WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

Many persons in the workplace consider diversity to be a matter of skin color or eye shape. To me, diversity exists in the workplace when you have persons with varied educational and work backgrounds and who possess a plethora of life experiences.

In a conversation I had with Dennis Archer, former Detroit mayor and former president of the American Bar Association, he told me “diversity makes good business sense.” I can kind of, possibly, maybe see the potential for this statement to be true in some instances. Below I explain why I do not more readily believe Mr. Archer’s statement regarding diversity.

At Wal-Mart we talk a lot about being a Store of the Community, which means in the most simplistic terms to have merchandise in stores that reflect the needs of the demographical makeup of the store’s environs. Wal-Mart has every store in the United States categorized into a certain trait. One of the six traits Wal-Mart uses is the Hispanic trait – many stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas fall under this trait.

For the stores that fall under the Hispanic trait it makes good business sense to have someone who understands Hispanics and their needs, wants, and desires, to buy products to fulfill these needs, wants, and desires. Are there non-Hispanics who understand the needs, wants, and desires of the Hispanic people? Absolutely! Are there Hispanics who do not understand the needs, wants, and desires of Hispanics? Absolutely! I know many white people who have lived abroad in Central and South America and are intimately familiar with the needs, wants, and desires of Hispanics. I am also sure there are Hispanics who, for whatever reason, were not raised in a Hispanic environment and are very unfamiliar with the needs, wants, and desires of Hispanics.

The workplace’s definition of diversity assumes/stereotypes that because a person has a certain skin color or is a particular ethnicity he/she knows the needs, wants, and desires of his/her ethnic group. Is this a valid assumption? In my opinion, it is NOT a valid assumption. It is not an individual’s ethnicity that makes him/her diverse per se but rather it is the educational and life experiences the individual possesses.

Benn Manning