Let Them See You

“The road to hell is often paved with good intentions…”: this is what the Afro-American author reproaches the pro-diversity initiatives set up by many companies. He considers that they are tinted with moralism—because of the segregationist past of the United States—, which often makes them counter-productive. Indeed, they lead to bring suspicion on the representatives of the minorities: do they owe their job to merit—or to some form of affirmative action? Rather than quantitative diversity objectives or quotas, the author argues that only cultural fieldwork enables an effective integration of minorities. According to him, we should, on one hand, sensitize the staff members to the biases they can show towards the minorities—without thinking about it most of the time. And, on the other, work on the self-censorship and unconscious limits that these minorities have often internalized.

The book contains many concrete examples and advice. It does not hesitate to break taboos about this delicate topic, yet with a factual and constructive tone.