This week we will kick off a series about diversity and inclusion related topics.  This week’s post is about driving, ignorance, and causing harm.  It’s inspired by a question Aaron T., asked me a few weeks ago.

Imagine for a moment you were driving blindfolded.  What would happen?  Chances are you’d hit things, cause all kinds of destruction, and hurt other people and possibly yourself.  If you had the choice, would you rather drive with or without a blindfold on?  I’m assuming you’d want to see, so you could drive more safely.

What does this have to do with anything?  A few weeks ago, I was on an area call sharing my diversity and inclusion journey.  My story isn’t pretty.  It’s a story of being raised color blind and incredibly ignorant, realizing I was (and am still) ignorant, and then working to fix this.  During the story, I spent time talking about being raised to not see race and how that led me to believe and do things that I’d never believe or do now (Is any of that true for you too?).  Aaron then asked me a question that has stuck with me for weeks, “When you were colorblind, how did that harm your relationships and the people you were with?”  His question was a great one, because it punched me right in the heart, and I can’t thank him enough for his courage and willingness to ask it.  I said that I knew there were certain people I had hurt.  However, the truth is, I’ll never know how many people I hurt, because I was blind to my own ignorance and the impact that ignorance was having on others.  For years, I drove blind in a tank, unaware of the damage I was causing, and that’s just straight up horrible. 

The question still sticks with me and is something I think about often, because while I know I am less ignorant than I was when I was younger, my eyes are still not fully open to matters of race, gender, sexual orientation, and the other elements of individuality.  As a result, I continue to be driven to do better, to learn more, to understand more, and to navigate the world a little more carefully so the vehicle I drive out in the world won’t have devastating effects to the people around me.

The challenge: How is your ignorance harming your relationships and the people you are with?  How will you do and be better?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry