# Decentering Whiteness in the Workplace by Janice Gassam Asare - Blinkist

What’s in it for me? Discover why so many diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives fail by not decentering whiteness.

Shonda knew it carried professional risks to raise issues of hair discrimination at her company’s diversity and inclusion task force meeting. But as one of the only Black women in leadership, she felt compelled to share her experiences with the task force.

Clearing her throat nervously, Shonda described the constant scrutiny and prejudice she faced both in the office and in online meetings about her natural hair. She had been told too many times that her protective braids looked unprofessional, and someone from HR even suggested that she straighten her hair. 

Shonda explained the immense financial, emotional, and psychological toll of the endless comments and expectations to conform to white hairstyling norms. Finally, she asked if the task force would consider introducing corporate guidelines to support natural Black hairstyles. 

Then, a well-meaning white colleague named Julia eagerly began to speak. She totally empathized with this discrimination, she asserted. Julia went on to detail how her coworkers often made rude jokes about her bright red hair. She explained feeling hurt and ostracized by the comments, concluding that her experiences were probably pretty similar to the discrimination Shonda faced about her own hair.

An awkward silence followed as the group reflected on these two contrasting testimonies. While likely aiming for empathy, Julia’s contribution centered her own experience with whiteness and minimized the profoundly different racial discrimination Shonda was describing. Though uncomfortable, the disconnect revealed blindspots needing compassionate confrontation, and courageous dialogue.

Shonda’s experience reveals some common dynamics that constrain diversity and inclusion efforts. This Blink will expose white-centered norms and mindsets that often perpetuate harm, even unintentionally. It will explore how dominant patterns of white culture stifle equity and belonging, define some key concepts around whiteness, detail the impacts of centering it in organizations, and share strategies to effect real change. Along the way, you’ll learn why disrupting the status quo matters so much, and how promoting racial literacy and empathy can catalyze positive change.

A history of whiteness

You may have heard the term whiteness thrown around in discussions on diversity, equality, and inclusion. But what does it really mean? Whiteness refers to the dominant cultural patterns of Europeans that have been imposed on societies globally, especially during colonialism. More than just skin color or ethnicity, whiteness outlines social and legal constructions for maintaining power and privilege over Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized groups.

In the United States specifically, the legal and social construct of whiteness was created to consolidate power for certain Europeans over oppressed groups. As early British colonies institutionalized slavery in the 1600s, white identity demarcated English and northern European colonizers from African and Indigenous peoples to justify dehumanizing treatment. Wealth, Protestant faith, light skin, and educated status became delineators of privilege.

But maintaining dominance requires allyship, especially in times of immigration. So, as independence expanded the nation, the boundaries of whiteness tactically grew from just the British aristocracy to include immigrants like the Irish, Italians and Poles – uniting wider European groups under a superiority banner against Black, Asian, and Indigenous communities.

By 1865 when slavery formally ended, non-white groups had been thoroughly disenfranchised and denied voting rights, property ownership, and citizenship. Violent tactics – from lynchings to land seizures – continued, using this legally and socially reinforced construct of whiteness to sustain profound inequities well into the 1960s.

You might notice whiteness rearing its head in the modern workplace through policies, norms, or day-to-day behaviors that implicitly excuse, prioritize or favor traits linked with that dominant white heritage and identity. Consider Eurocentric sounding names receiving higher call-back rates on job applications. Or speaking patterns from those raised with English as a second language facing prejudice or worse – scorn and derision. 

Human resource policies around grooming and appearance often implicitly judge hairstyles from non-European backgrounds as unprofessional. Leaders subconsciously feel more affinity towards employees who share their informal speech patterns, or off-work interests and hobbies that reflect similar upbringings.

Each example may seem minor. Yet small daily interactions create patterns of advantage and disadvantage that impact who feels they belong and can bring their full selves to work, who feels empowered to offer viewpoints, lead key projects or represent the company publicly.

The first step to interrupting this system is tuning into how norms of whiteness often unintentionally and invisibly permeate policies, culture, and habits in most organizations. What are the ongoing impacts of this implicit bias? Let’s tackle that next.

The impacts of centering whiteness in the workplace

You may recall Julia from the introduction, struggling to fully grasp Shonda’s racial discrimination concerns in the diversity meeting. Julia represents many of us, perpetuating problematic dynamics despite our best intentions. Let’s explore how centering whiteness in organizations undermines employee well-being and inclusion through another, equally nuanced scenario.

