Written By: Robin Breault, Paulo Gregory, Martha Bentley, Andrew Mathew, & the Inter-Cultural Team
“Beloved Community is formed not by the eradication of difference, but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world”
~ bell hooks
In the Zulu culture, the principle of Ubuntu means that we are responsible for each other’s well being. The degree to which we practice building relationships with this foundation, we come closer to realizing the ideal of creating beloved community and expand thriving at individual, community and national levels. We must therefore “SEE” each other for who we truly are, and remain present to be seen.
It is a fundamental value and mission of SCN to expand the diversity of individuals representing all cultures who are supported in ecosystems throughout the United States, and to ensure that economic opportunity and community economic development is activated to support equity, particularly in struggling communities that need economic activity the most.
True inclusivity in ecosystems requires the intentional development and evolution of networks that spans difference to create cultures of belonging, shared power, and access across all demographics, expanding the reach of inclusion to historically and regionally marginalized individuals, communities and cultures.
At the SCN Summit in Madison this fall, SCN offered a workshop Stories from the Margins that was designed to help participants connect and begin to build beloved community by seeing each other and revealing their own truths about othering and belonging of all kinds. The goal of the activity was not diversity training or “corrective” education. One of the participants noted, “there is a lot of Diversity Fatigue.”
Sure, Diversity Fatigue sounds like something you’d encounter in The Onion, but apparently it’s a thing. There’s a professor and consultant, Rod Githens (a white guy in Cali), who coined the term when his research revealed that so many people feel disengaged, unmotivated, and cynical about diversity training and inclusivity efforts. He notes that we’re bombarded by depressing stats about inequity all the time and nothing changes - like, not for 527 years.
We wanted to take this opportunity to unpack Diversity Fatigue and help our fellow ecosystem builders understand this pervasive phenomenon. To do this we first need to understand the functioning of groups and communities. Often groups or communities are thought of as collections of individuals. While this is true, this perspective ignores systemic realities and forces that play a critical role in group behavior. It is useful to apply an additional lens to reveal the hidden or unnoticed forces impacting groups.
One approach that is particularly helpful is the Tavistock method (named after the British center where it originated). The Tavistock method is especially pertinent to ecosystem building as it regards the group as a holistic entity that is greater than the sum of its parts. Essential to the approach is the belief that a group of individuals behaves as a system - an entity or organism with the fundamental task to “do what it must to survive.” Tavistock theory talks about subconscious strategies of fight or flight to support the perceived survival of the group. As the identity of a system’s culture is challenged by “others” or alternative ideas entering the system, members of the group take on roles to prevent change. This defensive fight or flight response can come in many forms, one of which is articulated as “fatigue”. Rather than addressing the change challenge directly (fight - attack), the system shuts down to the change (flight - avoidance), as if it is tired.
If we break down the language of Diversity Fatigue (diversity = difference, fatigue = tiredness), we can understand that the current system or dominant culture is “tired” of being challenged to change. Within the Tavistock framework, Diversity Fatigue is a flight response unconsciously manifested through the members who are aligned with the old system, and who interpret efforts towards inclusivity as a threat. In other words, Diversity Fatigue is an unconscious, passive aggressive, avoidance strategy.
If we additionally apply the lens of Systems Thinking, we can see how the defensive (flight) response of Diversity Fatigue can turn into a reinforcing loop. Diversity Fatigue becomes a form of “othering” that then leads to a need for more inclusive action, which then creates more Diversity Fatigue. And so creates a cycle that accumulates more and more fatigue, draining the system - both the group and individuals - of the energy needed to evolve and adapt. Diversity Fatigue is an extractive force that reinforces the status quo and exhausts individuals and the community.
But this doesn’t have to be the case. Thanks to Dr. Githens, we can now name it when we see it. We can take corrective actions to interrupt the patterns of Diversity Fatigue and stop running from the discomfort of cultural change. We can build conscious systems that have mechanisms to foster belonging through directly addressing issues with compassion, gratitude and pride - not the fear of the other. To do this, we can’t implement another sit and get DEI training. Instead, as ecosystem builders we must help our communities “SEE” each other and ourselves for who we truly are, and remain present to be seen and see. Only then can we come closer to realizing the ideal of creating beloved community. As Rev. angel Kyodo williams notes, “We cannot have a healed society, we cannot have change, we cannot have justice, if we do not reclaim and repair the human spirit--if we don’t do the inner work.”
So for those of you reading this who have unspoken Diversity Fatigue, we see you, and we acknowledge your frustration. We also urge you to examine the source of that fatigue and question the assumptions behind it. We ask that you humbly set aside the very privilege of stopping or stepping away when you are tired. Every SCN member brings value to our community and the work of justice. We need you.
The work of justice is simple, but not easy. It asks us to transform by putting aside our old patterns of thought and action to embrace each other. So, to provide a pattern interrupt for the 500-year-old reinforcing loop of Diversity Fatigue, we offer you two tools: EquityXDesign Framework and Stories from the Margins. Neither of these tools is a magic bullet, and have the capacity to backfire if competent facilitative skill is not present in the space. So we ask you to use them with intentionality and love. And if you’re not sure how... PLEASE, get a teacher or hire an expert. Don’t ask the one or two “diverse” folk you know to help you - it’s not their job.
The work of belonging, the work of creating Ubuntu, takes time. It moves at the speed of trust. Trying to force its manifestation is inefficient. It is fundamentally about building bridges of relationship across lines of difference. It is acknowledging the contributions of those from a background different from your own, and perhaps different from what you thought was your ecosystem culture. It is the work of love. Work slowly. Question all your assumptions. Listen with compassion and gratitude. Create small ripples of belonging that introduce healing energy into your ecosystem. That’s the only real remedy for Diversity Fatigue.
Want to Dive Deeper?
Join us for the very first Inter-Cultural Unity led discussion on a topic that's on a lot of people's minds. Diversity Fatigue. Whether you're feeling it or you know someone who is feeling it, we want to talk about it. If you haven't already read the article written by members of the ICU committee on this topic, please do before you register for this event, as it will provide the framework for our conversation. We welcome all perspectives in this conversation and will try and answer questions like:
Where do we go from here?
How is SCN seeing diversity fatigue?
How do we see diversity fatigue in our own communities?
How can we apply the framework provided in the article in our own communities?
And much more!
Join us on December 12th from 3-4 PM EST. Register here.