What people really want with inclusivity

People don’t want to be inclusive, they want to feel like they’ve been inclusive. 

 

They want the positive warm and fuzzies without the action.

 

I saw a post on a social media site (I refuse to link to it and I’ve blocked the user) about feeling lied to (by omission) by a date. The reason? The date used a wheelchair.

 

The problem with this attitude is that these attitudes aren’t limited to one sphere, dating, in this instance. 

 

I don’t know the person who made the ridiculous lied by omission remark but the problem is that these remarks don’t exist in a vacuum. This person is probably an employee or employer. Or they might have a position of power in their local community. 

 

These attitudes aren’t limited to one context, they are widespread and harmful in every context.

 

Some people who have been here a while may remember my now infamous job offer – the one that got rescinded when I reminded them I’m disabled and require accomodations in the workplace. I disclose up front; that I require accomodations is in my cover letter. They claimed they didn’t see it. Well, firstly, your dedication to details in your job is not my responsibility, it’s your own.

 

What I believe was behind what happened was the result of social attitudes toward disability, similar to the lies by omission attitude. You see, I had worked in that same government department around a decade before this incident. I was remembered positively by the department. What a nice thing, I hear you thinking. To be remembered as a colleague a decade on. 

 

But, you see, I could perform able bodied back then. So that is how I was remembered. I will never know if they actually read my disclosure of workplace needs. I’m also not sure it matters, because what they remembered, someone who could fake able bodied, took precedence in their minds.

 

Good = non disabled. Not having needs.

 

In their view, I destroyed my chances of this job by becoming bad.

 

Bad = disabled. Requiring adjustments. Not begging for adjustments. 

 

Obviously I cannot KNOW any of this with certainty. I don’t know how much of it was individuals, and how much of it was management pressure. It is my opinion, based on my knowledge of the people, the process, and how social attitudes override equity and human rights. I of course lodged a complaint about this and was told it’s ok because they’re an equal opportunity employer. They really do think they’re inclusive. The lies by omission person probably thinks they’re inclusive too. 

 

People want to feel like they’re inclusive, until they have to be inclusive. 

 

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