Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Until a year ago I hadn’t paid too much attention to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion space. But now that I sit on a board called “TASTE for Equity,” as well as the Ambassador Council for Habitat for Humanity here in Portland, OR. I’ve come into contact with many awesome people in my area who have a strong desire to move the needle of fairness towards that of a more just society. That said, I’ve noticed one striking similarity between the way people talk about this kind of work and the way Jazz music is taught and talked about in schools.
“To change a narrative, sometimes you have to change the narrator.” -Lou Radja
First off, language matters! It matters because the words we use not only communicate who we are and where we’re from, but what we value at the cellular level. And given that DEI is really a round-about way of comfortably addressing the residue of slavery and women’s rights so no one gets uncomfortable enough to walk out of a room, I find that the language of Western European Classical music is also used to soften the edges around how the musical contributions of many black Jazz musicians throughout history are understood. But the reason why so many people miss the mark is because the one ingredient that’s missing is how to deal with the Blues. And the problem with it is that it predates the formulaic structures of Bebop, which are much easier to understand through the analytic gaze of a European Classical lens, as it relies less on harmonic inventiveness and more on rhythm and the brash and seductive emotive qualities associated with black culture. So when you don’t come from this culture, you risk opening an emotional Pandora’s box of insight into why we are the way we are if you get close enough to really find out. It’s one thing to sympathize with someone if you can intellectualize their situation from a safe vantage point, but another entirely if you choose to walk alongside them with your finger on their pulse. And so the “tell” in this situation will undoubtedly be your language, as the cultural fidelity of the ear is always the most reliable indicator of cultural familiarity than anything else. So when conversations around DEI are happening, I find that the narrative is usually given from the stance of how the minority and women empowerment issue can be fixed through the lens of a white gaze. But that’s like going for a 5 minute medical exam where the doctor takes one look at you, asks one or two questions, and then fills out a prescription. We’re always going to be suspect of the substance of such an analysis.
Now here’s an interesting thought. In the same way that COIVD-19 organically lowered our emission levels without a fancy government plan, the same type of top-down approaches used in addressing DEI issues in the workplace could be rendered just as unnecessary if adults learned how to suddenly play nice with one another. Remember, structural inequities are just social interactions gone awry at scale. So in the same way that it’s tough to get a group of musicians on the same sheet of paper when their understanding of a given style isn’t completely the same, it’s also just as challenging to get people to align their beliefs about the here and now when they have a different interpretation of the past that got us to where we are today.
Suggested takeaways…
a) Structural inequities within both the workplace and politics are really reflections of the stories that have been told and believed over time about certain groups of people and their perceived value.
b) If we’re to create a real impact with the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, then we have to start with more than just a cursory understanding of the past several hundred years if we’re to effectively right the wrongs of our nation’s past.
c) Transformative learning happens when two or more people can access each other’s language through actual lived experiences with one another.