Let me start by saying I am simply over marketing departments across the country using minorities to promote workplaces, campuses, and institutions that simply do not exist. I call this the "M.O.D." approach. And for those of you who have worked in restaurants I am not talking about a "manager on duty", I am referring to the "Minorities On Display" that are consistently used on glossy brochures, web pages and other point-of-sale materials. It is an epidemic and quite frankly insulting. As enrollments for students of color at not-for-profit degree-granting post secondary institutions continues to drop (the for-profits is a blog unto itself and coming soon) and the hateful policies of Arizona's SB 1070 continues to spread across the nation, marketers still see value in parading their people of color. (http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/03/sb_1070_copycat_bills.html).
Despite this type of hateful discriminatory rhetoric that permeates our political landscape, marketing departments, campaign officials, and HR departments still believe that the best type of materials are the ones that include their "token" people of color. I simply Google searched (see below) the top institutions of this country, who have the strictest admission qualifications and they too utilize this M.O.D. approach. The proportion of minorities in their brochures and web pages is not remotely close to the number of actual students that matriculate through their storied buildings (Dept of Ed http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72). This seems to be the case for almost all schools and major corporations websites.
You may be asking; Why this is a bad thing? Is it not a good thing to promote diversity? Answer. Yes it is, but not a fictitious sense of inclusion and diversity. It is false advertisement to advance inclusivity at inflated levels when in fact it is not a representation of a specific campus or place of employment.
I have been used in this manner at every place I have ever worked at. I am embarrassed to say that I have not made a bigger deal about this until now. I always wanted to promote some sense of diversity even if it was not totally accurate. In hindsight, I wish I would not have. I think if a company wants to truly promote diversity and culture they should start with creating a robust Inclusion Plan. One that includes feedback from all levels of employees and one that is not written to simply avoid litigation. Let me be clear about this.....Sexual harassment seminars do not encompass diversity and inclusion!!! Diversity should be a philosophy and should be celebrated everyday; not in a training session.
However, these brochures sure make it seem like Diversity is a pillar.
It is time for those of us who are used in this manner to cry foul and stop promoting fantasy/fictitious diversity environments.
Robert
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