it’s june, where are all the rainbow flags?

on performative DEI

It’s been a rough year for DEI. With the US government effectively making DEI illegal, companies are pulling back their initiatives with full force. Still, I was surprised to hear that the number of S&P 500 companies to use DEI language has fallen by 60 percent since the start of this year. And I definitely couldn’t believe that San Francisco Pride–arguably the biggest pride parade in the world–was having trouble with corporate sponsorships this year.

Going into June, I was curious to see how this shift would play out on my LinkedIn feed where, year after year, corporate America has only upped their (performative) support of the LGBTQ+ community. We’re almost half way through June and it seems like no one got the memo this year. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, almost no US companies are sporting a rainbow logo this year.

It’s a solemn reminder of the extent of performative DEI in the private sector–that is, how companies are only really willing to welcome minorities if it’s trendy. It seems like we’ve gone from in-your-face rainbow capitalism to a mere whisper over night. But I can’t say I’m surprise.

I’d like to think that many of those that criticize DEI efforts do so because they often feel disingenuous. Performative DEI makes a performer out of you, the recipient, as well.

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What good are DEI initiatives when the one female partner that looks like you also terrifies you?

Performative DEI means getting tricked into organizing social events for your affinity group, but not getting any further in your career.

It’s one thing to get your foot in the door at a historically white male industry, it’s another to survive let alone thrive.

Performative DEI reaps all the benefits of a more “inclusive” workplace without changing the culture. It starts and ends with HR, effectively making it a free pass for the real Corporate America.

Performative DEI means choosing to uplift certain communities while ignoring the existing of others altogether.

If we really valued what individuals have to bring to the table, regardless of what they look like, we wouldn’t need DEI in the first place.

It’s a shame because we know more inclusive companies do better. We know what we stand to gain from more diversity in thought.

What’s the point of performative DEI when you’re never really given a chance to prove your worth? You’re brought into a system just to be stereotyped into resigning.

Worst of all: performative DEI makes you feel like you were hired to fulfill some imaging quota even when you know you have what it takes to be there.

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