Lots of organisations talk about the need to “celebrate diversity”. It makes me feel a bit queasy whenever I hear that phrase. What does “celebrating diversity” mean exactly? What are organisations trying to achieve? And why do organisations “celebrate” some kinds of diversity and not others?

For many organisations, “celebrating diversity” translates into doing something to mark a particular event in the calendar like Black History Month or Pride. I am writing this article on the eve of International Women’s Day, and no doubt there will be lots of chat on Linked In about that.

Celebratory events can range from bringing Indian sweets into the office for Diwali and flying a rainbow flag during Pride, through to “lunch and learn” style awareness raising seminars and discussions about what it means to be inclusive.

These events are generally pretty harmless, but when they are over, how much has changed? Do minoritised people feel a greater sense of belonging in organisations that have ‘celebrated’people with characteristics like theirs?

To be clear, I am all for recognising and valuing the contribution of minoritised people to the world. It’s about time some of these people who have made such a difference are finally recognised and lauded. However, there are four things that bug me about organisations
“celebrating diversity”.

Firstly, why are we singling certain forms of diversity out (and not others)? The underlying assumption is that a minoritised characteristic is somehow not ‘normal’. The fact that a
characteristic is different is what makes it noteworthy and the focus of celebration. Isn’t this just another form of ‘othering’?

Secondly, there is an uncomfortable undertone of ‘diversity as entertainment’. The term ‘celebration’ implies fun, yet for many people with minoritised characteristics, the thing(s) that make them different from the majority can be the source of what makes others treat them with unconscious bias, microaggressions and outright discrimination.

Celebration risks trivialising the impact of living with minoritised characteristics, unless it is handled with extreme care.

Thirdly, there is a risk of giving the impression that the issues minoritised people face are only worthy of attention for one day or one week or one month of the year.

Putting a rainbow flag filter on their social media image for a few days may give people a false sense that they are doing something meaningful, but how meaningful is it if LGBTQI+
people continue to experience prejudice in those people’s organisation?

Fourthly, ‘celebrating diversity’ risks masking the failure of an organisation that is skirting around the issues and not taking meaningful action to tackle a lack of EDI. It allows ‘majoritized’ people to feel good about doing the small stuff and provides a screen to hide behind. Resources are limited, so why not focus on the important stuff instead?

And finally, from the audits we do at Full Colour, it remains true that many organisations have challenges that cannot be ameliorated by ‘celebrating diversity’. Microaggressions that get brushed under the carpet; managers covertly labelling people who raise concerns as troublemakers; differential rates of progression and promotion for people with minoritised
characteristics; gender and ethnicity pay gaps; poorer staff engagement scores and higher rates of turnover among minoritised people.

If celebrating diversity is your thing, don’t let me stop you. But ask yourself these two questions? Firstly, how will celebrating diversity make your organisation better in a sustained way? And secondly, who benefits? Minoritised people, or those who get to feel good about themselves for joining in the celebrations?

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