Category Archives: Equality

At work, we are switching from WebEx to Zoom and the profile settings for Zoom have an option to show your pronouns. I’ve been listing my pronouns for awhile even though only a few other people have. The company where I work has a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative, so I’m comfortable listing myContinue reading “Share Your Pronouns”

I recently read an essay in the Atlantic by George Packer on how America has been fractured into four tribes: Free America, Smart America, Real America, and Just America. Free America is Reagan’s vision of America and is built on a religious faith in markets. Smart America is the meritocracy, well-educated experts, the coastal elites.Continue reading “Four Americas and Equal America”

I love long German words and I first saw this one in a New Yorker article and in an op-ed in the Washington Post. It means “the process of coming to terms with the past”. In other words, there are no statues of Nazis in Germany. They have done the hard work of truthfully evaluatingContinue reading “Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung”

I’ve never been a fan of the National Anthem. At a ball game, I politely stand and remove my hat and try not to roll my eyes. But my dislike of it has intensified since the Former Guy turned it into a wedge issue. And I support the athletes who kneel in protest because theContinue reading “Repeal and Replace the Star-Spangled Banner”

One political slogan that harmed the Democratic Party during the last election year was Defund the Police. I understood was advocates of police reform were saying, that some of the money in police budgets should be redirected toward social workers and mental health workers. But some folks, urged on by Trump’s law and order rhetoric,Continue reading “Reimagine the Police”

I just read an opinion column in the New York Times by David Brooks about lookism, the advantages that good-looking people have in our society. The people who are thin, have symmetrical facial features, nice teeth, etc. have a distinct advantage when it comes to success in life. And it tends to be a subconsciousContinue reading “Adding Another Ism to the List”

In the Republican response To President Biden’s speech, Senator Tim Scott made the statement that “America is not a racist country. “ Say what?! Now Senator Scott is not one of the extreme members of his party. And his comment was greeted with inappropriate name calling in social media. My immediate reaction was a desireContinue reading “Is America a Racist Country?”

At a conference session on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, I learned that we need to be allies of those on the autism spectrum. Since I am physically clumsy, socially awkward, and have my share of personality quirks, I wondered if I was on the spectrum. So I took the Autism Spectrum Quotient test that wasContinue reading “On Neurodiversity”

My professional society had a workshop today with a theme of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. DEI is a hot topic today in the world of business. Some of the advantages of an inclusive culture at work are: better performance increased customer understanding better decision making new ideas stronger governance Some of the traits of anContinue reading “DEI is Good for Business”

Throughout our country’s history, certain groups of people have been discriminated against. In particular, immigrant communities bear the brunt of being the other. In the mid-19th century, it was “No Irish need apply”. Around the turn of the century, it was immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. For a century after the Civil War, blacksContinue reading “An Epidemic of Hate”