I was reading about how to write (and not write) a diversity statement. I won't have to write one myself, probably, but what strikes me is how it asks the candidate to construct their subjectivity according to certain discursive rules. Literally, that is what it is. The institution (which has already admitted it is white dominated, in a lot of cases), then asks the subject to define themselves in preordained terms. For example, I have read it is not enough to say "I am [name of minority group]." You must also articulate that identity in particular ways. Certain kinds of diversity don't count, only those defined in terms of under-representation, and the minority subject must understand themselves in the correct framework in order to demonstrate understanding of the issues. An understanding driven by the interests of corporate diversity consultants. That puts an added burden on the minority subject, who must also be able to explain what kind of a minority subject they are and how that furthers an institutional agenda. Where is Foucault when you need him? Or Althusser?
As white guy, you can't just say you don't discriminate. You can't be too eager, or you will be the white savior. International and immigrant experience doesn't count, because the only relevant perspective is US race relations.
I would feel insincere writing one of these. I guess I could say I am a specialist on a gay, Spanish speaking poet, that I've mentored women, gays, latinos, etc... My daughter is bi-racial, too. It just seems incredibly self-serving, because it's not something I congratulate myself on. It seems unremarkable rather than meritorious in any way. The person reading it would say that it's the typical white guy looking for points in his favor, but who doesn't really buy in to the exact brand of hyperconscious anti-racism of the past few years. And they would be right.
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An example. My friend, XXXX, is chicano but with Anglo-sounding name because of his Anglo father. In MFA writing program he tried to study with YYYY, a poet of a different, also non-white ethnicity. This poet wanted my friend to write a certain kind of chicano poems that didn't really reflect my friend's experience or sensibility. It did not go well for my friend, who had to drop out of the program.
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Another example: Englishman interviewing in my department. He couldn't answer the question about how he positions himself in relation to indigenous languages and the people who speak them, in the expected way at least. He was brilliant, but not fluent in American academic diversity language. He actually would have brought viewpoint diversity to our group. It was explicitly said: "He doesn't think like us."
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This whole diversity thing is such a crock. We must go back to free tuition and affirmative action, based on class as well as race.
Diversity is another matter. You look for it when hiring in many institutions but if it isn't also supposed to substitute for every kind of justice, it works better. I worked at a SLAC. They did NOT want diversity in viewpoint, they wanted everyone to participate in the same institutional mind and identify. That was the first and last time I ever worked for a private school.
I went to a public Ivy. It was more "diverse" but it was composed of these homogeneous pockets. The professors who were from California, and studied at other UCs. The ones who studied at, say, Michigan. And the ones from the Ivy Leagues. They tried very hard to hire mostly from Ivies and the candidates were like clones. But they liked it like that, and I thought it was poor policy.
I worked at a bad R1, but it was still an R1 of sorts. Hiring, including of myself, was a LOT more progressive. Of course you are trying to hire in different subfields, so that is diverse, and you are trying to hire from different states and types of institutions, and you are trying for affirmative action . . . and then, just different personalities. The chair who hired me was an older man and quite conservative. He said: I have a certain kind of student following, but to grow the program I need people unlike myself.
Now we are supposed to come up with all these soulful lies, or prove ourselves valid in some way. I really and truly do not understand the objective, at least not clearly.
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