The Practice of Diversity Equity and Inclusion

The book the As If Principle by Richard Wiseman recently caught my eye. Wiseman describes the work of psychologist William James who theorized that behavior causes emotion rather than the other way around - or to quote Wiseman quoting James, "If you want a quality, act as if you already have it."

The book describes a variety of studies that support this idea. For example, one study demonstrated that people who read positive statements out loud felt happier. In an experiment on donating to charities, only 3% of those visiting a web site of an organization supporting children of war made a donation when asked to click a link to donate.  When individuals were asked to sign a petition against land mines first, the percentage of people donating rose to 14%. Wiseman also provides a number of helpful tips and activities to people trying to change their lives.   

As you might guess, there isn't a chapter on diversity, equity and inclusion.  However, the premise got me thinking. As someone who has both delivered and attending training on racial equity, I know that  sessions can get emotionally heated.  For some people, strong emotion helps to solidify their commitment. For some people of color, expressing the harm racism has caused them personally is necessary for their health.  However, some people get stuck in the emotions. 

I believe there is more the one way to arrive at a destination. What if we approached DEI training like a meditation practice, with the most important thing being to do it regularly no matter how you feel  We do know from other studies that reading positive stories about a certain group will reduce implicit bias. o 

Here are some ideas for practicing diversity and equity on a regular basis.

• This week, read three articles that talk about the experience of people of a group that you are not part of.  Next week, read three more. 
• Talk to someone about your personal history around race or another identity twice this week and again next week. 
• Make regular contributions to a civil rights or Indian land tenure cause.
• Question out loud about how privilege might show up in some policy or practice twice a week.  Write what you did down.  
• State your commitment to diversity out loud three times this week to your co-workers. It should make you more committed to act. 

Let me know if some researcher would want to test these ideas.