Diversity Is More Than Skin Deep
President-elect Joe Biden has already been garnering praise for some of the historical nominations and appointments to his cabinet and administration. He has also been under mounting pressure to continue to supposedly “diversify” his cabinet simply by nominating women and people of color. The big problem with this kind of approach to “diversity” is that while you may end up with a group of people who may look different from one another, they do not necessarily think differently and represent different interests.
Diversity needs to be more than just skin deep. Mainly advocated for historically by white liberals through policies like affirmative action and quotas, this normative sort of valorization of racial and ethnic diversity above all else merely treats the symptoms of structural racism and inequities rather than fixing or dismantling the underlying structures themselves that have perpetuated these racial and socioeconomic disparities. Instead of prioritizing “diversity” as such, those who are interested in racial justice and equity should focus on addressing and correcting the ongoing systemic root causes of underrepresentation and marginalization.
Furthermore, what (typically white) advocates of “diversity” don’t often realize is that people of different races and ethnicities can have similar educations, interests, goals, and worldviews, despite their…
