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No question about it: I am a fervent Diversity (and inclusion) advocate! It is the very heart of the work I do, every day! But never do I take on it from the racial angle alone. I must say I was relieved that The Supreme Court did not fall into the usual “one step forward, 3 steps backward” approach on this, and simply ruled out using race in school choice/admission.

See, the problem with strictly setting aside a certain number of seats in the classroom to be filled only by Blacks, Hispanics or other minorities would be no justice to the deserving white male students—race and gender factored in, here.

Racial quotas might only help reach purely statistic targets, but often end-up causing discriminatory favoring of one or more minority groups over a majority. Sadly, there is much of this practice of a misinterpreted Diversity thru various “programs” led by hiring managers in Corporate America. One immediate side-effect from such (let’s admit it) discriminatory practice is that the majority then only grows wary of these Diversity programs and therefore have no motivation to join in and support such efforts to promote Diversity in the classroom and workplace—often perceived to be at their very detriment. Another side-effect is that the ranks of Diversity-critics can only grow with such a misguided approach to the matter. This goes on every day in Corporate America and at so-called “Diversity conferences”.

Don’t get me wrong, here: I absolutely align with those who chant “Equal education, not segregation!” and “Equal opportunity, not discrimination!”
But, we simply cannot fight evil with evil in this instance, specially not at the risk of developing a new kind of discrimination. Clearly put, Diversity cannot be constrained into race, gender, origin, or other factors, alone. It is an absolute sum of these all, and more—without any arbitrary restrictions meant to favor majorities or minorities.

The one way any Diversity initiative can truly be successful with minimal or no side-effects, especially in the workplace, is thru a purely skill-based lens.
Being from the language and localization industry, an effective application of Diversity naturally came thru talents/candidates’ multilingual, multicultural and/or international competencies. Talk about a more on-point set of complementary factors in the inescapable and irreversible global context we live in! And it naturally creates just the kind of diverse and inclusive environment all, without exception, can contribute to and succeed in; feel truly valued and proud of.

About the Author (Mohamed.Ly@MultiLingualPros.com)
Mohamed Ly is an Entrepreneurship Coach, Global HR & international Career Strategist, founder and executive director for MultiLingualPros.com. Ly is the author of the forthcoming book Going “Glocal”: Local Jobs, Global Careers–The Ultimate Career Guide for multilingual, multicultural and international executives, professionals and students, for success in the global job market and workplace. He writes for leading publications, on Diversity, Globalization, Education, and Business, Workforce and Career Management.

When diversity-focused events are held throughout the nation, regardless of their size, location, organizers or sponsors, the media so far seems to have very little or no interest in giving them due coverage.

But when diversity, along with minorities and immigrant populations are under attack by clueless individuals and groups, then it is aired all over. This pattern if not disrupted simply will confirm a media’s position statement on this critical issue. This disappointing observation prevails all over the nation and beyond, and yet no one wants to address it fairly.

We are not going to make the business case for diversity here. That work has already been done so brilliantly and so many times, with highlights on the ever-changing nation’s population, workforce and marketplace, and what it means for all organizations. But how is it going to positively resonate across our corporations, communities and government entities? How could we truly benefit from diversity if we continue to see the same faces, hear the same voices over and over again at conferences and gatherings across industries? Ultimately this trend could have no effect but to make the forces involved viewed as a persistent yet pointless buzz –turning diversity into work we’re reminded of just frequently enough so it survives the lack of media interest/coverage at regular gatherings.

The tremendous diversity work being done across the nation (and globally) by private and public entities is too often ignored. In contrast, lousy and disrespectful “Speak English” campaigns initiated by confused and un-inclusive individuals/groups continue to enjoy ample air-time and print-space across the media – the most recent of which being lead by a former baseball “superstar” and a top model – their names are deliberately not included here in an effort to not boost the undeserved publicity they already received.
But done long enough, this definitely will translate into a position statement on the part of the “Forth Power” of this Nation.

It’s worth pointing out that the media’s very readership and viewership include over 53 million of the American population that speak primary languages other than English at home, and more than 25 million have limited English proficiency (LEP) – the very minority and immigrant populations under attack thru these campaigns. Just in 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 322 languages spoken at home in the United States.

However, in this “War” for an “English only America”, there can be no winners – only Losers. The biggest of which would ultimately be the very social fabric of the United States. Because if these campaigns had just a single chance to ever come close to succeeding, the outcome would not be to bring Unity of the nation but to suppress other languages – as it had already been done throughout history for hundreds of Native American languages. Spanish, in particular, is the main target in today’s context. If these campaigns could repeat history, they would impose English as a supremacy - against all the values this nation stands for (starting with Freedom), achieving nothing but the oppression (and ultimately the suppression) of minorities by the majority.

Let’s stop and think for moment about what an “English only America” really means, in a post-9/11 and global era.
What would happen if America, already deeply affected by its limited linguistic sophistication, simply decided to throw away these very resources that have become so crucial augment?
Well, once that grave is dug deep enough, there is an even bigger hole awaiting Corporate America, government and military operations in a global cemetery.

Attacks on diversity, minority and immigrant population benefits no one and can lead only to collective perdition. Instead the aim should be to embrace, grow and leverage cultural and linguistic diversity to achieve full growth, increased competitiveness and success in the global village the world has become.

The media has played major roles in the advancement of civilization throughout history. It’s time it remained true to its calling: the need to promote, not hinder, diversity.

Posted by Mohamed Ly
Founder & Executive Director
MultiLingualPros.com
Mohamed.Ly@MultiLingualPros.com