Why Diversity Matters

INTRODUCTION TO DIVERSITY: HISTORY, VALUES & DEFINITIONS Rachel A. Lathrop Kelly Perez-Vergara October 25th 2018 TRENDS in Occupational Studies Troy, Michigan

WHY DIVERSITY MATTERS?

COMPANIES WITH DIVERSE WORKFORCES OUTPERFORM LESS DIVERSE COMPANIES ▪ 15-35% more likely to have higher financial returns ▪ LBGTQ employees who can be out at work at more committed to their companies. ▪ Diverse teams make better decisions; different perspectives ▪ 2 out of 3 people in today’s job market express looking for a diverse work environment.

WHY THIS SESSION? • Interested in understanding diversity issues. • Safe space to talk about diversity. • Identities shape perspectives…

TERMINOLOGY • Diversity – having a different identity/perspective from what is “normal” or “expected” by majority culture. • Equality- equal rights and treatment to individuals. • Equity- fair treatment of each individual based on their circumstances; where equality calls for same rights regardless of circumstances.

• Majority Culture - White, straight male, Christian, middle-class. • Inclusion - being heard and appreciated regardless of identity.

MANY IDENTITIES…WHAT ARE SOME OF YOURS?

•Race • Ethnicity

•Sex •Gender identity • Ability status • Age • Sexual orientation

• Veterans status • Cognitive functioning • Socioeconomic status • Religion • Education level • …and others…

HISTORY OF RACISM • 1857 – Dred Scott vs Supreme Court (African Americans are not citizens)

• 1865 – 13th Amendment (slavery abolished) • 1868 – 14th Amendment (African Americans are citizens) • 1875 – Civil Rights Act (bans public discrimination) • 1883 – Supreme Court Ruling (private business can discriminate) • 1890 – Jim Crow Laws (separate accommodations required) • 1896 – Plessy vs Ferguson (national support for state segregation laws) • 1899 – Supreme Court Ruling (tax Black and White for White only schools) • 1908 – Berea College (despite desire to desegregate, not allowed)

CURRENT CLIMATE • • • • • • •

1954 – Brown vs Board of Education (desegregation nationwide) 1964 – Civil Rights Act (no discrimination in Employment & Housing) 1967 – Loving vs Virginia (interracial marriage legal) 1978 – Bakke vs Regents University California (Race can be used) 1996 – Hopwood v. Texas (Race can’t be used) 2003 – Gratz v. Bollinger (Take into account, more qualitative) 2016 – Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Race can be used)

DEFINE ‘RACE’

Rachel Dolezal • An American former civil rights activist known for identifying as a black woman while being of white-European ancestry and having no known black or African ancestry • Doležal's critics state that she has committed cultural appropriation and fraud; Doležal and her defenders state that her self-identification is genuine, even if not based on race or ancestry.

• Doležal was dismissed from her position as an Instructor in Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University and removed by the Spokane City Council as Chair of the Police Ombudsman Commission over "a pattern of misconduct

DEFINE ‘RACISM’

TERMINOLOGY White Supremacy Political or socioeconomic system where white people enjoy a structural advantage at the expense of people of color.

SEX & GENDER

HISTORY OF SEXISM • 1919- 19th Amendment- Women Right to Vote (1919) • The Cable Act of 1922 "Married Women's Independent Nationality Act") Previously, a woman lost her United States citizenship if she married a foreign man. • 1965- Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965),[269] is a landmark case in the United States in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to privacy. The case involved a Connecticut "Comstock law" that prohibited any person from using "any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception."

HISTORY OF SEXISM • 1986- The Mann Act placing men and women as equals in illegal act related to prostitution, previously the women would be charged with felony while men would only be charged if caught transporting women for the purpose of prostitution • 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, which recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions — including the decision to have an abortion without interference from politicians. • 2016- United States Supreme Court case decided on June 27, 2016, when the Court ruled 5–3 that Texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services

**Gender: Few laws currently protect rights of transgender individuals.**

WHEN DID YOU FIRST LEARN YOUR GENDER?

HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY A practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of women. Conceptually, hegemonic masculinity proposes to explain how and why men maintain dominant social roles over women, and other gender identities, which are perceived as "feminine" in a given society.

HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY

DESCRIBE HOW THE FOLLOWING IMAGES MAKE YOU FEEL

TERMINOLOGY –SEX & GENDER

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN NEXT?