At the One Young World Summit in Bogota, Colombia, last week,
Smith joined Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson and KPMG
International’s Global Head of Corporate Citizenship Lord Michael
Hastings on stage in a panel discussion
covering racial injustice. Moderated by Quartz reporter Aamna Mohdin,
the session focused on the broader implications of diversity in the
workplace.
[…]
“Diversity is the human experience,” Smith said. “I get a little
bit frustrated when diversity or the term diversity is tagged to the
people of color, or the women, or the LGBT.”
That particular comment went over well with the assembled crowd, but Smith caught flak for a follow up.
“There can be 12 white blue-eyed blonde men in a room and they are going
to be diverse too because they’re going to bring a different life
experience and life perspective to the conversation,” Smith said.
Media outlets pounced on the statement, while diversity advocates
decried Smith’s words as contradictory to the fight for workplace
equality. As noted by TechCrunch, which procured a copy
of Smith’s letter, the statement appeared to suggest diversity of
thought is a suitable stand in for proactive hiring practices adopted by
a variety of tech firms, including Apple, to foster racial and gender
diversity.
[…]
Imagine getting this offended because a black woman says that diversity should be about getting different perspectives, rather than about filling racial or gender quotas.
i love speaking with people who are more intelligent in a certain field than i am, like it’s just great to sit back and listen to somebody educate you on shit they’re passionate about
