Last night I was debriefing with my spouse about diversity and equity. He is, by the way, the only person in his family who is NOT in education. He went into the Navy and worked many jobs but never ended up where the rest of us still are.

He gave the best analogy to D&I.

He said institutions who put in place a diversity & equity director are like the escape hatch on a submarine. Why? I asked.

"Escape hatches are for congressmen and wives"

There's something to be said of the sexist nature of that statement but he said it's a common phrase.

"Because they're the people that need to feel like their sailor is safe on a submarine. It's a false sense of safety because we don't use them. If you're 400 feet underwater an escape hatch isn't a survivable option."

Congressmen & wives are just TOLD that's an option.

The entire nature of an escape hatch on a sub is moot. There's no reason for it. Folks on it will all die because that's how a sub works.

Folx just want to feel better about having it there.

Some districts are placating us with that role. (that often goes to a POC to "fix")

The system is WORKING AS PLANNED.

It's often to make us feel better that *someone* is on the case and systems are designed to keep working regardless of a D&I program they institute. They expect it to fail but we'll all feel really good about it.