First of all, please recognize that reciting to me the litany of Europe's transgressions towards its minorities is unnecessary. My family has been irreversibly scarred for generations because of centuries of European oppression, anti-Semitism and attempted genocide. I know all too well the history of Europe every time I think of the untold family that I will never meet because Europeans murdered and butchered them.
While knowing that it is an oversimplification, what I am about to articulate is a useful oversimplification nonetheless: The historical European response to "the other" in its midst has been rejection. The current European zeitgeist to respond to "the other" in its midst is pretend it does not exist. I contend that there is another ground between murder and rejection on one hand and refusal to acknowledge and honor difference on the other hand.
What is that different space? Well, it begins by thinking more closely about the way you articulate yourself. When you construct an argument that begins with asking "Why someone must accommodate..." or "is right to ask for others to adapt..." you are no longer discussing inclusion and diversity work. You are constructing a hierarchical relationship, with you as the majority-culture European on top, and everyone else as someone to consider whether you will adapt or accommodate or not. Do you not see how that is just a perpetuation of the same European problem for centuries?
I do not ask for your accommodation. I ask to be considered as a full member of the community.
Do you know what that means? It means not having to tolerate you telling me if my practices come from "god/gods," as you stated, or how much of a choice my life truly is.
Let me share something important with you: I do not care what you think of my life and the culture I am part of. I do not care if you think that I think it comes from a theological construct or a sociological one or a socio-ethnic cultural one. I do not care what you think vies-a-vie the balance between determination and autonomy is in the makeup of the decisions of my life.
What then do I care about? I care that I am respected as a human being that is treated with dignity and integrity. If seeking the advice of the constituent diversity of people around a tech event as to what dates to be mindful of when planning is too much of an "adaptation" for you, than I really don't know what to say, except that is most certainly not inclusivity.
All the best,
Ben
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Hi Adrián,
Since you insist, I will gladly respond.
First of all, please recognize that reciting to me the litany of Europe's transgressions towards its minorities is unnecessary. My family has been irreversibly scarred for generations because of centuries of European oppression, anti-Semitism and attempted genocide. I know all too well the history of Europe every time I think of the untold family that I will never meet because Europeans murdered and butchered them.
While knowing that it is an oversimplification, what I am about to articulate is a useful oversimplification nonetheless: The historical European response to "the other" in its midst has been rejection. The current European zeitgeist to respond to "the other" in its midst is pretend it does not exist. I contend that there is another ground between murder and rejection on one hand and refusal to acknowledge and honor difference on the other hand.
What is that different space? Well, it begins by thinking more closely about the way you articulate yourself. When you construct an argument that begins with asking "Why someone must accommodate..." or "is right to ask for others to adapt..." you are no longer discussing inclusion and diversity work. You are constructing a hierarchical relationship, with you as the majority-culture European on top, and everyone else as someone to consider whether you will adapt or accommodate or not. Do you not see how that is just a perpetuation of the same European problem for centuries?
I do not ask for your accommodation. I ask to be considered as a full member of the community.
Do you know what that means? It means not having to tolerate you telling me if my practices come from "god/gods," as you stated, or how much of a choice my life truly is.
Let me share something important with you: I do not care what you think of my life and the culture I am part of. I do not care if you think that I think it comes from a theological construct or a sociological one or a socio-ethnic cultural one. I do not care what you think vies-a-vie the balance between determination and autonomy is in the makeup of the decisions of my life.
What then do I care about? I care that I am respected as a human being that is treated with dignity and integrity. If seeking the advice of the constituent diversity of people around a tech event as to what dates to be mindful of when planning is too much of an "adaptation" for you, than I really don't know what to say, except that is most certainly not inclusivity.
All the best,
Ben