It shouldnt take scores of people mobilizing in the streets in order for marginalized folks voices to be heard. A common refrain from marginalized people is that they refuse to remain silent. They want their grievances to both be acknowledged and addressed.
Government and corporations find themselves seemingly caught off guard during this current climate of global civil protests. Curiously though, executives and other leaders repeatedly say theyre sorry they didnt listen to their employees or that they didnt know various groups of people felt marginalized, ignored, hurt or worse.
All of this indicates that there is a significant issue regarding process. One of my academic mentors told me when you have a bad outcome, then you likely have a bad process.
Ultimately, creating an inclusive mentality requires a person or organization to consistently critique itself and be open to change.
The first step then is to examine your culture, more specifically, the inclusivity portion. How welcoming are we of people who are different from us? How much does everyone feel valued? How much do we value contributions from all people? How do we respond when we commit offenses against our peers and colleagues?
Before we continue, we must make a valuable distinction between inclusivity and political correctness. I operationalize inclusivity as acting in a way that widens the tent, consciously behaving in a manner that tries to make as many people as possible feel included and valued. Conversely, political correctness is acting in such a way that you wont get into trouble. In other words, inclusivity is a core value whereas political correctness is an expedient behavior without much substance to back it up.
If our culture is inclusive, then we celebrate difference and solicit as many perspectives as we can because our goal is to expand our base, not narrowly cling to a restrictive vision of how a few people think something should be. From an inclusivity perspective, diversity is not a box to check; rather, diversity is part of the core product. And for businesses, diversity is often correlated to increased profits.
How can you correct a problem if you dont know there is a problem? Even if we practice an inclusive mindset daily, were still going to forget people or commit offenses toward people (I know I do). When adversity hits, then youll know the inclusivity level of your culture. If the culture is strong, then people feel more likely to speak up. Researchers Stephen Stubben and Kyle Welch summarize part of their findings on their study of whistleblowers thusly: All companies have their share of concerns, but not all companies have a culture where employees feel secure and valued when sharing feedback. We found that on the balance, more reports are a good thing, reflecting greater trust in management by employees and a greater flow of information to management about potential problems.
You have to want to know where youve gone wrong. You have to be willing to accept criticism and be vulnerable. The criticism likely isnt that youre a bad person or a bad company; rather, you fell short in a certain way and try to do better.
However, too many people just dont want to know or ignore the evidence brought to them. In feminist scholar Nancy Tuanas taxonomies of ignorance (which is a must-read in this current environment), this is called willful ignorance. Tuana defines this as a systematic process of self-deception, a willful embrace of ignorance that infects those who are in positions of privilege, an active ignoring of the oppression of others and ones role in that exploitation.
Managements current cries of were sorry we didnt listen or were sorry we ignored you ring hollow under this framework because systems were designed to replicate dominant ideologies at the expense of inclusivity and respect. Essentially, leaders were willfully ignorant of marginalized peoples suffering because ignoring the suffering allowed the leaders to run their companies in a manner that made the current power structure comfortable.
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What Happens When Youre Defensive and Dismissive - Adweek
- The Phony Debate About Political Correctness ThinkProgress - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Political Correctness Watch - December 12th, 2016 [December 12th, 2016]
- The Origins of Political Correctness - academia.org - January 13th, 2017 [January 13th, 2017]
- Spicer says 'political correctness' infringes on 'freedom of religion' - Washington Post - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Political correctness exists to build respect for the oppressed - Kenyon Collegian - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
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- Boy Scouts ruined by political correctness: Your Say - USA TODAY - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Spicer Says Religious Liberty Is Getting 'Pushed Out' By Political Correctness - TPM - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Lawrence Modisett: Need for political correctness still holds true - The Providence Journal - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
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- Foregoing Political Correctness, The Senate Should Have Let Warren Speak - Daily Caller - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- To a Collegian columnist: Disregarding political correctness hinders social justice causes - Kenyon Collegian - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
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- Letter to the editor: The truth doesn't require political correctness - Anniston Star - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Trump's Right-wing Political Correctness Makes Us Less Safe - Huffington Post - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- When Will They Purge Indian History Of Political Correctness And Teach Us As It Is? - Swarajya - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Editorial: Brown puts political correctness above jobs - Daily Astorian - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
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- Letter to the editor: Political correctness has influenced minds - Post Register - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Is An Absolute Must | Time.com - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Propagates Radical Liberalism and Undermines The Truth - Accuracy In Media (blog) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
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- Ferguson Political Correctness - The Missourian - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- PewDiePie: Alt-Right Nazi, Victim of Political Correctness, or Just an Idiot? - Reason (blog) - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
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- Populist correctness: the new PC culture of Trump's America and Brexit Britain - The Guardian - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
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- PewDiePie's Misguided War On The Media Sounds Familiar - Forbes - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
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- Thursday's best TV: Born Too White; Has Political Correctness Gone Mad? - The Guardian - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Political correctness is to blame for terrorist payout, says Leo McKinstry - Express.co.uk - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Jones: It's not political correctness, just common decency - Philly.com - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Is There Space For Political Correctness In Fashion? Gucci Says Maybe Not - Refinery29 - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
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- Thursday February 23, 2017 - Israel Hayom - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Jim Bailey column: Caught up in political correctness - The Herald Bulletin - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Op-ed: He's just saying what we're all thinking: How political correctness fails us in the age of Trump - The Eagle - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- The Bus Campaign That's Giving UK Political Correctness a Run for ... - CBN News - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Has political correctness gone mad? 'Comedians must be allowed to offend' - thejournal.ie - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- CPAC inadvertently shows logic behind political correctness - UT The Daily Texan - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Despite Rumblings About Political Correctness, the Black Oscar Nominees This Year Deserve All the Accolades - Heat Street - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
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- Political correctness puts end to much loved television characters ... - Starts at 60 - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Hurt the Oscars - WSAU (blog) - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- The Bus Campaign That's Giving UK Political Correctness a Run for Its Money - CBN News - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Fox News' Tucker Carlson says 'Moonlight' only won Best Picture because of political correctness - ThinkProgress - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- O'Reilly: 'Americans Are Tired of Political Correctness & Left-Wing Totalitarianism' - Fox News Insider - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Enough with the political correctness: transgender individuals shouldn't be allowed to compete in sports - The Rebel - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Is political correctness killing US institutions? - Canada Free Press - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Jennifer Saunders Claims Political Correctness Has Ended ... - Huffington Post UK - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Conservative Rag Bends to Political Correctness - American Free Press - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Why John Howard thinks Australians are sick of political correctness ... - Starts at 60 - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Columbus Statue Removed at Pepperdine Bow to Political Correctness - The New American - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Why 'rage is not a policy' - Washington Times - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Actually The Most Politically Correct Politician Of Them All - Huffington Post - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Misguided political correctness is problem | Letters To Editor | union ... - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Political correctness is curtailing free speech: Letters - LA Daily News - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- 'La La Land' is the Ultimate Victim of Hollywood's Political ... - Heat Street - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Political correctness sends ACC from Tobacco Road to Brooklyn - Power Line (blog) - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Give political correctness a failing grade - Canoe News - Canoe - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Nick Ferrari: Political correctness is turning our police into social services - Express.co.uk - March 12th, 2017 [March 12th, 2017]
- Littleproud: program is 'political correctness gone too far' - Warwick Daily News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Editorial: freedom of speech in an era of political-correctness, part two - Daily Sundial - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- When Republicans defend Republicans' bad behavior, we justify 'political correctness' - Mooresville Tribune - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Marvel V.P. Admits Political Correctness Killed Comic Sales ... - FrontPage Magazine - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]