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In the last couple days, a colleague has posted a series of videos to youtube that express his opinions on the “politicization” of diversity, equity and inclusions efforts in our department and academia more broadly. Thread:
This is, in my opinion, completely inappropriate and not representative of the majority perspective among my colleagues or the spirit of our community. When discussing equity, diversity and inclusion efforts, we want everyone to have a voice in the conversation.
This is true even if they’re on different pages. Different opinions can make things challenging, but there has to be a conversation. Dropping videos on youtube and then promoting them to members of the community without an outlet for moderated conversation is an aggressive act.
It has the potential to do considerable harm. It has already done harm. It is an act I completely repudiate.
Moreover, the content of the videos is non-sensical. It uses the example of a white man who feels excluded due to his religious / political beliefs. Such a case would be unacceptable, to be sure!. But this is a deflection.
This example conveniently ignores that the geosciences are one of the least diverse STEM disciplines ( https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0116-6). How about the Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous people who feel excluded in our community? What about them? Why do they matter less than a white man?
He claims to be sticking up for the little guy but ignores the fact that people from under-represented backgrounds, particularly Black / African American folks are overwhelmingly the victims of actions ranging from micro-aggressions to overt discrimination https://www.capeandislands.org/post/woods-hole-science-institutions-stung-diversity-report-preponderance-overt-racism#stream/0
And he acts as if diversity efforts are down to a few political activists while the need to broaden participation in the geosciences is a recognized priority of the NSF ( https://www.nsf.gov/geo/diversity/geo_diversity_strategy_document_jan_01.jsp)
If these comments had come up in a moderated discussion, as they should have done, then as emotionally challenging as they may have been to deal, we could have worked through them. This person chose not to do that.
I’m sorry for all the people who have been hurt by these actions. I am worried about the damage this will do to our community. I fear it will lead prospective students from under-represented backgrounds to look elsewhere for grad school. And I can’t blame them if they do.
But here’s the deal. If you don’t participate in the process, you don’t get a say in the outcome. While these videos have done tremendous damage right now, I’m proud to be among the many faculty, post-docs, students and staff who remain deeply invested in improving our climate.
We are working hard to create an environment that values and supports diverse folks. I remain optimistic that meaningful change is going to come soon if we keep pulling in the same direction, regardless of resistance we meet along the way.
