If that’s the case, it could be that you need to move on to an organization whose values are more aligned with yours.I n June, the Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby’s standup show Nanette was released on Netflix. You may well be surrounded by people who are unwilling or uninterested in living in the real world where diversity exists. That said, you can do only so much and, frankly, you have done enough. Perhaps you can organize programs for your colleagues that can help educate them about classical musicians and composers of color, like Scott Joplin, Florence Beatrice Price, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and George Bridgetower, and contemporary artists, like Lara Downes, Wynton Marsalis and Jessie Montgomery. I would suggest starting small with the change that you want to see. Your colleague asserted that “this is the world of classical music.” What does that even mean? People of color both create and consume classical music. So much important work toward change happens in the uncomfortable moments where we are forced to confront the things that challenge us. As for your colleague, it is the height of privilege to be able to avoid the discomfort of discussing difficult issues. This is an absurd situation and one that you should not have to deal with. At some point, you have to decide how long you’re going to do this extra work for colleagues who aren’t willing to meet you even halfway. Unfortunately, there is little that we can do to make people care about these issues. And I imagine it is very lonely being the only person who is willing to do this work. and make your employer establish a structured plan. I understand why you’re trying to raise awareness of D.E.I. They get to focus solely on their work while, all too often, you have to do the work for which you were hired and the work of diversity, equity and inclusion, a specialized field you probably have no training in. In the workplace, this means that you and your white colleagues do not have the same job. It is lonely to be the only nonwhite person in almost any situation. What can I do to feasibly enact change, both with my colleagues and at the institutional level? - Anonymous, Toronto She became defensive and has stated in the past that she does not like “making people uncomfortable” by discussing these issues and that “this is the world of classical music.” I am growing tired of being the only person doing the work and beginning to feel resentful. I exclaimed that no one cared about diversity and inclusion at our organization. I recently had an argument with a close colleague, who I trust and who is white. I am the sole person on my team who has been vocal for change. I have tried to raise awareness around having a structured equity, diversity and inclusion plan in place. I am the only nonwhite person on my team. I work for a prominent classical music organization. In this week's Work Friend, Roxane counsels a woman who wants her workplace to "do better". I can't begin to fathom what seems like an adversarial tone in that article. I didn't do anything difficult: I did what the professionals asked me to do. When I was asked to hold a blood pressure cuff in place on my skinny arm, I did. When I was asked to re-position myself for a side X-ray, I did. The tone in the writer's column was so alien to my experience: maybe being a working-class Midwesterner accounts for the difference. I was very warm and friendly with many of the people helping to care for me, since I genuinely respected their work, and would hate to be disrespectful.
Some of the aides who saw me several times a day seemed to relax their rules a bit, but I always tried to remind people that I'd be happy to put my mask back on, or wash my hands once again.
The rules about masks seemed to be enforced unevenly (I think they knew I had been tested and was negative). They were men and women, from all over the world: if I were told to wash my hands thoroughly and use disinfectant, I did.
In every case, when a nurse or nurse's aide or some other health professional came to my room, I totally deferred to their instructions. I've recently spent several weeks in a couple of different hospitals for various problems: broken bones, vitamin deficiencies, and (eventually) acute depression. I sort of feel like I live in some kind of science-fiction world.