Marcus, a marketing manager, arrives at his new team retreat eager to connect with colleagues after a year of remote work. But from the outset, an intentional or unconscious white cultural bias subtly alienates Marcus as the only non-white leader. Meetings launch without acknowledging or seeking cultural range in references. Lunch features foods unfamiliar and unsafe for Marcus’s diet. 

Then happy hour pivots activities around European sports Marcus has never played and doesn’t follow. Daily interactions and assumptions signal a workplace centering traditions, foods or off-duty pursuits more familiar to white peers. They leave Marcus feeling unseen, uncertain, and drained.

Micro-messages hinting employees of color shouldn’t impose cultural differences, or have their needs considered, accumulate into real stressors for any non-white employee navigating environments overly centered on white norms. Feelings of not belonging, and needing to assimilate or hide differences, overshadow an employee’s ability to embrace opportunities and offer unique value and advancement potential.

Prioritizing whiteness doesn’t need to be overtly hateful to severely constrain inclusion and innovation. Like a strong ocean undercurrent, daily preferential treatment for policies, vocabulary, office décor, and social activities preferencing European, Judeo-Christian heritage create unspoken pressures that threaten to pull non-white employees under, no matter how vigorously organizations strive towards equity in other ways.

The impacts of white-centered cultures span beyond individual experiences. Prioritizing dominant groups also marginalizes a wealth of talent, innovation, and insight from those left out of the room where critical decisions are made.

Think of the curb cut effect – ramps engineered for wheelchair users on sidewalks that proved to be universally helpful: from strollers to bicycles. When designed for the most vulnerable, solutions uplift everyone. Now consider who holds the power in most vital conversations shaping society – from politics to business to education. Their biases, priorities, and blind spots dictate policies and norms.

By contrast, centering marginalized groups creates space for new perspectives that unlock better solutions, leading to prosperity and wellbeing for all. Prioritizing dominant culture distills diversity initiatives to superficial optics – celebrating cuisines, clothing, and holidays stripped of real economic or social power. But investing in equitable systems change lifts talent across the entire organization. 

The bottom line? Uplifting your most marginalized employees not only unlocks truer inclusion and belonging in culture, it powers performance through diverse innovation and problem solving. Shifting focus from the dominant to the disenfranchised makes leaders better strategists of the systemic change humanity needs now.

Steps to start decentering

By now the realities of centering whiteness in workplace culture – from profound harms to lost opportunities – should spur urgency for meaningful action beyond surface level acknowledgements. So, where do we start in strategically decentering whiteness?

Job descriptions present one of the earliest barriers to inclusivity, diversity, and equality, because they’re often shaped by implicit biases viewing white candidates as the default. Requirements often arbitrarily shape applicant pools, filtering out qualified candidates of color by insisting on degrees or qualifications that may be difficult to obtain for people from marginalized groups. 

To redress this, insist that qualifications directly reflect bona fide work needs. Scrutinize language in postings for hidden racial or gender biases in the personality traits that are desired. Proactively recruit from minority-serving institutions and networks specifically empowering marginalized groups.

In screening applications, anonymize names and affiliations concealing demographic backgrounds until the final stages of the process, to avoid unconscious judgements. Pre-determine inclusive, equitable evaluation measures that could be applied equally to all candidates. Not sure how? Get input from a diverse range of employees about the language used in the job description before posting it, and be sure to communicate that their input is both valued and safe to share.

Structure interviews using consistent questions tied directly to legitimate role capabilities, avoiding loose conversations that permit bias. Formalize diverse hiring committees and panel interviews to further balance the perspectives assessing candidates.

Tendencies like referral hiring and networking disproportionately replicate workplace inequality. Prioritize channels and partnerships specifically empowering access for marginalized groups without internal advocates.

Beyond bringing more non-white individuals into the organization, accountability drives culture change. Build awareness of the discrimination burdens shouldered by marginalized groups through gathering real data. Quantify inequities by conducting anonymous surveys about daily workplace experiences, and prioritize investigations based on the gap analysis between dominant and oppressed workers. 

Provide safe spaces for marginalized employees to share their workplace realities, prioritizing interventions accordingly. Then use transparent accountability mechanisms on acting leaders to empower those who are assessing progress and shaping further plans.

Confront any persistent denial of issues through anti-racist education. That might include things like a speaker series and book clubs. But don’t demand emotional labor from minoritized groups without compensation.

Most crucially, tie leadership performance reviews to real transformation metrics on cultural equity and inclusion, not just policy or numerical diversity alone. Reward those courageous enough to acknowledge difficult truths in themselves and the organization’s past actions. Let everyone see leaders holding themselves openly accountable.

