Far too often, diversity is used as an umbrella term that allows the existence of inclusion to thrive on quantity, more so than quality. This idea is portrayed within both the media and the careers that surround it. When minorities are provided with a media platform they frequently face severe misrepresentation: conscious and unconscious biased news coverage, stereotyping, or wrongfully encouraged assimilation. As for media careers such as public relations and marketing, affirmative action has increased the number of job opportunities, for minorities, in those particular fields. All that being said, no summary is as simplistic as it seems and there is always more to the story.
This story begins with institutional racism, which can be considered a "systemic flaw." It is embedded in our everyday actions, organizations, and society as a whole. It can cause discrimination in criminal justice systems, education, and employment. Minorities are being hired more frequently, but still do not receive nearly enough proper cultural recognition and respects in the the workplace. When micro aggression and bias exist in the work place, inclusion issues occur. In public relations and marketing jobs, specifically, this creates an issue because you are being paid to solve problems and create new ideas. When institutional racism is present, minorities face backlash like lower expectations and notions of their performance. This makes it more difficult for them to receive more responsibility with clients at their firms. Assimilating with the dominant culture can improve some of the treatment of minorities. However, that isn't an accurate portrayal of what inclusion should be, because inclusion is not circumstantial and it is not the same thing as assimilation. Minorities should not have to assimilate to be included, they should just be included.
Apart from basic morality, minorities in corporate positions at marketing and public relations firms, will become imperative from a business standpoint. Both of the two careers typically work on a client to client basis, whether the client is one person or a large group of people, like a company. Eventually many of those clients will me minorities themselves and want accurate representation. This can be supported by the idea that the world population is predicted to heavily shift over the next 30 years, the United States majority will shift from white Anglo-Americans to a much more multicultural makeup. There are two main reasons for this: continuous reproduction within second and third generation minorities, and immigration from outside countries to the United States.
Immigration will allow the United States to evolve. In 1970 the world population was 3.7 billion, in 2017 the population reached 7.6 billion. Over the years, the population is expected to increase by more than a billion people and in the 2050 Africa and Asia will house 80 percent of the most populous countries in the world. The top three most populous countries will be India, Nigeria, and China given that, in these countries, birthrates are higher than mortality rates. The population in Eastern European countries like Poland, Bulgaria, and Moldova are rapidly shrinking because of the opposite effects; these countries have a low birthrate and high mortality rate. Regardless of birth and morality, many countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe have recently experienced an increase in the number people who migrate to the United States. However, high immigration rates are not the sole reason we will continuously emerge into a multicultural America.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur77lDetI9Q
In March of 2011, 49.9 percent of three-year-old toddlers were Caucasian, meaning that over half of the toddlers were Hispanic, Asian, and African American. This slightly larger majority was mostly composed of second and third generation minorities that would evolve into adulthood and create generations to follow that will also evolve and reproduce. States like California, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, Texas and Arizona were already beginning to see a natural increase in their multicultural makeup, and the entirety of the United States is to follow.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA_YkqGql2Y
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Picture source: https://psychology.uq.edu.au/article/2017/06/psychology-has-diversity-problem |
With the influx of minorities in America, the term diversity and inclusion will become more valuable and its meaning will hold more merit. Varying cultures have to co-exist harmoniously, and the economy could flourish. Historically uncomfortable conversation about conscious and unconscious bias, microaggressions, gender and cultural identity, and the roles of allies and advocates, will become more culturally acceptable. The work force and education systems will expand by creating global connections through multicultural communication. Minorities will not face institutional racism, but instead receive cultural recognition, relevance, and respect, as they should.
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