MANSFIELD — Being a Black man raised in a predominately white city has given me unique insight on the concept of diversity.
As with many trends, the focus on racial diversity and its importance in our community seems to be a part of an ebb and flow that reaches a plateau in February (Black History Month) and again around the time of “Juneteenth,” which is June 19.
These are times when everyone recognizes the importance of African-American culture and its importance to American society.
In the meantime, it seems our fair city has become comfortable with the good-old traditional standards. From recreational activities, job opportunities, local performing arts, and even with all the “upgrades” made to downtown Mansfield, it’s still void of businesses and clubs designed to attract a Black audience.
When I speak to many African-American Mansfield residents, they often joke about how the best thing about Mansfield is how close it is to Cleveland and Columbus. These are places where if I would like to hear some live Jazz or R&B over a meal, I can go to a number of standing venues instead of waiting for the occasional “one-night only” act in a local pub.
Being a fan of performing arts, I often look forward to the local performance of “Dreamgirls” for instance, which was a couple years ago, or “Sister Act,” that was just this past month.
Unfortunately, I probably would have to wait until NEXT SUMMER or longer, for the opportunity to catch a show in this area with a Black lead or storyline.
Oh, wait. I suppose I could write a stage play or musical and show it to local theaters in town that “encourage diversity” and … oh wait, I tried that … they declined.
But the point is it takes intentional effort to actually achieve diversity in any area of society.
The surface slogans and “Equal Opportunity Employer” small-print subtitles on the bottom of a letterhead are not the primary tools necessary to achieve diversity.
As an educator in this community, I am one of the few Blacks in this critically important field. Experts from all over the country often speak in general terms about the need for more African-Americans in the field of education, or even the need for more males, specifically in elementary education.
But have you ever seen an ad on a recruitment service website, or a tab on a school district’s banner page that states: “looking for Black or male teachers?”
Imagine a restaurant owner who is running low, or all out of ketchup. She would not send someone to the store and say, “Hey make sure you grab some condiments.”
If this example was a reflection of society, the store would be full of mustard, mayo, relish and other toppings while the ketchup would be scarcely spread throughout the store. The owner feels ketchup is critical to the success of the restaurant, so there has to be a conscious effort to seek out and find ketchup — no matter how difficult the task.
She may even be ridiculed for specifically asking for just ketchup. Some may say, “why can’t they use steak sauce, it works fine at other restaurants?”
OK, maybe I went too far on this, but understand my point.
Diversity is not achieved by accident.
One cannot just proclaim to desire diversity in their workplace or community and expect it to appear like magic.
Intentional and purposeful pursuit of diversity is not easy, but necessary for the growth of a community like ours. We need differing opinions and worldviews in our leadership, our businesses and schools in order to achieve true growth as a city.
Where opportunities do not exist, we have to create them. I was so proud of the conscious and intentional effort our city made to improve the downtown area, and by all rights, it has been revived.
It took a major investment of time, money and sacrifice to make it a reality.
But, I’m sad to say that with all the new and refreshed buildings, stores and clubs, as a Black man not much attracts me to downtown, other than my barber and the DMV (both out of necessity).
It should not go unnoticed that our largest school district has a Black superintendent and we have a number of minorities that serve within city government. There’s even a Black business owner in the heart of downtown.” That is awesome!
But I would argue when we truly are working to achieve diversity within this city, having minority leaders and business owners wouldn’t be something that is noticeable.
The challenge is to have people willing to step out from the comforts of traditional practices and actually search out diversity on purpose without fear of the side-eye from those that enjoy the current social norms.
While total cultural equality may prove to be an overwhelming task, it’s the ongoing and relentless pursuit that creates positive change in a city like ours.
Now this is 2022, so naturally, the next question is, who’s to blame? I know that the world we live in today requires a finger to be pointed and sides to be taken on every topic.
But the truth is, I don’t know and I don’t care.
Believe it or not there are some issues that don’t require us taking sides and placing blame. This is, however, an area we can acknowledge needs to be improved and all of us can play a part in creating a community where everyone is considered.
If we are intentional about our pursuit of diversity and equality, we might just become an even more attractive destination. Because diversity is not an “accident,” it’s an “on purpose.”
Be blessed, not stressed!
