Are We Truly Ready For Inclusion?

Strategy or not, inclusion is a social need - not a desirable. It is needed. Inclusion tags diversity along because 'normalized' fitting-in is not inclusion. Neither is conformity. We include those who 'normally' do not fit into our planned version of 'acceptable'. It is the drawing in of diversity, of what is different from the norm. It is bringing in to seat at the table those who are otherwise not in the room!

What does it mean to include people in our businesses and our daily activities?

Over the past week two incidents got me to question how deeply and truly invested we are in the Inclusion agenda.

10-yr old Quaden Bayle's heartbreaking video has been making the rounds on social media. His achondroplasia, the most common form of short-limbed Dwarfism, has been the cause of constant bullying in school. While I'm all for integrative mainstream education, as a parent, it broke my heart to see the little child suffer in an education system that forces him to face oppression every single day for his difference. Our idealism for an equitable society has forced a child (and many others) to suffer in a system that remains broken because of inefficient or missing tools to dispense the ideal.

In another conversation, a yoga teacher offering inclusive & accessible yoga classes to everyone was worried that her 'regular' students were complaining and uncomfortable in class because of a teen with Downs Syndrome who had joined the class with her parent. The cause of 'concern' was that the girl would make involuntary noises and often pass wind during class making it uncomfortable for the others.

Both these stories are based on difference and how the 'regular' people refuse to accept them as they are or find reasons to justify exclusion or even abusive bullying. Both are also blaring examples of the hypocrisy & poor application of D&I initiatives.

The school & the yoga class in question had made a choice to open their door to neuroatypical / differently abled students and practitioners. In other words, they had marketed inclusion & accessibility. Yet, when faced with a challenge, they had no clue how to follow through on that commitment. Quaden's school doesn't seem to have been able to curtail the bullying. The solutions that were being offered to the yoga teacher were largely leaning towards exclusive inclusion - offer private sessions, find a separate room to practice, tell the mother to the face... and well, a few did suggest doing things a bit more in line with 'yoga' and attempt compassion.Hardly anyone checked their privilege - the privilege of normalized acceptance.

Which really made me question, are we truly ready for inclusion?

Because right now, almost everyone is brandishing a D&I tag on their profiles. But as a value, is it really something that businesses are building their reputation on or are we just cashing in on the hot-topic to look good? If we talk about easy access are we really opening doors or just opening our wallets?

I'm still struggling to understand where the line stands between inclusion and meeting the bottom line when the basic question, 'Why inclusion?' draws a blank.

D&I by itself just appears to be jargon for "hashtag trending". The empathy and compassion of the initiative is largely lost. It is a shame when organizations, businesses and business leaders just address D&I as a checklist. Worse is when they get in the numbers, but don't really know how to manage the 'diverse talent'.

Essentially, we've invited 'them' to sit at the table because it is the right thing to do, but are we really offering them to choose what they eat? Or when and how to eat based on their preferences?

Or are we just doing our bit & not taking accountability for our actions and responsibility for their safety?

Diversity is not just about including 'women'. It is about including & making opportunities available to the entire spectrum of human difference that makes everyone unique in their perspective, thinking, problem-solving & creativity. It is about cultures, communities, preferences and abilities beyond what we are taught to consider 'normal'. It is about embracing all this and more. It is about recognizing our privilege and stepping back when our privilege clouds our view of an injustice.

At the end of the day, D&I is incomplete without E&A (Equity & Accessibility). And if we step forward to announce our openness to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, then we have to be willing to stand up for those who are marginalized. Until we are able to commit to keeping them safe in the face of people who are still largely ignorant of diversity principles, I think we might not be ready to fully include.

So here's the point I'm making. When I say I think we might not be ready to fully include, I do not, in any way, mean we give us permission to resort to exclusive behaviors and regressive bullying. Not at all. Recognizing ourselves as not being ready today, means we become aware of where we stand and commit to shifting that. Once you know, you just cannot not know.

Desmond Tutu said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor" Trust me, even in businesses and schools, the same language and sentiments hold true.

The change needs to begin today!

#diversityandinclusion #neurodiversity #policies #socialmedia