What's the toughest DEI question / issue?

A tough and complex take on DEI initiatives... of which most are ineffective, because they only check boxes rather than be actionable.

Please read with an open mind, because that's where change and paradigm shifts happen.

Does reverse racism exist?
NO!

Black people can not be racist toward white people! They can be prejudice, but not racist! Why? Because racism is built on a socio-economic power STRUCTURE or SYSTEM that drives and enables oppression and victimhood.

Systems? Think colonialism and how it established racial classes and financial structures. Slaves never got those acres or mules, where as slave owners got retribution for their losses. Legal segregation! Red-lining! The list of racial systems continue today, either directly or indirectly.

Case-in-point about reverse racism: the bully is not reverse bullied because the victim does not like the bully and speaks up and resists. Women are generally not in a system that empowers them to undermine men, so the same applies, reverse sexism is not a thing.

REVERSE RACISM???
The term "reverse racism" (along with "reverse discrimination") entered the American lexicon in the late 1950s to describe intolerance directed at historically dominant racial groups. It gained widespread usage in the late 1960s and 1970s among opponents of newly established affirmative action policies and hiring quotas.

To further qualify this, was the slave racist for "hating" the slave master? NO! Because the slaves hatred had no impact on the slave master. We are no longer living in times of slavery, however, the foundations of the US are built on that and the remnant are still very apparent and diluted.

Due to the power structure and system, black people are not in a position of collective socio-economic power to systematically oppress or suppress white people. There are no laws or racial biases that lower opportunity or social status in place, that are purely based on race to disenfranchise white people in regards to black people. Are there exceptions to the rule? Always, but rarely, so unique anecdotal evidence does not have merit in this instance.

AGAIN, black people can be PREJUDICE but NOT RACIST.

They overlap but are not the same. And if we can use this as starting point to truly promote DEI, it must be built from a place of understanding. Without understanding and open-kindnesses, the cycle of ineffective DEI programs will continue. (These mindset applies to all areas where there are disenfranchised groups of any color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, religion and political persuasions. Without fairness and equal opportunity... (fill in your blank).

If your company still believes in the value of diversity but have not had great success with previous programs, give us a try. Our DEI training is bold, honest, authentic and highly impactful. We inspire cultural paradigm shifts with our unique approach built on the platform of EMPATHY and CREATIVITY.

Vital Germaine

Life Coach, President of ENGAGE Teams 360.