And that’s not a problem with DEI, that’s a problem with academic politics, which is what it sounds to me like you got slapped with, in the best case.
In the future, in academics you have to remember that the squeaky wheel does NOT get the grease, it’s considered a problem, annoying, distracting, and it gets removed so it goes away. You have to work bottom-up, not top-down. Top down is only an option when youre good friends with someone above them, or several someone on the same rung as them.
tl;dr: DEI sn’t the problem, the problem is a toxic workplace. DEI or no DEI, toxic employees will find SOME kind of structure to exert their will. Throwing away good structures because bad people abuse them is active harm.
I didn’t want the DEI hiring baby thrown out with the bathwater. DEI structures were overpowered and centralized and enabled these toxic dynamics. I am only saying that this poor implementation is what led to animosity against DEI programs. Most people don’t see the hiring, but they do see the drama and firing and abuses of power. This feeds into the fascist agenda and pushes people away from progressive causes.
tl;dr: this is how we got people willing to vote for Trump
The DEI committee was the top-down instrument coming after me and others for wrongthink.
I firmly believe in bottom-up approaches, and that’s what I tried to implement. Unfortunately those at the top were too powerful, and those at the bottom too scared to speak out in my favor.
I was not the wheel that was squeaking. I was desperately trying to move on from the drama. It was the DEI committee that couldn’t stop squeaking. They got the grease of getting me kicked out twice.
… See, now I’m just starting to think this whole thing is simply made up.
I work in academia. A DEI committee is a specific thing that has specific duties, and they wouldnt even be involved in this sort of thing. No one is being hired, no one is lacking an accomodation or opportunity, no one is being excluded. "DEI Committee"is certainly a big Republican Boogeyman dogwhistle though. So I think I’m just done here.
Well, that’s been my life for the past seven years.
I really wish it weren’t true.
I went all-in on a reboot and second chance only to get shat on again.
I really don’t have anything else to live for at this point and I don’t know what to do other than to speak my truth and hope that the next attempts at something like DEI can learn from it.
Where does rape apology come into it?
And that’s not a problem with DEI, that’s a problem with academic politics, which is what it sounds to me like you got slapped with, in the best case.
In the future, in academics you have to remember that the squeaky wheel does NOT get the grease, it’s considered a problem, annoying, distracting, and it gets removed so it goes away. You have to work bottom-up, not top-down. Top down is only an option when youre good friends with someone above them, or several someone on the same rung as them.
tl;dr: DEI sn’t the problem, the problem is a toxic workplace. DEI or no DEI, toxic employees will find SOME kind of structure to exert their will. Throwing away good structures because bad people abuse them is active harm.
Now, to respond to your edit/tl;dr:
I didn’t want the DEI hiring baby thrown out with the bathwater. DEI structures were overpowered and centralized and enabled these toxic dynamics. I am only saying that this poor implementation is what led to animosity against DEI programs. Most people don’t see the hiring, but they do see the drama and firing and abuses of power. This feeds into the fascist agenda and pushes people away from progressive causes.
tl;dr: this is how we got people willing to vote for Trump
I got raped by my advisor, then sexually assaulted, then tried to move on without rocking the boat.
The DEI committee decided to go out of their way to defend the rapist and remove me. That is what I am charitably calling rape apology.
It was the DEI committee doing the slapping.
The DEI committee was the top-down instrument coming after me and others for wrongthink.
I firmly believe in bottom-up approaches, and that’s what I tried to implement. Unfortunately those at the top were too powerful, and those at the bottom too scared to speak out in my favor.
I was not the wheel that was squeaking. I was desperately trying to move on from the drama. It was the DEI committee that couldn’t stop squeaking. They got the grease of getting me kicked out twice.
… See, now I’m just starting to think this whole thing is simply made up.
I work in academia. A DEI committee is a specific thing that has specific duties, and they wouldnt even be involved in this sort of thing. No one is being hired, no one is lacking an accomodation or opportunity, no one is being excluded. "DEI Committee"is certainly a big Republican Boogeyman dogwhistle though. So I think I’m just done here.
Well, that’s been my life for the past seven years.
I really wish it weren’t true.
I went all-in on a reboot and second chance only to get shat on again.
I really don’t have anything else to live for at this point and I don’t know what to do other than to speak my truth and hope that the next attempts at something like DEI can learn from it.