{"id":324,"date":"2023-04-18T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=324"},"modified":"2023-03-28T01:41:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T01:41:42","slug":"the-insert-letter-here-word-and-the-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2023\/04\/18\/the-insert-letter-here-word-and-the-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"The [Insert Letter Here] Word and the\u00a0Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DEI is not a contest between.<\/em> It\u2019s a contest for.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The C word (no, not that<\/em> one\u200a\u2014\u200athe 5-letter one that\u2019s not just for Chinese people anymore).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The E word (if you want to get abandoned in a snowdrift in Yellowknife, just use this slur).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The F word (no, not that<\/em> one\u200a\u2014\u200athe 6-letter one).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G word (not just for Koreans anymore).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The I word (unless the subject is actually from India).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The J word (maybe out of favor since a nuclear bomb in 1945; or maybe not).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The L word (so much so that there was a TV show about it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The N word (and so many more that there aren\u2019t enough alphabets).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The P word (ask a Brit about this one).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R word (a 7-letter term insulting any person wearing a turban, Muslim or not)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The S word; also, the 6-letter B word and the 7-letter W word (same group, different border walls).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Y word; also, the K word (same group, different slurs, different countries).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a nonprofit arts organization, your company does not have the ability to change the systemic racism that plagues the country<\/strong>. And neither do you, at least not without several lifetimes of work. Systemic racism will continue as long as capitalism continues to be the coin of the realm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your company does have the ability to raise and lower the temperature of systemic racism as it sees fit. And in doing so, remember that the impact on its community rests on your company\u2019s actions. That happened when you or your predecessors chose to be a charity in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing you can discuss\u200a\u2014\u200aand, with any luck, put into your work for the community\u200a\u2014\u200ais the idea that all racism is evil. This is not to dilute the injustices that have been done to each of several communities, as listed in the bigot\u2019s slur alphabet above. Each community has been wronged and continues to be discriminated against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one thing that racists count on\u200a\u2014\u200aand they\u2019re really good at it\u200a\u2014\u200ais fomenting hate among the groups they perceive to be the enemy of their way of life. When they can pit one group they hate against another group they hate, they can just sit back and watch the fireworks, knowing that, no matter what, they win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a trap that continues to snap on many of my colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One recently told me, in no uncertain terms, that Black people have endured the most serious effronteries of any group of people in America. She may be right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black lives matter. To too many, they never have. To some, they never will. Regardless, they do and we as a people need to do everything we can to, at the very least, level the playing field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, Black people continue to feel the heel of society on their heads. Their young men die at the hands of the police. Their young women live well below the financial level of any other group of people. They\u2019ve been systematically excluded from any kind of generational advantage. They\u2019ve been hanged, tortured, beaten, enslaved, raped, and shot just for being Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re the only ones who have to have \u201cthe talk\u201d with their children. Watch this video from The New York Times if you don\u2019t know what that means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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