Is President Trump right? Do we need to 'end the social engineering of race and gender into our institutions?'
Equity Coach
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Some interesting developments across the Pond, with President Trump citing the desire to 'end the government policy to socially engineer race and gender into our public institutions'.
The inference of this statement of course is that this is what DEI and Anti-Racism programmes are attempting to do, and that this is a relatively new development.
In order to end the social engineered construct of 'race', we must first acknowledge that that this social construct has been woven into the fabric of our society and institutions for centuries.
Early (disproven) biological thinking categorised human beings into separate 'races' with different character traits that baked in stereotypes that endure today. It has led to many historical atrocities, including the enslavement of millions, based on a social construct and belief that 'other' people were inferior in some way to 'White European' people, dehumanising them. The wealth of America, Britain and many of the institutions President Trump refers to is built on that period of our history. And although slavery and colonialism is part of our history, the legacies of it endure today in our cultures, structures and systems.
Many of our institutions were codified and built in times when 'race' was socially engineered by those who held power at the time.
It has left a present day legacy of racial disparities across all of our systems - sport, health, education, policing. If we simply ignore the problem - these modern day forms of racism will endure in our systems. That reality sits as a daily discomfort that drives a need to be proactive and consistent in pushing for change across our systems, cultures and ways of working. The work we do must continue, unrelenting in its focus, until this every day reality for many is a thing of the past.
This video for any interested in understanding why we have 'race' woven into the social fabric of our society is a must.
The interventions that President Trump would claim is weaving the social ideology of 'race' into our institutions are merely highlighting the reality that already exists, and providing a roadmap for a way forward where they needn't. The social engineering of 'race' has endured for centuries, and the work many are doing is simply raising awareness of something that some simply do not see, as they have not had to consider it in a world where our systems and cultures are built in their image.
Sadly when something has endured this long, and can be evidenced by the outcomes, we cannot end its impact by pretending it does not exist. Although 'race' does not have a biological basis, it is something that we have created as a human race, and we must work hard to counter its devastating impact.
The recent focus on anti-racism work in our institutions has not socially engineered 'race' into our institutions. It has raised awareness of the fact that they already do this and have since their formation. Removing such programmes will simply leave the social construct President Trump wishes to end to endure. The fire extinguisher he is selling to put out this particular fire is filled with oil. This uncomfortable and, for some, newly learnt truth can be difficult for good people who care about others to confront, but confront it we must.
The current narrative plays on this fear and defensiveness. The sense that as individuals this may show us to be something we believe we are not. Each of us can choose to be more than what we have learned in the past. This choice only exists for those of us that do not have to experience the impact of 'race' on a daily basis. For those who interact with the systems and cultures that create racialised experiences, it is a reality in which they have no choice.
When we look at it like that, is it really a choice for any of us?
We must be brave, break through this discomfort and explore these issues more critically than we have in the past. We must also recognise that the current desire to play on people's discomfort makes this more difficult. We must stay in the conversation, however frustrating. We can help people break through this discomfort, and must not be drawn into a narrative that maintains the racial hierarchies that exist. This will simply leave many to continue to experience the world differently, through the design of our systems and no fault of their own.
Our identities are central to our beliefs and decision making. They shape who we are, and how we mould the things around us. 'Race' may have been socially engineered, but socially engineered or not, it is present in everything - including our identities. Understanding our own identities, how we view the world and how this impacts on 'others' is central to all of us being able to experience things in a fair and just way.
By understanding better how our identity shapes how we experience our systems, structures and cultures, and how our differing beliefs mean we can all experience the same thing in a very different way is central to progress.
In the context of sport, where we do much of our work, this opens incredible possibilities in terms of performance. If we can unlock a sense of belonging that fully understands and learns from racialised experiences, it enables those who have previously had to navigate this issue alongside their sport to simply focus on their sport. To feel a sense of belonging, and that ability to focus without distraction, can undoubtedly lead to the unlocking of new levels of performance.
So if we want to achieve the dismantling of the social engineering of 'race', as President Trump would have us do, the solution is the opposite to what he would have us believe. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away. It will require more of these conversations and initiatives to help bring about the changes required, not less.