20 years ago. visionary leaders worked to diversify workplaces and prepare for more diverse socieities. We were yet to see the need for multiculturalism. I was teaching organizational behavior to MBA students in Riga, Latvia in November of 1992. With tears of joy and pride, I watched CNN International broadcast President-elect Clinton promising a US Cabinet that “looked like America”. In class, we discussed the Latvian-Russian divide, the influence of Scandinavian, German, and US “aid” on this new country' identity, etc. I began to realize we were talking about more than diversity and globalization, we were talking about multiculturalism.
In the diversity model, people of different color or background are invited in to the dominant culture. They are given a place at the table. In the model of multiculturalism, there is no dominant culture and all peoples bring the richness of their culture to the table, building a collective future through the experience of all.
Younger people and this new administration have made this shift and are leading the way. The buzz around the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is but one illustration. My tears come again-tears of joy and pride and hope. For in her story, as in so many stories that are being lifted up these days, we see what is possible in all organizations and all levels of society.
It is the story of people of color and differing backgrounds succeeding in bastions of dominant culture (like Princeton) while retaining their pride and connection to their roots and family cultures. It is the story of “both/and.” We can be part of the whole AND wholly who we are; we can accept what is AND work for change; we can be open to “the other” AND keep what matters of our own culture.
Yes, there is a backlash- Some just do not get it. They continue to debate diversity, quotas, affirmative action and identity politics. Others get it and are very threatened. (If you think your only strength is your membership in a dominant group; if you think that protects you from “the other”, this is understandably disconcerting. But we can not be distracted or intimidated. Multiculturalism is a 21st Century Imperative.
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