ON DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURALISM

By Andrea Sigler, PhD

President & CEO, CIMPA

Chairperson, Board of Directors, Asian Leaders Association

Member, Board of Directors, International Association of Hispanic Meeting Professionals

 

I am opposed to "Multiculturalism"" and "Diversity" as it is presently practiced in this industry. The industry's concept of "diversity" and "multiculturalism" involves exactly the same premises as racism--that one's ideas are determined by one's race and that the source of an individual's identity is his ethnic heritage.

When Texas A&M president Robert Gates announced that race will no longer be a factor when admission applications are considered, and that students "should be admitted as individuals, on personal merit--and no other basis.", I applauded. When industry leaders change their concept of multiculturalism and interface seamlessly with minority organizations instead of creating artificial conclaves of minorities in their predominantly white organizations, I will believe that we have become, indeed, color-blind and racially integrated.

Why are you so involved with Asian and Hispanic organizations?

Because that is where I belong - not in artificial communities where I cannot be what I really am. Bertrand Russell once wrote "Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." Living in a new country can be daunting, especially when the cultural differences are great. As a result it can be expected that due to fears of racism or due to the culture shock, minority organizations would be organized as a way to deal with this and as a means to help each other. Minority organizations are natural habitats of minorities. The industry can practice multiculturalism and diversity by interfacing with them seamlessly. This makes more sense than creating small, window-dressing committees of minorities where members are treated like second class citizens. They do not really have any significant influence in the organization. It is just a way of saying to the world - "Look, we are inclusive. We do not discriminate".

Would I feel as secure and comfortable in a mixed community?
As a self-assured individual who knows I can compete on my own merit - Yes.
As a social creature who seeks the comfort of being among those of my kind - No. The minority organizations are here to stay for this reason.

What's wrong with the major organizations reaching out and partnering with minority organizations?
There's nothing wrong with partnering as co-equals. We have, indeed, much to learn from each other. What's wrong is recruiting members away from minority organizations to increase the membership of the majority organization and justify the existence of their multicultural and diversity bureaucracies. This is akin to taking a fish out of the water and putting it in an artificial aquarium. It is even worse when minorities are treated as second class citizens. This breeds hostility and resentment and can make "multiculturalism" backfire.

I say - Leave the fish in its natural habitat - but by all means, speak with it, work with it, partner with it.

What's wrong with giving scholarships to minorities?
I do not want an unfair advantage for a scholarship based on the color of my skin. I want a scholarship which I deserve based on my abilities and potential.

What's wrong with the majors modifying their menus a little bit to accommodate minorities?
If it is done so all people can enjoy the tastes of the world - that's great. But if it is done for the purpose of attracting minority people to the fold - it's absurd. If I join a professional organization, it is for professional reasons. Not because they are now serving fried rice in addition to dinner rolls. In the first place, I do not like fried rice. Moreover, if I do eat fried rice, I want it served with soy sauce, caring, concern for my problems, tidbits about our families, the state of our original countries and lots of laughter. The whole she-bang! Get the idea? Half-hearted efforts will never cut it. These are what I get from my minority organization and that is why I stick with it.

If I join a majority organization, I want people to accept me because I have something to contribute professionally to their organization. My ideas are shaped only marginally by my past. I am a product of my education and experiences in my adopted country. I want to be treated like any other person. Not as a multicultural or diverse member of the group - which is the invisible cue to being treated as a second class citizen.

Several decades after the abolition of slavery, discrimination seems to remain alive and well in America.

When I wrote "Is Meeting Planning A Profession" several years ago, the editor of the official publication of a major industry organization called me and said he liked the article very much and would like to put it on the cover of the magazine. I worked with him for several days as we edited the piece to fit the magazine's audience. After we were both satisfied with the final product, he told me to mail my photo and brief bio directly to the organization. A few days later, he called to say he was very disappointed but he will not be able to publish the article because the Executive Director said he did not want to give me (a non-white) "a platform".

 

Shortly after we won the dispute with the biggest meeting planning organization over the domain name meetingprofessionals.org, we organized a meeting in Europe. The Executive Director of the organization basically told their European members to stay away.

The President of a Black group called me to express her frustration that she could not get her press release in any of the major industry publications. She complained that only the majors and a few other organizations "blessed" by the majors can get any ink in this industry. She is not alone. I can name over a dozen minority organizations which have exactly the same complaint. No - I will take that back - you get publicity when there is something negative the media can report.

