Toxic "Diversity"...
- Scolds.
- Rejects evidence.
- Segregates.
- "Cancels."
- Encourages identity grifting.
- Rejects criticism.
Genuine Diversity...
- Invites.
- Is evidence-based.
- Integrates.
- Rejects censorship.
- Encourages skill development.
- Accepts criticism.
Toxic "diversity" scolds; genuine diversity invites. Toxic "diversity" is Brie Larson contemptuously dismissing the opinions of "40-year-old white dudes" because a certain movie supposedly "wasn't made for them." Genuine diversity says, "We wanted to try something a little different, but we hope everyone will like it."
Toxic "diversity" rejects evidence; genuine diversity is evidence-based. Toxic "diversity" asserts that all disparities are the result of "the cis-hetero patriarchy" or "white supremacy." Genuine diversity understands that the causes of such disparities are most likely multivariate; further, it acknowledges indisputable progress. It is a documented fact, for example, that while women are the minority in certain hard STEM fields, they now dominate higher education at both the undergraduate and graduate level pretty much everywhere else. It is also a fact that while significant wealth gaps remain, most African Americans do not live in poverty. Genuine diversity doesn't deny that racism and sexism exist - or that certain policies need to be tweaked to allow for greater equality of opportunity - but its approach to apparent injustice is fundamentally grounded in reality.
Toxic "diversity" segregates; genuine diversity integrates. Toxic "diversity" insists, for example, that black people should write about black people, brown people should write about brown people, and white people should write about white people -- that cultural streams should never be crossed. Toxic "diversity" denies that there is a universal human nature that allows any writer, with proper research and exposure, to feel empathy for people from other times and places. Genuine diversity, on the other hand, allows anyone to write about anything at all.
Toxic "diversity" "cancels"; genuine diversity rejects censorship. If an author fails to adhere to certain strict rules, toxic "diversity" bullies him or her into silence. If genuine diversity views something to be problematic, meanwhile, it discusses the issue politely without presuming that its viewpoint is the only right viewpoint -- and it never insists that certain books be pulped for failing to be sufficiently "woke". Additionally, genuine diversity does not erase history; it engages with it, taking the good and leaving the bad.
Toxic "diversity" encourages identity grifting; genuine diversity encourages skill development. Toxic "diversity" tells the "marginalized" that they are entitled to success and teaches them to sell their gender, race, or sexuality instead of their work. Genuine diversity, in contrast, values merit and hard work. It counsels up-and-coming new writers and artists of all backgrounds to focus first and foremost on improving their craft. It seeks new voices, but it never promotes those voices before they are truly ready for prime time. It holds everyone up to the same standards and doesn't set people up for failure.
Toxic "diversity" rejects criticism; genuine diversity accepts it. If a writer or artist hails from the upper levels of the progressive stack, toxic "diversity" equates all criticism of that writer/artist to racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/whatever-phobic harassment. But genuine diversity never makes excuses for shoddy work or contemptible behavior. If someone is clearly phoning it in - or is being an absolute wanker - genuine diversity calls them out on it no matter who they are.
Promote genuine diversity. Consign toxic "diversity" to the trash bin.
One of the differences omitted is that Toxic Diversity has a static list of some-to-many, but always finite, categories into which everyone is grouped. Real Diversity, by contrast, necessarily enumerates new categories and distinctions as they appear, and discards them as they disappear.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons Toxic Diversity keeps eating itself is that its followers set up rules & systems that assume they've already identified all the important differences, so they go right into enforcing them with social pressure and law. With genuine diversity, you keep the humility of knowing that there's always more to human nature that we've overlooked, and so have to moderate your expectations & tolerate cases that don't come out the way you predict.
Nice piece that seems to accurately detail the differences between Toxic (lefty) and Genuine (righty) diversity. It is still incredible to me that US adults today need to be taught this. Where were these people brought up?
ReplyDelete"Encourage skill development"? Don't you know--having expectations is racist.
ReplyDeleteThe root statement, which accounts for all the rest of these: the adherents of genuine diversity actually believe what they are saying, while the adherents of toxic diversity don't believe a word of it - they just want control over others.
ReplyDeleteSpot on
DeleteRecognizing this dichotomy encourages a commitment to dismantling barriers, How Play Games fostering an authentic environment where every voice is heard and valued.
ReplyDelete