Tokenism at work

In today's episode Simone reflects on the tokenism of corporations and other workplaces in the ways they treat Black people and people of colour. They begin by thinking about some scenes in season 2 of the TV series Severance which represent this dynamic and which have resonating with many viewers of colour. Then they consider the current situation in the USA where the Trump administration is seeking to destroy “DEI”, the emptiness of DEI programs in general, and the failure of corporate culture to both do adequate DEI work, and to respond to these current cultural and political attacks.

They then look at this article: The tokenism trap: 7 ways it can hurt your workplace https://recruitcrm.io/blogs/tokenism-in-recruitment/

They go through its recommendations but also heavily critique it, pointing out the problems in the way it frames and thinks about DEI, and the ways that it is representative of corporate and structural issues within White Supremacy. For example the framing of DEI as something that you do to make your corporation more profitable rather than something you do because it’s the right thing to do. When doing this they also draw on their own work being hired to do mediation within corporations and also their lived experience.

Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.