When a reporter at a major industry magazine got an award for a negative "investigative" report on the CIMPA certification program, I wrote to protest that this reporter never talked to me or any one who had undergone the certification program. In fact, she had not even seen the examination The exams are online and password-protected. This reporter had not even attempted to get into the site (All attempts are recorded) . How's that for  "investigative" reporting?. My protests fell into deaf ears. Is that prejudice? That reporter should have been ashamed to receive that award.

 

Why did I not do something about this injustice?

Because I was (past tense) young and afraid. Of what? The "ferocious majority herd". I was the new kid on the block. I was not part of the "Old Boys Network" and would not have gotten any support. In fact, one association leader who wanted to curry the favor of the publication (he subsequently became a columnist for that magazine) supported the writer and wrote that the CIMPA certification program was "not worth the paper it is written on". This person has not seen the exams either. We know because we record everyone who looks at the test which is online. We do not use paper, Mister - we never did. The fact is our test is more rigorous than the most popular industry exam. (I know because I have copies of their paper test questions) We do not use multiple choice questions. We use only case studies and all essays are carefully analyzed by examiners with PhDs. But is that relevant to prejudiced people? Of course not.

 

Unfortunately, this is how minorities usually deal with injustice. This has got to change.

 

And there is more. A British woman living in Florida who calls herself the "Queen of Qualifiers" questioned a minority participant in the CIMPA hosted buyers group to a major European show. Her beef? She cannot be legit because she lives in one state and the area code of the phone number she gave is not the area code for that state. Excuse me? Have you heard of transferable phone numbers and internet phones? Didn't she know that when you move from one state to another, you can take your phone number with you? On the internet, it is cheaper to get whatever number the company gives you. (To prove my point, I got numbers that are not from my state) In fact, this person was in the process of organizing a group of 150 to Europe. I asked that she check her out more carefully.  She got in - but it was a disillusioning experience for me.

 

She boasts of having 3500 fam abusers in her database (Are there that many planners? I do not see half that number even in mega meetings) which, according to a major industry publication she "guards with her life" for fear that lawsuits might drive her to bankruptcy. I bet most of those are minority people. She makes her living mining this dubious database and selling them to Europeans who have no other way of verifying her information. Is it fair that these people are not able to defend themselves because those names are revealed only to suppliers? This is not about fams. It is about possible libel and slander of unknowing innocent victims. No wonder she fears lawsuits. She should be forced to reveal those names. I will be happy to lead that effort.

 

But I must point out that despite being discriminated against, our organization has not only survived for over 17 years - it is thriving. That is because we have excellent self-supporting programs and loyal supporters.

Where do the millions of sponsorship dollars that hotel corporations and other industry suppliers go to buy access? Not to the minority organizations.

This is the same industry where the majors trumpet their contributions to multicultural and diversity committees in majority organizations loudly. I doubt that they have given much thought to the implications of what they are doing.

 

"Diversity" as practiced today in the meetings industry promotes all the bad effects inherent in racism. It implies that one's race determines the way one behaves and how one wants to be treated. This is exactly the premise held by the South's slave-owners and by the Nazis. They too believed that an individual's thoughts and actions are determined by his racial heritage. The core of racism is the notion that race is the source of his identity and value.

 

If big corporations genuinely wants to support minorities, they should be helping them in their natural habitats - in small minority organizations. These should be part of the world they operate in.

But of course we all understand that the multiculturalism and diversity efforts in this industry are more about economics than about ethnicity. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, some people believe that capitalism is the social solution to racism. A common complaint about capitalism is that "all the capitalist sees is money". Assuming that this is true, observe that one who "only cares about money", doesn't care about the color of the person who has the money. A capitalist never refuses a sale - regardless of whether the buyer is colored or colorless.

And yes - there are lots of money in colored communities.

MPI did a great job of researching their buying power and concluded that " By 2009, the combined buying power of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans is expected to exceed $1.5 trillion. . At this time, the buying power of people of color is projected to surpass that of whites". Ethnic communities meet and eat a lot. To both Asians and Hispanics, as it is with Blacks and Native Americans, food is not just a source of nourishment - it is an expression of caring. They take every excuse to have a gathering and feed each other. This, of course, means business for hotels, restaurants and caterers.

So I end where I started. I oppose multiculturalism as it is practiced today in the meetings industry because what they are now doing is the very essence of racism. It emphasizes and focuses on racial distinctions, rather than on individual merits. In the truest, and most dangerous sense, many champions of faux multiculturalism are the racists of today.

 

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