How DEI Fuels 'The Pity Syndrome' and Stifles Growth: as a Black Man and African

The new year, 2024, has birthed a ton of new dramas, events and happenings in political, technological and economic spheres from different locations across regions, but has also birthed recollections of my personal and professional experiences on the subject of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), especially in Big Tech and in my work experience in multinationals (some not highlighted on my LinkedIn profile).

Not to wax (right wing) political by any means, but DEI is one of those radical ideas like "Communism", where its theoretical ethos and ideas seem extremely good on paper, but its practical applications in real life on real people with real experiences is often met with absolute revulsion, pain and in some cases, fatality.

To begin with, what's there not to like about "promoting fair treatment among underrepresented peoples"? Or "including demographics with a history of discrimination?". It goes without saying that by all means, the right intentions have gone into those phrases in the context of birthing (affirmative) actions that strive to eradicate identified gaps in the socioeconomic spectrum.

However...

My Experience

Let's keep it short: I grew up with books. Not much money or affluence, but lots of books. So throughout my schooling from secondary (Americans call this college) to the University, I always had the penchant for applying universal thinking approaches to problem solving. Perhaps one day, I'll recount how I was marked down in a Chemistry course for not following the process outlined by the Chemistry lecturer, despite getting the same result. Fun fact: I got the idea I used from a textbook in the University library. I digress.

Working in Big Tech was elating because it became an exciting opportunity to validate this globally excellent but locally relevant passion and drive I had, until I hit a roadblock of reality.

I was working on a SharePoint website project for an internal team out of my own volition because there was a need to improve the structure with which documents and related artifacts were saved. Long story short, I was having a conversation with the project lead - an American but not White, who was tasked with seeing the project to fruition.

After excitedly explaining the features of this modern SharePoint functionalities, I was interjected with, "Johnmark, I understand the passion you've put and are putting into this but don't 'spoil the work of' person A and person B". Person A and B were both white Americans with zero idea about SharePoint development, by the way, but she genuinely believed I lacked the capacity to deploy such a project despite my tech background. Interesting isn't it? So logically, I should be a "DEI champion" right?

Wrong.

This is why.

What DEI Births in Reality

Resentment and Unconscious Bias

It's funny that in pushing for equity, going through inequitable routes is considered. This breeds resentment in those used to a process of achieving things. No matter your good intentions, an unstandardized process, is an entry point for chaos.

For instance, hiring a black person for the sake of their being black, not on the basis of merit, is a bad process. What happens is that, others who have gone through the meritorious process feel naturally slighted, which leads to unconscious biases on potential coworkers and themselves (through impostor syndromes).

Imagine fighting unconscious biases with the wrong process.

Solution: the black society should preach and encourage merit and "process" as fundamental in black communities.

Promotes Guilt and Performative Action

The natural consequence of not being able to mitigate an ailing situation is guilt. Simple and short. And the consequence of guilt is performative action, which is fundamentally driven by lack of genuineness.

So that's why these days, companies set up flags commemorating black events and personalities, without the genuine actions to close inequitable gaps. For instance, I can put up a Juneteenth logo on my social media page, but can't build schools in underrepresented communities. Dissonant, no?

Solution: teach a man how to fish, don't give him fish.

Incentivizes the Incompentence of the Demographic

Let me put this way: "it's objectively difficult to understand the difficulties of a society without experiencing the challenges of that society as a member of that society". The racial equivalent of that analogy implies that the guilt of the privileged (white) majority is leveraged by a few loud voices of the apparent disenfranchised minority, who then choose to stand as representative voices of reason of that community.

That is why fraud can be perpetuated by Execs of 'Black Lives Matter (BLM)', because of the assumption of noise equating subtsance.

Solution: look out for competent voices within the black community, and use their apparent silence to channel competence across board.

Negates Demographic Development

Only a few egregious ideas tops regulating standardized tests for a group of people in order to measure up for a lowered bar of entry, surprisingly championed by institutions like Harvard with the clout of meritocracy.

It is partly egregious not becuase I don't appreciate the privilege of partaking in things I could only ever have dreamed up, but it's egregious because of the far-reaching consequences of generations yet unborn.

Let me put it this way to give context: we're facing an unprecendented disruption in the field of Artificial Intelligence (A.I) and Machine Learning - much of which is predicated on advanced knowledge in Mathematics - Statistics and Differential Calculus - subjects and courses that are legislated out of curricula in black, underrepresented communities.

So in an attempt to include black folks to school with other minorities like Indians, Chinese, and Koreans, who come from the same pauperised predicaments, the amusingly intelligent action is to exclude the same tools necessary for the development of black communities?

You see the challenge?

"Kindness" and "Inclusion" don't exist in a vacuum, it exists within the boundaries of social relevance, in the context of technological and socioeconomic breakthroughs.

Solution: emphasize fundamentals in all fields necessary for the growth and development of society, per time.

While it isn't expressed so overtly, it seems the future black child won't be able to compete or won't have the confidence to, even if they are granted the same 'opportunities' to, within the confines of inclusion and inclusivity.

As it stands currently, from the perspective of the black child:

1. DEI isn't about excellence, it's about compliance.
2. DEI is not about practical or relevant output, it's about unsolicited gratitude. (Even with job experience on my profile, I was often told by 'managers', to just be grateful I'm in an organization, despite the viability of the recommendation or informed expertise).
3. DEI is not about group support, it's about group think. (George Orwell, anyone?).
4. DEI is not about merit, it's about entitlement.

As a closing caveat, I remember someone sending me a DM after reading an article in my Newsletter, saying, "do you use ChatGPT to write your articles?". It was a little annoying but at the same time funny.

This was to me with about 10 years of cumulative work experience across industry differentials.

What chance does the black child, coming up have?

Let the young black child dream and grow.