"Don't Label Me:" Insights From Irshad Manji's Latest Book

Let’s begin with the big picture: we live in a world of political divides. These divides show up at the ballot box, where voters in countries such as Italy and Hungary have elected far-right, nationalist politicians. They show up in roiling social media threads, where we may attack anyone who doesn’t agree with us. They show up in our relationships. For instance, you may have had friends who’ve told you, “I simply can’t talk about politics with my family.”?

These divides carry heavy costs. Domestically, impasses between Republicans and Democrats divert attention from the government’s ability to accomplish much-needed work, such as the building of infrastructure. Rather than foster it, they prevent new thinking about how to deal with challenges such as health care, public education, climate change, economic disparities, and artificial intelligence. They impact progress on scientific and technological fronts. Because of the attention they take up in the headlines, they may prevent us from celebrating the tremendous progress we’ve made over the previous century, and the less we are aware of this progress the less we are equipped to make the most of it.

They are complicated by tribalism. For instance, educators in the United States, particularly in higher education, wrestle with identity politics, defined by Merriam Webster as “politics in which groups of people having a particular racial, religious, ethnic, social, or cultural identity tend to promote their own specific interests or concerns without regard to the interests or concerns of any larger political group.” In identity politics, we may be labels first and humans second. If we insist that our labels define us, how do we build bridges? How do we recognize the rights of others? In such a divided world, what does “diversity” mean??

These questions form the core of Irshad Manji’s new book, “Don’t Label Me: An Incredible Conversation for Divided Times” (St. Martin's Press, 2019). Manji, an educator, author, and founder of the Moral Courage Project, could herself be an amalgamation of labels: Muslim, lesbian, female, and many others. Instead, “Don’t Label Me” is an argument for moving beyond labels, and for a deeper understanding of what we mean when we say “diversity.”??

Manji examines diversity and identity politics and makes some unsettling conclusions as a result. She writes, “More and more of us in the diversity crowd label people as ignorant and insidious if they hold opinions that diverge from our script. We rally for diversity of appearance but we flake on diversity of viewpoint. We wield enormous power in American culture, yet we excuse our excesses by claiming to be powerless and therefore incapable of oppressing those who think differently than we do.” Manji adeptly navigates the ways in which how we argue for diversity may lead to more polarization, not less, and how they may be contributing to the very challenges we say we don’t like.?

It would have been easy for Manji to argue that we need to stay in our tribes, the groups of people who see the world exactly as we do. Instead, she argues that some of the most rewarding work we will ever do is having difficult conversations with people whom we think are unlike us. These conversations require courage. They require a willingness to be uncomfortable. They require that we try to truly understand why another person thinks the way they do—to forgo our missionary impulse to convert them to our way of thinking, and to stop assuming we see the entire truth about everything.?

It turns out, Manji asserts, that when we have conversations with people whom we think are unlike us, we grow. Our sense of what’s possible expands. We realize that we are more than our labels. In turn, this opens the door for fresh thinking built on engagement around mutual interests, not on one side or another being bullied or shamed into accepting a specific viewpoint.

The stories that Manji tells here are compelling. For instance, there’s a Trump-voting neighbor who introduces her to the woman who becomes her spouse. There’s a female rapper who objects to the current Mississippi state flag who begins to have conversations with a young man who supports it. These stories illustrate that we may have more in common with each other than we think. But we’ll miss these commonalities, opportunities, and friendships if we focus solely on the labels we use to define ourselves and each other.??

The book is also incredibly funny. Did I mention that Manji frames it as a conversation with her beloved rescue dog, Lily? You read that right: a conversation with a rescue dog. Manji writes about her lifelong fear of dogs, which are traditionally regarded as “dirty” in some Muslim cultures. Adopting Lily requires Manji to overcome a personal prejudice, to see things from Lily’s POV. Lily serves as Manji’s interlocutor and comedic sidekick. Lily questions, opines, and serves up attitude. Lily helps Manji and us to see things from different perspectives (at one point, Manji asks Lily to run for president, but Lily declines: “Mama, if nominated I will not run, and if elected I will not serve.”). Manji deftly uses humor to guide us through her examination of tough, thorny issues.

I had the pleasure of meeting Manji in 2015, when she led pivotal discussions at International House New York, where I worked from 2015-2020. Those conversations centered on respect, empathy and moral courage and how it was that we could dialogue with others about challenging topics and personal differences. At an institution that houses 700 graduate students from around the world, such conversations are core work and the ideas that Manji explores in “Don’t Label Me” are lived experiences.?

More broadly, organization leaders surveying current political and policy landscapes will find much to value in “Don’t Label Me.” After all, the labels that boards and leadership accept define the limits of what can be perceived and mindfully addressed. They may diminish adaptability and real-world responsiveness. They may blind to strategic and mission-furthering opportunities. “Us vs. them” mentalities have costs within organizations and across sectors.???

Looking beyond labels isn’t easy. Organizations that do so, that seek to understand the complex individualities of the people they serve, have their work cut out for them. But the advantages are significant. When we look beyond labels, we can make meaning, provide value, and forge vital new connections.

Michael Walter?writes about nonprofit leadership. He is Director of Special Initiatives at Encore Community Services in New York City. ?