The Holiday season is one that is often fraught with danger for Chief Diversity Officers.  Some topics are innately emotional for people.  Money is number one, family and children are number two and religion is number three.  During the months of November and December the workplace becomes an emotional minefield where normally rational people become hyper sensitive and dogmatic. 

In matters of diversity, we often speak in terms of majority culture vs. minority culture.  Generally the view is, if you are part of the majority culture the onus is on you to be  more sensitive and appear overly accomodating ( inclusive) of other cultures.  We expect men to behave themselves when we introduce Women's leadership training and we expect our white colleagues to understand why we have executive mentoring programs for ethnic minorities.  And, for the most part, I would say they do.  However, when it comes to Christmas...all bets are off.

When it comes to the intrusion of religious inclusion in the workplace, Christians seem more unwilling than others to embrace the high road of diversity.  They don't understand why their colleagues would object to a Christmas Tree in the lobby, or playing Christmas Carols over the sound system.  "It's Christmas!" they declare. " and America is a Christian nation."  Well, the problem is this.  It is also Hanukkah (Jewish), Ashura (Islamic/ Muslim), St. Nicholas Day (Europe) Boxing Day, ( Canada) and Kwanza ( African American), etc. 

How does and organization that is comiited to building an inclusive workplace handle the question of religious celebrations in the workplace?  Well, in my opinion, it has to be all or nothing.  If you recognize one religion, then you have to provide the space for the recognition of all religions.  If an individual wants to hand out chocolate santas to his co-workers in honor of St. Nicholas Day or place a minorah on her desk, then other employees should be allowed the same freedom.  The organization, however, should not be seen as promoting one religion over another.  I have advised my organization to decorate our hotel lobby in very festive holiday decor, minus the Christmas Tree.  As an individual, I will be celebrating Christmas.  I will say "Merry Christmas" to people I encounter in stores. I will personally always understand that, for me, Jesus is the reason for the season.  I will also, however, listen intently while my Hindu colleagues tell me the details of Ashura, and I will enthusiastically play a game of Dreidel if invited to participate by my Jewish colleagues.

Inclusion 365 Mission#2 
I will honor my religious heritage and beliefs while respecting the religious heritage and beliefs of others.  I recognize that the country I live in, is a great quilt made up of unique and varying elements, none more important than the other.  I will remember to hold fast to my own beliefs and convictions without diminishing the beliefs and convictions of others.

The morning after the 2012 Presidential election, I was sitting in an office with a some of my colleagues. Inevitably the conversation turned to the election results and speculation about how the Republicans could have mis-judged the sentiment of the country and lost the election so conclusively.  At one point, one of my colleagues, who is a white male who grew up in South Africa, began recounting tales of people in his neighborhood who consistently say disparaging things about ethnic minorities.  He began to explain how at first he would offer rebutals but over time had given up trying to influence his peers.  At some point in the conversation, some one said "Well, we are all racist."  To which I replied, "NO. We may all have biases, but we are not all racists."

It dawned on me in that moment, that the rhetoric surrounding race is this country has become so twisted and convoluted that people who would normally be change agents and advocates for inclusion, just throw up their hands and say there is nothing we can do.  But I would like to examine this belief.

Racism, according to Websters dictionary is " a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and
that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

Bias, is defined as, "an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially: a personal and sometimes unreasoned
judgment : prejudice."  

If someone has an affinity for a political candidate becasue they feel a connection with the candidate based on a particluar trait or characteristic, that would be a bias.  Also, if you felt you could not connect with a political candidate because of a particular trait or characteristic, that would also be a bias.  If white voters, for example, felt that Mitt Romney was more like them and more likely to view the world the way they do, that would be an example of a bias.  If those same voters, decided that President Obama was unfit to lead them because black people are inferior and have no right to hold the office of President, that would racism.  Both of those examples have an element of race, but only one of those examples is racist.

If black voters felt a sense of pride about Barak Obama being the first bi-racial President, and felt that he was more likely to understand the issues that affect them, that would be an example of bias, not racism.   If those same voters simply revelled in the irony that a black man is President of this country given its history of instituionalized racism and bigotry, that would also represent an unreasoned judgment, but it doesn't amount to racism.  Everything that is racial isn't racist, and I think we would do ourselves a huge favor by recognizing this and stop using the words "racist" and "racism" when what we are really referring to is prejudice.   

Why parse words?  I believe these distinctions are important and we need to be precise in the language we use because words have meaning and they impact our relationships and our interactions with others.  I want to mean what I say about issues of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc.  I want to have credibility and be thoughtful in my communication.  Being loose with our vocabulary blurs the lines and prevents honest dialog. 
 
Inclusion365 Mission # 1

I will say what I mean when I discuss issues of diversity, and I will not allow my biases and prejudices to to lead me to conclusions about the character and abilities of others. (that would be racist)