When Zacchoreli told me that "Inclusion does not mean belonging" would be the first prompt for our blogging, I immediately thought of the inclusion model practiced in the US schools, businesses and governments since the 1960's. The idea is where once non-white people were excluded from these places, we now open the door and include them.
It might sound like a good idea, until you consider that schools, businesses and governments in the US were formed in thoroughly racist times and were part of ensuring white privilege passed from one generation to the next. Take schools for example, publicly supported education came about as a way to assimilate people into the dominant culture. So, testing, classroom practices, schedules, etc were all set up to make children learn to be good workers and good Americans-which meant acting like the white-dominant culture, forgetting your ancestors roots and so on. The Boarding School experiences of Native Americans were even more harsh, they took children out of their homes and communities, forced them to speak, learn and act in dominant culture ways, and the discpline and routines were unforgiving. Since we did not fundamentally change the institutions of learning we just invited non-whites in, we ask them to join a system that is still promoting white cultural ideals of language, clothing, time management, etc.
What can happen with the inclusion model is that the message given to non-dominant culture people is they must change who they are to fit into white institutions in order to be accepted. Furthermore this acceptance is conditional on the person making white people "feel comfortable" around them. All this adds to the message of you are included, yet do not truly belong and don't you forget it.
How do we change our institutions to make honoring diversity more than just an empty phrase? How far are we willing to change our institutions from the ground up? How about at least examining them to ensure that we do more than just include people who are willing/able to follow the dominant cultural models? Can we institutionalize respect in institutions built on disrespect?
I don’t think as Americans we can be full inclusive, are history is full of discrimination based on peoples ethnicities, race, culture ,religion and beliefs. We have the idea that to keep people out is good because that means we get more, so then every group that is discriminated against waits for another group to come so they can now discriminate against them. This allows a group to feel like they are “in group” or the majority now and will not have to feel isolated and can tell jokes about the other group like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteIf you are honest with yourself you will know we are not built to be inclusive, it is something you have to learn and have to continue to learn, the idea is that you will struggle to fight off all of the stereotypes from our pop culture internet frenzy world and get to your own truth about people.
The questions then because what is your truth….
So, should we bag the idea of inclusion and work towards belonging?
ReplyDeleteThere is no easy way to this...
ReplyDeleteBelonging cannot be fully achieved unless the minorities knock the socks off the American. People usually adore (or look up to) those who are respectful, smart and successful. Therefore, the only way belonging can happen is when the minorities are able to stand at the same level with the Americans.
jackson