Diversity Thursday

unserious people with serious responsibilities

The long march through the institutions by the diversity commissariat may be shocking for those who just look at DOD, but if you really want a peek in to how bad it is, look around.

Today, I would offer to you the foreign service sector.

Think about all critical challenges facing our foreign service from Central Asia, to Europe, to the western Pacific, to Africa, to the Middle East ... and then look what they are spending their time on.

Check out the July/August edition of The Foreign Service Journal.  You can get the PDF here, but here are the critical issues our diplomats must focus on;

- Asian Americans Can No Longer Be Silent, and Neither Should You: Generations of citizenship and sacrifices for and contributions to America notwithstanding, Asian Americans face the need to prove their loyalty over and over.

- The Power of Vulnerability: A Black former consular fellow, whose report of her ordeal at the hands of U.S. officials at the border with Mexico shook up the State Department, shares her thoughts today.

- Three Myths That Sustain Structural Racism at State: Countering bias and recognizing overt racism are important, but it’s time to go beyond this work and take a hard look at institutional racism in the department.

- Rooting Out Microaggressions: What does exclusion look like? An FSO explores the concept of microaggressions—and suggests how shining a light on them can help foster a culture of inclusion.

When you have hard problems that have clear metrics with regards to progress you can track, weakly led organizations will focus on other things.