decision making, advisory, outreach, communication, and so many other elements. This issue is systemic, and if we don’t try to work within and really reach into our own systems, and organizations to improve the culture, then we’re not going to improve or change the world.

If you’re organizing a conference, your outreach is the most important aspects to get all stakeholders’ voices included in the conversation. Let’s invite everyone to participate and truly exemplify inclusion and diversity, not just make attempts.