The Practice of Honoring Diversity: Guest Blog by Lee Mun Wah

With more people of color and women in the workforce, the issue of how to relate has become more complex and tense. There are no blueprints or models for where or how (to begin) to practice diversity. Earlier attempts at achieving diversity through representation were misleading because several key issues were fundamentally missing.

First, representation is only effective if women and people of color are in positions of power to hire and fire, as well as to influence and change policy. Secondly, the challenge of the twenty-first century is the need for open discussion of racism and sexism. So often these two issues are only discussed if there is a crisis and/or a lawsuit is filed. By then, both sides are polarized and adversarial. Thirdly, there is a need to have a relationship with each other. The idea of getting to know each other is a new concept for most corporations. The notion of dealing with each other personally, in ways that could engender anger and conflict, is often frightening for most institutions that have no experience in entering into such a dialogue with each other.

How well does your workplace practice honoring diversity?


(Note: You can hear Lee Mun Wah speak on May 5th at the NASW-NJ Annual Conference: http://www.naswnj.org/displayconvention.cfm?conventionnbr=5377)