The term “diversity” describes a body of work taking place in organizational settings in the United States. Schools, businesses, nonprofits, and governmental bodies have all sponsored diversity initiatives, plans, programs and practices. Along with the worksites, a...
CSWAC Blog
organizational development
Multicultural versus Multiracial: What’s the Difference?
The term “multicultural” is commonplace. Google identifies 81 million references. The term “multiracial” while not rare, is less common, yielding 14 million Google hits. For those engaged in matters of racial justice and racial equity, it’s helpful to consider the...
The Two-Dimensional Model of Racial Positioning
In a racially structured society, racial groups are assigned positions in a social hierarchy. In the United States, white people are positioned at the top in the superior position and people of color are placed below in an inferior position. Many will say that black...
The Multiracial Movement – Lessons Learned
Part 3 of a 3-part series. The multiracial movement failed to grapple with white supremacy, and many racial justice activists to this day suspect that multiracial identity is a thinly disguised strategy for people aspiring to become white. Nor is that suspicion...
Multiracial Microaggressions
Microaggressions have received a lot of study in recent years. Racial microaggressions are “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative” messages...
When Getting-To-Know-You Works
Human beings everywhere form groups, and any given person may be a member of many different groups. Social psychologists have long studied the behavior of “ingroups” and “outgroups.” Wikipedia’s definitions are helpful here: “[A]n ingroup is a social group to which a...
The Siren Song of False Unity
White American culture calls out to all of us, inviting us into an American unity. We may heed the call or dispute it. Heeding it can bring rewards; disputing it brings challenges. Either way, you have to consider the needs of one group versus another in responding to...
Managing Whiteness
The following post reprises a talk given by Jeff Hitchcock a while back. The later portion of the talk raises some issues and concerns of an advanced nature. “Managing whiteness” is an obvious take on the ubiquitous phrase, managing diversity. Some people react to the...
“What About Me?” Perceptions of exclusion and whites’ reactions to multiculturalism
Efforts to manage diversity and promote inclusion have become commonplace in corporations, governmental bodies, colleges and universities, and other organizational settings. Many people embrace the change, but research shows European Americans, in particular, are...
Waiting to Become Multiracial
Like the award-winning play, Waiting for Godot, in which people await the arrival of the title character who never shows, many predominantly white organizations exist in a perpetual state of waiting to become multiracial. The organization might be a workplace, such as...
