[Vision2020] Diversity 1,2,3

[rodney johnson]

Melynda really opened up a can of worms in her last post, and so before 
signing off this thread for good, I think I’ll string a few on a hook to see 
if I can get any nibbles…

In response to your qualified hedge on the question of the League of the 
South, I guess we’re back to Orwell’s barnyard basics, in that some groups 
are more “diverse” than others.

Subtly back-stepping from the path to “diversity,” now we finally have a 
real destination: a just society.  Who provides the roadmap is, as it has 
been throughout history, up for grabs.  Actually, Melynda, I think you 
really mean “equity” instead of “justice,” but that’s a whole other topic on 
marketing.  The “just society” thing probably came from Allan Johnson’s 
recent presentation at WSU that your office helped sponsor.  And that’s 
exemplary of how these concepts are born and take orbit in the heads of 
academics; e.g., one "anti-racism" educator comes to town and declares some 
mesmerizing and trendy platitude with alleged links to the world of ideas 
and, boom, the echo chamber fills.  As long as the topic is the right topic, 
and the credentials the right credentials, critical thinking takes a back 
seat.  In any event, I have this lurking feeling that a “just society,” 
according to HRD and Melynda, is 99.5% Eurocentric.  Why do I think this?

Well, let’s talk a little about pre-European notions of justice.  We could 
talk about the slavery practiced by the First Nations, and not only how the 
indigenous men of this country treated their slaves and prisoners of war, 
but also, since you brought “sexism” into the discussion, how they treated 
their wives (whether multiple or singular) and “empowered” them to build 
cities, states, and universities.  Now before Melynda reprimands me by 
pointing to some isolated utopian matriarchy in the Hawaiian islands, I want 
to say that what I refer to is the “real history” she has said we ought to 
know (in which, I think, the exception to the rule should not carry the 
day), instead of the history by cameo appearance that says that Pullman 
wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Chinese laborers.

A view of history that looks at a city like Pullman (named after the 
inventor of the sleeper car, I might add) and says, “If it weren’t for the 
Chinese…,” is not a view that is grounded in reality.  The same for a view 
that sees the generational progeny of Plymouth and Jamestown, culminating in 
the vast majority of American settlements and towns across the Midwest and 
all the way to Pullman (y’know, one after another with the water tower and 
flagpole predominant above the sky line) as being established by a “small 
white elite.”  The same for the view that forgets to recognize the hellavu 
lot of white men (yes I think they were all men, since the women had not yet 
been “empowered” for that type of labor) who laid railroad ties and tracks.

And since they are from Europe but may not be “white” (whatever that means), 
we could look to the Athenians, as Melynda mentioned, or even to the Romans, 
for their thoughts on slavery.  On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t.  
Taking a turn toward the Fertile Crescent, we could talk about the Hammurabi 
Code (for which Melynda personally thanked Iraq and Turkey).  Good grief!  
Have you ever read that code?  When it comes to women, slaves, and 
homosexuals, Hammurabi makes the Book of Leviticus look like a walk in the 
park!  Heading to the Global South, we could even talk to the individuals 
who were and are part of the flood of nonwhite immigrants into this nation, 
to ask them how their societies of origin, which they left behind in 
earnest, had “empowered” them with opportunities for self-fulfillment.

I guess that in defining a “just society” that is not Eurocentric, the best 
way for Human Relations and Diversity to ensure that the definition is truly 
inclusive would be to network with like Offices of 
Diversity/Multiculturalism/Human Relations/Goodwill toward Persons in other 
non-European, non-Western nations for their input.  Only problem is, good 
luck in finding any!

- Rod Johnson

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