What COVID Teaches Us About Diversity andInclusion
A few days before the chaos began in New York City, I remember being paranoid. Anytime I would hear someone cough or sneeze, I would hold my breath, pretending that the germs would overlook me if they couldn’t sense my breathing. Mostly for the sake of my mental health, I requested to work remotely for the remainder of the day. Shortly after 1:00 PM, I grabbed my laptop, with the hopes of getting some work done later in the afternoon, and hopped on the express train to my home in Brooklyn. That was over a month ago. I have been working remotely from my apartment ever since.
My neighborhood in Brooklyn is predominantly Black and Brown. All of the businesses are owned, operated, and/or services by people of color. In the beginning of the crisis, the community was slow to react. Businesses remained open to accommodate the steady flow of traffic. The parks were nearly filled with dog walkers, amateur athletes, and children. Today, the streets are a shadow of what they once were. The voices of happy neighbors greeting one another are now replaced with a constant scream of sirens. Smaller businesses, like the Black-owned tech shop, the Caribbean juice cafe, the Latinx butchery, and the Arab discount store are now all boarded. The remaining grocery store has installed plexiglass windows to protect cashiers from incoming shoppers. The 24-hour market has limited the number of patrons allowed in the store at once. The chair where my 87-year-old neighbor is more often vacant than occupied. Where he once greeted me on my way home from work, he now waves distantly from an open window. The boys who used to bathe in the afternoon sun are now scattered, filtering their joy through surgical masks and gloves.
This is only a glimpse of the way that COVID-19 has changed our lives. Many more are jobless, caring for children and loved ones, separated from any human contact, or worse still breathing through ventilators. COVID-19 has exposed the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots and the range of experiences in between. This moment is offering us a moment of pause to consider how we define and frame diversity, equity, and inclusion. For those with the privilege and resources to manage this crisis safely, now is the time to consider how the diversity of experiences with COVID-19 will factor into the decisions we make to emerge triumphant from this pandemic.
This was originally created as a prelude to the Remote Teams Toolkit Series from Integral Communications Group. The updated full toolkit offers a conversation guide for people managers and decision-makers to address the ways that diversity can shape strategic, inclusive, and equitable decision-making, not only during the current crisis but as we begin to think about how COVID-19 will evolve our institutions, businesses, and society
Visit here to download the free toolkit.
