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Inequities Of Diversity

Decent Essays

Yes, I said it. These four words are coming from the mouth of a progressive, African American male that has lived in the South for all my life. A life where I’ve observed and challenged the inequities of ethnicity, gender and religion in multiple layers of leadership in Corporate America. And now, at the turn of the century as the demographics of our nation has become more and more diverse, so much so that many predict that by 2050, the United States will become a majority-minority (non-white) population, people are still calling for more diversity.
I get it. We need more diversity in our positions of leadership, emerging industries like tech and healthcare, education in order to better meet the needs of the diverse populations being served. …show more content…

The event was well attended, to near capacity, by people from all walks of life, including local officials, community leaders, teachers, blue collars, laypersons. These folks were black, brown, white, male, and female, from various socio-economic and religious backgrounds. As the program neared its end, after a captivating keynote charge, then came the portion that would finally get people to interact and engage - the entertainment! Personally for me, I was looking forward to this. The muscles of my lower body were approaching atrophy, after sitting in stasis for almost 2 hours. I needed the circulation, but also I wanted to meet and interact with so many of the new faces that were across the room. Moments after the closing address, the Mistress of Ceremony announced the band and gave instructions on where everyone was to go, to either dance, mingle and/or get a beverage. As I walked closer to the adjacent room, I paused after hearing sounds of music that was very unfamiliar. It sounded like the chords from a banjo, complimented by music that echoed Dixie. I gave it the benefit of the doubt, that maybe this was just 1 song, so I proceeded to mingle with the board members and staff of the organization. This attempt was stymied by their obvious enthrallment with key dignitaries and acquaintances that they apparently knew or had a familiar relationship with. I managed to squeeze in a half-hearted, brief “Hello, my name is” introduction with the CEO and after 20 minutes, the music selection didn’t change. I took a moment to consciously look at the rest of the crowd and it looked very different from those that initially followed me to this venue. What happened to the diversity, the youth and multi-ethnic advocates that I’d presume were looking to have fun, exchange names or get that blood

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