Today’s tip: POLITICALLY CORRECT, WHY NOT SIMPLY CORRECT? This may not be a politically correct tip or mail… I beg your indulgence if it annoys, hurts or disturbs any of you, but I feel I must and I believe we all should ponder on the topic of racism and in general the irrational divisions we are creating, endorsing or tolerating along different and all equally unacceptable lines. Yes, this is triggered by the sad news dominating the US press this weekend -the killing of yet another unarmed black man by the police-, but it is not limited to that. For sure we are all very proud to work for an organization that cherishes, welcomes and promotes diversity, but we would be lying to ourselves if we were to assume that all of us, United Nations staff, have always upheld the values of care and respect regardless of color, faith, sexual orientation, disability, gender, etc. We would be hypocritical is we were to say that all of us have always been correct when it comes to diversity and inclusion, instead of just politically correct. Either actively or passively we may have been part of the problem and not of the solution, despite our lofty ideals and grandiloquent statements. Which is why today’s tip for us is to do everything in our power to be correct and not just politically correct. To do what’s right, not what is popular, easy or socially acceptable.
Not long after I arrived in Nigeria I discovered that for Nigerian standards, I am ‘white’… Yes, I still chuckle when I remember -and my friends laugh out loud when we revisit the event- because in my almost 50 years of existence this is the first time I am white! Back home in Costa Rica I was lovingly called ‘negrito’ (blackey) by many of my friends, darker than many but not dark enough to be ‘black’. That was not a demeaning term, because racial prejudice in my country spares the ‘blackeys’ like me but unfortunately not the ‘blacks’, or those coming from other Central American countries. In Spain, where I studied, I was ‘black’ and ‘sudaka’, which is how some scornfully refer to those coming from South America (which is ‘funny’ because Costa Rica is in Central America!) and there I felt the racial prejudice for the first time. In the US, where I worked for a decade, I was ‘brown’ and ‘mexican’… 😊 Prejudice there was also evident and annoying. Here I am white (really?) but there is no prejudice, there is some kind of entitlement and I simply don’t get it.
Perhaps we should really take a deep breath and ponder how each one of us, and our families, are doing with regards to creating, enforcing, enabling, tolerating, feeding or ignoring artificial divisions. Perhaps we can start in our homes and certainly in our jobs, to see all humans as humans, members of the same human race, regardless of whether we are black, brown, red, pink, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, southerners, northerners, westerners, easterners, disabled, rich, poor, fat, skinny, gay, tall, short, cultured, illiterate, chief, oga, African, European, American (not just US), junior, senior, D2, GS2, francophone, lusophone, anglophone, and all the other divisions that foster fear, hatred, violence and oppression instead of love, respect, care, empathy, development, growth, health and happiness. I guess that’s why we all joined the UNITED NATIONS, to help UNITE all the peoples of the world!
The little problem I had renting a house: https://www.ted.com/talks/james_a_white_sr_the_little_problem_i_had_renting_a_house
What we can do about the culture of hate: https://www.ted.com/talks/sally_kohn_what_we_can_do_about_the_culture_of_hate
What I am learning from my white grandchildren – truths about race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5GCetbP7Fg
The danger of hiding who you are: https://www.ted.com/talks/morgana_bailey_the_danger_of_hiding_who_you_are
Color blind or color brave: https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave
How to overcome our biases walk boldly toward them: https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them
Are Africans citizens of the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS1n3MdzF0k