DEI IS NOT A DIRTY WORD

DEI IS NOT A DIRTY WORD

By Pam Johnson

DEI. It’s become a household term now. Did you know what it meant, say, a year ago? Had you even heard of it? Me either. But I certainly remember what it was like when there was no effort made to recognize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

I was a newly graduated teacher seeking to fill a position at the local school. I was hired, but I soon learned that my starting salary in no way matched that of a new male teacher. Of course, I asked the person in charge of things why there was such a big discrepancy in our salaries.

“Well,” he said. “He is making more because he has a family to support.” (I was a married woman with a four year-old.) And that settled that.

I think it's important to note that with an English degree obtained in 1976, I had not heard of Margaret Walker Alexander, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and other prominent black authors until about 1988. Yes. But NO DEI!!

During my growing up years, I learned that a woman’s place was in the home; they should speak only when spoken to in public; they should always behave properly; and they should take their places behind men. I mean, “Read the Bible.” People who know me know I never paid very good attention to those lessons. Today, my church has two fabulous female pastors.

I had the fun privilege of attending school and living in a variety of places during my elementary and junior high years. Tulsa was one of my favorites because my two sisters and my little brother were there. And we had a patient, teaching grandmother in-house. Not to mention entertaining parents. My summers were brightened by vacationing with my Ableson clan. Tulsa was a safe, fun, adventurous place.

About 40 years later, guess what I heard about Tulsa? Yes, Tulsa had witnessed one of the most violent racial explosions in the country in the early part of the 20^th Century – The Greenwood Riots. People had been viciously murdered, an entire, thriving cityscape had been leveled, and to make sure Greenwood never came back, city leaders ran an interstate right through the middle of it. They are still identifying bodies.

Yep. None of us had heard a peep about this tragedy in all our living on Tulsa time. Not. A. Peep.

My sisters and I made the trip to Greenwood a couple of summers ago when we were all in Tulsa. It was heartbreaking and shattering in so many ways. Not the least of which is that we had grown up oblivious to the carnage and chaos the riots wrought.

So, back to DEI. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It is an opportunity for young generations and those to come to be taught about what can happen to a society when whole groups of people are not treated as human beings, when there is no notice given to the fact that folks are being excluded from decisions that directly affect them, when people are treated as inferior and not worthy of the benefits offered  to the controlling group.

I know. I know. Those of us from the South are burdened with the heavy load of what our forebearers did, and we’d rather forget it. Or not let others know, so we bury it. Or, conversely, some beat their chests and wave battle flags glorifying “The Lost Cause” of keeping people enslaved. Do we really want to raise students who have no clue what can actually happen in human society? On their own soil? Do we really want to raise generations who have no idea how bad it can get if someone doesn’t stand up for what’s right?  I hope not.

So, yes. I think DEI is a good thing. We white grownups need to acknowledge our own life’s experiences before DEI was a thing. We women need to acknowledge the same. And, if we are the folks who truly follow the Gospel of Jesus where he says we should love our neighbors as ourselves, we will most assuredly want to offer everyone the same opportunities we have. If it takes implementing programs and awareness like DEI, so be it.

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Pam Johnson, a former news editor, teacher and Assistant Secretary of State, is a media, policy and communications consultant who lives in the Reservoir area of Brandon

Pam Johnson
(601) 201-7142