Centering the margins

After confronting the realities around centering whiteness and taking steps to decenter it, the deepest transformation emerges through nurturing genuinely anti-racist cultures that embrace justice and shared humanity.

Let’s revisit Marcus from an earlier section, attending the team retreat that subtly alienated him as the only non-white leader through its exclusive activities and menus. After courageously sharing his isolation, leaders responded with profound empathy, accountability, and commitment to change.

The next quarterly meeting begins with the team co-creating working agreements to uphold every member’s dignity across differences. Session agendas reinforce seeking diverse voices. Meals feature an array of cultural cuisines that give everyone a chance to explore new tastes. Leaders consistently model learning from Marcus’s perspectives and experiences. Over time, he feels increasingly valued, bringing his full self to creating highly innovative marketing campaigns.

In another organization, Gabriela felt exhausted speaking up when managers continued to overlook racist assumptions. Colleagues talked over her in meetings. She’d often be passed over for key assignments that were then given to new hires with less experience. After a diversity survey confirmed inequities in experience, the organization committed to regular systemic audits on inclusion. 

Gabriella went on to shape new mentoring programs that support marginalized employees. She gained courage from seeing leaders openly confront their own complicity by attending training programs. Soon, Gabriela moved into a much-deserved management role to pursue even more reforms.

These scenarios reveal that decentering whiteness depends on accountability that fully embraces justice, not just inviting diverse individuals into unfair systems. But collaborating cross-culturally to create new systems affirms everyone’s dignity.

This also means normalizing courageous conversations on race, not avoiding tension to keep dominant groups comfortable. It means ceding decision-making power to those impacted by policies and not performing diversity theater, where leaders showcase token representatives while retaining control.

For meaningful change to occur, an organization must commit to sustained transformation, not piecemeal quick fixes. Using data to diagnose where toxicity lurks below the surface, following marginalized employees’ leads for what they need to thrive.

And it means centering shared struggles for justice and human rights, not boiling down complex institutional racism to just interpersonal misunderstandings. You can’t fix what you don’t fully face.

Building authentic solidarity across races requires leaping beyond surface-level multiculturalism into truth-telling, reconciliation, and collective liberation.

A word on empathy

At the start of this Blink we met Julia, who was aiming for empathy in her response to hearing about marginalized experience, but struggled to grasp Shonda’s discrimination truth. Now, let’s revisit Julia on her personal journey to confront actual bias in empathy itself.

On reflection, Julia felt unsettled by the diversity meeting exchange. She considered herself open-minded – so why did tension linger after her outpouring of empathy in a cross-racial dialogue? Instead of demanding emotional labor from Shonda by asking her to explain, Julia joined the office book club on workplace equity, and signed up for some anti-racist training sessions.

There, Julia gained a powerful insight: well-intended attempts at connection often subtly center white experiences. Old chestnuts like imagining oneself walking in another’s shoes assumes one’s own experience of whiteness as the default lens filtering reality. Julia had centered her own struggle based on appearance. Not the systemic biases challenging Shonda’s leadership prospects simply for wearing natural hairstyles that reflected her heritage.

Awakening to this bias that creeps in even to empathy compels far deeper questions. Does empathy drive connection across cultures? Or can it actually reinforce insider blind spots protecting dominant power and privilege?

The motivation behind empathy is one of unity. But flawed attempts can minimize marginalized truths and seek unity at the expense of marginalized groups. The goal must be to seek policies and systems that forster everyone’s dignity – not just interpersonal harmony on the surface alone.

Yet, when grounded in justice, shared humanity and courageous compassion, empathy holds profound power. It sustains the will to dismantle barriers, celebrate both common and unique struggles, and guide decisions through moral care.

Lifting oppressed voices expands empathy’s possibilities exponentially. Reveling in our interconnection reveals wisdom and innovation beyond limiting cultural constraints. The strength of the system depends entirely on empowering those it has disempowered for so long. 

By championing empathy rooted in justice, everyone can come together, to realize and sustain the visionary change society needs now.

Final summary

White-dominant norms subtly constrain inclusion, causing harm by centering whiteness in policies, interactions, and even empathy itself. Prioritizing the margins lifts innovation through diversity, while fueling moral leadership to tackle injustice. Sustained culture change relies on awareness, acknowledgement, and accountability, not quick fixes that seek superficial harmony alone. But organizations nurturing solidarity and collective dignity bypass bias, to unlock inclusive excellence that benefits everyone.