The League's DEI Policy
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are central to the League's current and future success in engaging ALL individuals, households, communities, and policy makers in creating a more perfect democracy.
There shall be no barriers to full participation in the League on the basis of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, race, native or indigenous origin, age, generation, sexual orientation, culture, religion, belief system, marital status, parental status, socioeconomic status, language, accent, ability status, mental health, educational level or background, geography, nationality, work style, work experience, job role function, thinking style, personality type, physical appearance, political perspective or affiliation and/or any other characteristic that can be identified as recognizing or illustrating diversity.
But, Clallam County is Not That Diverse, Is it?
At first glance, and ethnically-speaking, Clallam County is not a very diverse county. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the county’s total population of 71,404 people was composed of 81% Caucasian. That means nearly 20% of our people are of other races. Many live in poverty. Many with a disability. Many do not have ready access to county resources, or to broadband. All of these factors inhibit citizens in taking an active part in their own communities and government. It's very likely that the numbers in these groups increased substantially over the past ten years. But here's the 2010 Census breakdown:
- 19% minority or mixed-race, those being:
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 5.60%
- Asian alone, 1.90%
- Black or African American alone, 1.20%
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, .20%
- Two or More Races, 4.00%
- Hispanic or Latino, 6.40%
- 48.8% over 18 and under 65
- 16.40% living in poverty
- 14.30% with a disability
One of the National League’s goals, and ours as well, is to encourage and welcome diverse members of our communities into the League - not only those identified above, but those with any other characteristic, as outlined in our DEI policy, that can be identified as recognizing or illustrating diversity – and to work to ensure that we are fair, impartial, and inclusive of them..
To that end, we share with our League members, and all members of our community, the continuous learning resources below, as identified or generously provided by the League of Women’s Voters National.
Unfamiliar with DEI?
FREE Upcoming 2021 DEI Webinars!
All webinars are scheduled for 7pm ET and all will be recorded. All topics are subject to change within 14 days of the webinar. Guest speakers represent themselves and speak from a variety of experiences and diverse dimensions.
July 22: Register Here
August 26: Register Here
September 23: Register Here
October 28: Register Here
November 18: Register Here
Additional FREE DEI Resources
- The Danger of A Single Story: Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
- Pain, Passion, and Possibility: Learning from Difficult Subjects: How do we have difficult conversations on painful subjects such as gender, racial and sexual inequality, discrimination and oppression in ways that enable, connect and empower students, co-workers, community members and ourselves? Dr. Tricia Rose, Brown University Professor, will address this issue with particular attention to race and gender by drawing on her own scholarship, life and seventeen years of university teaching.
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Gem Droppin': White Savior vs Ally: A learning experience from Amanda Seales, American, comedian, actress, disc jockey, recording artist, and radio personality, as in: "You have given us a simple and effective method of explaining basic knowledge to the not-as-helpful-as-they-think white folks who suffer from Caucasius Dominatus."~ Barron Hall.
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How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion: Peggy McIntosh, Wellesley College's Associate Director for the Center for Research addresses issues of equity and privilege as they relate to race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Her TED Talk offers a shift in the traditional view of race, equity and privilege. McIntosh uses her own experience as a white woman to inform her own knowledge of racial experiences from a white perspective.
- Feminist Friendship: Feminism is hard and complicated—doing good feminist work and doing work to be a good feminist is even harder, says Dr. Cori Wong, Feminist/Philosopher. White feminists have a long history of ignoring intersectionality within the women’s movement; rather than leveraging differences among women as strengths and a resource, they continue to be ignored. Dr. Cori Wong developed a model of Feminist Friendship to call attention to the skills we already utilize to maintain our closest relationships as well as allow us to better engage in social justice.
- Your Privilege Is Showing: Lillian Medville, creator of the experience-based card game Your Privilege is Showing explains that whether we acknowledge it or not, race, sex, gender, class, and privilege are all part of our daily lives no matter who we are, what we look like, or where we’re from. But too often we don't talk about these issues for fear of saying the wrong thing, or that the conversations will be difficult, bitter, and even painful.
Recommended Articles
- “Diversity and Authenticity,” Katherine Phillips, Tracy Dumas, Nancy Rothbard
- “How Black Women Describe Navigating Race and Gender in the Workplace,” Maura Cheeks
- “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage,” Robert Austin and Gary Pisano
- “Reducing the effects of gender stereotypes on performance evaluations,” Bauer, C.C. & Baltes, B.B.
- "Unlearning Automatic Biases: The malleability of implicit prejudices and stereotypes,” Rudman, L.A., Ashmore, R.D. Gary, M.L.
- “Warmth and Competence as Universal Dimensions of Social Perception. The Stereotype Content Model and the BIAS Map.” Amy Cuddy, Susan Fiske, Peter Glick
Recommended Books
- Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin Banaji
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
- Braving the Wilderness, Brené Brown
- Everyday Bias, Howard Ross
- The Hate You Give, Angie Thomas
- The Hillbilly Elegy, JD Vance
- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions, Arielly, Daniel
- Waking Up White, Debby Irving
- The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson
Recommended Audio