At some of Canada’s leading public relations firms, I interviewed for entry-level PR roles back in the mid-90s. One interviewer told me that my resume and credentials were extremely impressive and that they wanted to hire me but “we have our Black guy already.” I remember thinking to myself, “You can have more than one Black person in your office!” but sadly it is this entrenched mentality that has frequently led to a “crabs in the bucket” situation in the workplace for many marginalized peoples (Indigenous peoples, racialized minorities, women, people living with disabilities, 2SLGBTQ+ people and more). It was this mentality that informed the groundbreaking work of Commissioner and Judge Rosalie Abella on Canada’s Employment Equity Act, passed in 1995.
But has the dial really moved that much or underrepresented groups in the workplace since then? Canada’s Employment Equity Act was created to address these very real inequities in society but in the decades since, the demographic of straight, white, able-bodied males (SWAMs) is still the dominant culture in many workplaces. Do a Google search right now for any company in North America and look at the makeup of their management team. How many women do you see? How many people of colour? The Employment Equity Act was not created to disadvantage SWAMs but instead to offer opportunities and advancement for qualified non-SWAMs in the workplace (there can be more than one!) and we’ve seen again and again that underrepresented peoples in the workplace have to be more qualified and work twice as hard as their SWAM counterparts just to achieve half of the same success.
And here comes the ugliest part: when marginalized peoples do achieve success, we are often maligned as a “diversity hire,” the perception too many people have that we were brought in to ‘tick a box’ rather than on our own merits and hard work. SWAMs are still reflexively seen as “the best people for the role,” regardless of reality. Even American presidential candidates get treated this way. Immediately after President Joe Biden’s surprising decision to pass the torch to VP Kamala Harris, Tennessee Representative Tim Burchill called her a “DEI hire.” Similar comments have been made about former President Barak Obama and many another high-profile organization leaders who are not SWAMs. The most common denominator here is that most of the time, the person in question is Black. “DEI hire” has become a polite way to say the N-word. Period.
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford called the comments about Harris “disgusting and offensive.” As a former prosecutor, attorney general of California, senator and Vice-President, Kamala Harris is clearly “the most prepared and qualified person” and, he continued, “They’re not only attacks on her...When they have attacks on DEI, they’re attacks on you and I. We are a multi-racial, multi-generational society...We’re not going back to the days that we’re not counted as full citizens.”
The diversity, equity and inclusion work that Breakfast Culture does carries on the legacy of Rosalie Abella and strives to create more opportunities for a greater number of people and to build a more equitable, harmonious and productive society. Schedule a talk with Jefferson Darrell today to learn more: https://calendly.com/jefferson7/30min
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