Oppose DEI? Why?

There has been and will be on-going a good deal of talk and criticism of the very basic human rights notion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Many of the newly empowered Right are demonizing it and wanting to remove efforts to be more diverse, more equitable and more inclusive. It makes me wonder if they know what DEI stands for... because what reasonable, moral person is against those things?

I also think that some think of DEI as a way to be condescendingly kind to the "poor and needy." It's not.

DEI is based upon well-researched data that supports the very common sense notion that we all do better when all are included. And it's not just a catchy slogan, data supports it. I'll not cite the data here but I can if anyone wants the data/research.

When there are more people from more backgrounds, businesses and agencies (churches, community groups, gatherings, etc) do better. We're more productive and more intelligent collectively than we are individually. Think about it... of course, that's just common sense.

The reality is that...

We don't know what we don't know

We can't see what we can't see

And that's OK.

What's not OK is not beginning with the humility

To acknowledge that there are some things

We don't know and can't see

I work for an agency that helps fellow citizens with disabilities to be more included in the public sphere, including in housing and employment. We have more than one time heard the story that goes something like this...

"Hi, we're trying to get Mary in for a job interview but we can't find an accessible entrance."

"Oh, no problem, there are no steps if you go around back..."

Fine, we go around back, where there is no stairway, but there is ONE step. Mary is in a big heavy powerchair and it can't make it up that one step. We go back to the front office and report this.

"Oh, no problem. You can also get in back by the dumpster, just go around it and there's a door."

Great. The dumpster entrance. We try it, but the dumpster is blocking it. We return to the front office.

"Can't get in. Dumpster is blocking it."

"Funny, we've never had any people come in in wheelchairs reporting a problem."

Pause.

"Think about it. Have you EVER had people come in in wheelchairs? Is it possible you haven't recognized the problem/difficulty because you haven't lived that life?"

More than once, we've heard that kind of story. The details may change, but the end result doesn't.

But the thing is, our fellow citizens with disabilities can and do bring value to employers and agencies. People of color can and do bring value... immigrants, women, LGBTQ folks... we ALL bring something of value and when we're not working for diversity, equity and inclusion... yes, those left out are hurt, but the thing is, we're ALL hurt by that. Businesses suffer from not having a well-rounded work force. Schools suffer from not having a spectrum of students and employees.

We're all better when everyone is included. It's not for "those" people that we include.

It's for all of us.

Magnificat

Mother Mary said

"I rejoice

For behold, from now on

all generations will call me blessed...

or perhaps

many generations will call me blessed

and other generations will try to hold me down

keep me in my place

tell me what to do and when and how to do it

nonetheless, God's grace and justice

will last from generation to generation

the proud will be scattered

the mighty be torn down from their thrones

and the humble, the poor, the outcast,

they will be greeted, welcomed and lifted up

and the rich sent away, empty-handed!"

With a mother like that, 

it's no wonder Jesus turned out the way he did.

Lazarus and the Rich Man

Those who know me know I don't really believe in the notion of hell as has been advanced in many religious traditions. But I do appreciate the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man that Jesus told (sort of depicted, above, in an early art of mine).

As you may or may not recall, it begins by introducing us to "a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed" and who led a life of indulgent excess, not caring for the poor literally outside his gate. And literally outside his gate, in the story, Jesus tells us that poor Lazarus was wasting away in sickness. And eventually, Lazarus dies, as does the rich man.

As an aside, the rich man is never given a name, while Lazarus is named. This is counter to popular traditions of naming the rich and powerful but letting the poor and women remain anonymous. Somewhere in the middle ages, some started calling the rich man, "Dives," (Latin for "rich guy") but that's not in the Bible.

The story continues in the afterlife where the rich man suffers in agony in a flaming hell. Meanwhile, Lazarus is comforted by a loving God ("Father Abraham" in the text), a God of the poor and marginalized. The rich man (somehow) can see Lazarus in the arms of God and begs God to send Lazarus down with just a drop of cooling water... and he begs God to send Lazarus to warn his fellow rich brothers.

And just a note, here: The text doesn't say anything about the rich man being a bad man or that he intentionally rejected God. He was just indifferent to the poor people outside his gate. And I'll also note that in Dives' pleas, he asks God to send Lazarus to tend to him. Even in the rich man's misery, Lazarus is just a servant to be ordered around.

But God reminds the rich man that he had it all in his lifetime and made no time for Lazarus... and that it's impossible to resolve it now. What I find valuable in this parable/story is that God concludes, "Besides, there is a great chasm between us and you..."

I think, implied, is that there WAS and IS a chasm between the rich man who cared nothing for the poor and marginalized, and the rest of creation: It is the chasm that the rich man himself constructed, keeping the poor outside his walls, outside his gates.

The good news, then, is that we can tear down those walls, now, today. We can join together with those living in poverty, those from other nations and backgrounds, those of different races, those with disabilities... we can all come together and work for the good of all, and not just ourselves.

It remains an important and humbling lesson for we who are so rich.

She Started a Band

She started a band
that raised a prayer
that started a chant
a jig, an aire

a movement began
a challenge a fight
which moved like dance
of grace and of light

the community that rose
from the ground to the sky
was full of love
with grit in their eyes

a better day would come
they knew it to be true
because they were the ones
who would see it through.

She started a band
and that's the point.