Impactful Inclusion Toolkit

ACTIVITY 32Leverage Your Privilege

“When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else's oppression, we'll find our opportunities to make real change.”

—Ijeoma Oluo

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Thanks to an executive order by John F. Kennedy in 1961, Affirmative Action began to shift the tide for people of color in the workplace. Affirmative Action prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on race, disability, gender, ethnic origin, and age. Sixty-plus years later organizations continue to struggle to create and sustain diverse workforces. Discrimination remains alive and well as cultural bias toward White supremacy persists. Consider the research cited in the previous activity stating that the workforce in the United States is comprised of 78 percent of White people. Something is clearly wrong when according to the 2020 census data, White people represent 57 percent of the total U.S. population. Even when companies manage to improve representation, people of difference are made to feel like outsiders through assimilation, hostile environments, and prejudicial policies and systems, thus creating unearned, unacknowledged rights, benefits, and opportunities for the dominant culture while systemically oppressing everyone else.

Diversity practices focus on attracting and hiring members of underrepresented groups, while equity and inclusion is the practice of retaining them. The intent behind diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts is for employers to ensure that everyone can fully ...