Why I’m no longer attending diversity events
Before we begin, I’d like to thank my friends who have been on multiple diversity panels. I’d also like to apologise to all the friends who’s panels I’ll miss because honey, I just literally can’t.
So… I’m nearly two years into my career in the advertising industry. Amazing, right?! No. I went to my first diversity and inclusion event in April 2016, but a year and a half later we’ve barely taken a single step in the right direction. Nothing has really happened. I adore and respect Edward Enniful, but he is being turned into the Barack Obama of the UK. The same people who thought having a black President would somehow magically absolve the lack of diverse people in positions of power, also seem to believe replacing Schulman with Enniful has achieved racial equality. Just because he is editor-in-chief at British Vogue does not automatically mean we should now all keep quiet about racial injustice at a top level. And this is exactly why I’ll no longer be going to diversity events.
In the beginning, I would leave panel discussions rejuvenated and ready to take on the white world. My friends and I would disrupt spaces by asking real questions about inclusion, such as: “as a white person, how can you make an authentic and effective impact on the younger generation of diverse creative talent?”. A lot of the time, the responses were packaged so well they didn’t even answer the question. However, one man — James Hillhouse — challenged us and gave us the answer we were looking for. We were invited to be a part of his programme, a youth transformation agency, as peer mentors. I feel this allowed us to really explain the disparity between being a diverse individual and having a place at work.
Fast forward to now, I feel a lot of other things, and none of them are rejuvenation. These events have somehow managed to reinforce the historical infrastructure of white privilege. Why, you ask? Well, imagine people who look nothing like you (and have no clue what it’s like to experience life out of a white body) sitting in a room, trying to validate the importance of your existence in the workplace. As in, people are sitting in a room talking about how to convince the rest of the working world why non-white, non-straight lives matter.
Despite my feelings of frustration, I decided it was time to recalibrate. I realised that I could not keep going to events on diversity when it is obvious that little to few agencies are proactively tackling the wider issues of exclusivity, elitism and invisibility within the advertising industry.
“We can’t find diverse talent. We’ve looked everywhere”. I’ve heard it all before, but I call bullshit on it!! So if you’re an agency looking to start the doing and stop the yapping, get in touch. Because I’ve got a phone book full of people you should be hiring.
