Directors of Inclusion in Theatre Need to be more than Symbolic Positions
The following piece was written by someone who works as a Director of Inclusion and Diversity for a theatre organization.
There are exactly three things you should know about me:
I am currently serving as a Director of inclusion and diversity for a theater organization in the United States.
I am a Black woman.
I’m not being allowed to do my job because my hiring was a PR move rather than a real commitment for change.
Last year, when I finally got the call that I had been hired, I was over the moon. Having worked in other industries, but always being a theater fan, this seemed like a dream come true. The position I was hired for was described as being a key part of leadership discussions on how to improve not only how we cast shows, but also hire for other positions, and how we value the contributions of those employed by us going forward.
I was told that I would be given the lead on planning and executing initiatives that would promote diversity and inclusion and be the very first contact for anyone who had issues with discrimination or harassment.
A little over a year after I started my first day, none of that has happened.
Instead, my ideas have been initially embraced, but then nothing materializes because the leadership at this organization doesn’t seem to want to follow through. I’ve been told things like “That’s great! But not now” or “We would love to do that, but there are other things that are more important right now.“ The list of excuses for not allowing me to do my job seems to be just as creative as the production value of our show. Right now, I feel more like a prop being used than anything else.
And the funny part is, I was somewhat sure this is exactly what would happen.
Over the past couple of years, many companies and organizations have made it a point to hire positions like mine. However, when it comes to actually committing to doing the real work that is needed, many of these companies and entities fall way short. It’s almost as if my hiring was enough for them to say, “Look we embrace diversity! We hired someone to take care of it!”
But not giving us the power to actually make changes and investigate what was wrong in the first place, is just a waste of my time and their money. The other major problem, and my real concern, is that people like myself will get frustrated and leave these positions, won’t be replaced by someone else, and whatever progress was made will be erased.
I need every theater organization that hired positions like mine over the past couple of years to understand that there was a real need for these positions to exist, and we must be allowed to do the work that is necessary. In my opinion, it is incalculably worse to hire folks like me and not allow us to do our jobs, rather than doing nothing at all. Because when you do that, you’re using us for good PR and nothing else.
So the next time your Director of Inclusion and Diversity, or whatever title you have for that position, actually has substantial ideas and plans to improve the culture within your organization, listen to them. Embrace their ideas and let them do their work. Some of the ideas might make you uncomfortable or they might seem like hard work, but that’s the reason why we’re here.
I’m starting to see other theater organizations revert to the same old way they did business before, we can’t do that. We’ve been given an opportunity, sadly a pandemic, that allowed this industry to stop and really look at itself. And I’m worried that we didn’t look hard enough or long enough.