Don’t shoot me for this. I’m a Black woman myself.
I love diversity as much as the next person. I want more Black women directors, producers, doctors, construction workers, you name it. Representation truly matters to me.
However, I’m scared of where we’re taking it nowadays.
You see, instead of supporting people who are talented AND [insert minority here], we’re just supporting people because they’re a minority and that’s it. And where does that take us?
To a pit of talentless doom.
…
I love talent more than diversity — sorry.
I can’t speak to other minorities, but with Black people, I definitely understand this underlying notion of keeping everything Black.
We’ve always had a hard time owning our own shit and being seen.
We have so little representation that it’s hard to aspire to anything else but a rapper or football player (no disrespect to the rappers and football players). I mean, just look at what Black Panther did. Representation is key nowadays because of the younger generation of Black kids you can reach.
But…this has led to diversity being put first, then talent.
Let me say that again, diversity being put first, then talent.
Would you rather have a talented white director make a movie or a Black person who doesn’t know what they’re doing? Now, things that center around diversity are different. Of course, we wouldn’t want a white woman directing a movie about slavery, but what about a comedy?
I just think talent speaks more than diversity.
I certainly wouldn’t want people reading my articles just because I’m a Black woman. I want you to like what I publish. Anything else just seems like unwarranted charity.
And if you’re getting charity for being “diverse”, would you care about working?
…
I find myself comparing this to the downfall of Cartoon Network all the time.
I think we’re living in Cartoon Network 2.0.
The late 90s/early 2000s Cartoon Network shows were my jam as a kid. You had The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, Teen Titans, etc. Amazing shows. And guess what?
All of these shows either had a white person for the main character or someone who wasn’t human at all!
What I loved most about shows like The Powerpuff Girls growing up is that they were actually…
good. They weren’t “trying” to be diverse like you see now with shows like Steven Universe or Craig of the Creek. They were centered around the identity of that specific character. Not the struggle of being a minority.
The problem with diverse content now is that it tries way too hard to be diverse instead of just being good.
That’s what ultimately led to the downfall of iconic Cartoon Network shows.
…
I’m not one of the -isms just for saying that I prefer talent over diversity.
Let’s play a game.
“There’s a problem with diversity.”
“Okay, let’s just make the whole cast [insert minority here]. Problem solved. Now what?”
“Uhhhh…”
Diversity is an easier fix than people think. It can be fixed within hours. The hard part is getting the talent and putting out a quality product.
Not every Black person wants a Black show to be about slavery. Not every Asian person wants an Asian show to be about the Vietnam War. Not every Mexican person wants a Mexican show to be about the Mexican-American War.
Stop putting diverse people in certain positions just to make the whole thing about being diverse. I’m Black and that’s a part of me. A big part of me. But it’s not all of me.
There’s more to me than just my skin color.
…
Final Thoughts
Disclaimer: This post does not mean I’m against affirmative action. Affirmative action is basically reparations for Black people and I love that.
But think everything should be diverse and have quality.
There shouldn’t be just one or the other. Not every Black piece of content has to center around being Black. Just make everyone working on the project Black and that’s the answer to the diversity thing.
Diversity is easy, but talent is not.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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