You Don’t Actually Want Diversity. You Want Obedient Color.
- Brianna Miller
- Apr 14
- 3 min read
The Real Cost of Being Authentic Is Punishment for Truth
#StopPerformativeAllyship #TruthTellingInColor #PunishedForTruth #DEIIsNotDecoration #CallItWhatItIs #SpeakTheUnspoken #WhiteSupremacyCulture
#SystemicChangeNow #OrganizationalTruth #PowerSharingMatters #RebuildWithDiversity #LiberationWork #AntiRacistWorkplaces
#LeadershipWithoutGaslighting #NonprofitTruth #BoardAndEDDynamics #WorkplaceGaslighting #InclusiveLeadershipNow #DEIBroken #ProtectTruthTellers
#DismantleTheSystem #LeadershipReckoning #IAmNotTheProblem #YouAskedMeToBeReal #AuthenticityHurts #TruthCostsMeEverything #StopSilencingUs #TraumaOfInclusion #MicroaggressionsAreReal #InvisibleWounds
#LivedExperienceMatters #ThisIsWhatWeCarry #ControversialButTrue #UnpopularTruth #SayItOutLoud #NotHereToPerform #DisruptTheNarrative
Let’s be honest.
Most organizations don’t want diversity.
They want optics.
They want color without culture.
They want difference without disruption.
They want Black and Brown bodies in the photo—but not in the decision-making.
Because real diversity is messy.
It questions norms.
It names power.
It demands new frameworks, not just new faces.
And that scares the hell out of institutions built on comfort, control, and compliance.
The Ones Who Speak Up Are the Ones Cast Out
Every workplace has a few truth-tellers.
And every time—they’re the ones who bleed.
They raise the hard questions.
They challenge the unspoken rules.
They speak what everyone else whispers behind closed doors.
And then what happens?
They get labeled "disruptive.
"They’re “not a good fit.”
They become the problem instead of the proof that there is one.
Meanwhile, the silent ones nod in private.
“I agree with you.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Thank you for saying it.”
But when the system strikes back, those same voices vanish.
Because survival teaches silence.
And speaking out costs too much—especially if you're already the only one.
Even When the ED Is a Person of Color
Let’s talk about what no one wants to say out loud:
The top of the org chart might look diverse.
The Executive Director might be a person of color.
The leadership photos might check all the boxes.
But the power?
The real power?
Still white.
Still hidden.
Still protected.
And when things go wrong—when conflict arises, when someone dares to tell the truth—it’s always the colorful one who gets cut.
Every. Single. Time.
It’s the BIPOC leader who gets blamed for the board’s dysfunction. It’s the outspoken staffer who’s told they’re not “aligned with the culture.”
It’s the one person who refused to stay quiet that becomes the scapegoat.
Because whiteness always protects itself.
Even behind brown faces.
The Burden of Proof Is a Barrier to Truth
And when harm is named?
The system doesn’t believe it.
Instead, we hear:
“We have to see if what you're saying is actually happening.”
But you can't see it—because you're not the one experiencing it.
You don’t feel the microaggressions.
You don’t see the subtle dismissals.
You don’t live inside the gaze of implicit bias.
What you do feel is discomfort.
What you do protect is fragility.
So we suffer. Again.
We endure. Again.
Because it’s easier for the system to accommodate white fragility than to accept the reality of racial harm.
And it will continue this way until the very foundation of our institutions is transformed.
Not just reformed.
Torn down.
Rebuilt.
Together.
With the most diverse team imaginable leading the way.
Because truth doesn’t need to be proven to be valid.
It needs to be heard.
It needs to be honored.
And it needs to be centered in the redesign of every single system that claims to care about equity.
Diversity Without Power Sharing Is Just Tokenism
If your board is all white, if your “diverse” hires are never promoted, if your only Black leaders are in DEI roles—
Then you don’t have diversity.
You have decoration.
Real inclusion? It’s disruptive.
It rearranges the table.
It changes who makes the rules.
It’s not safe.
It’s not comfortable.
And it sure as hell doesn’t look like silence.
So Let’s Name It Plain
Stop pretending you want change when all you want is compliance. Stop asking people of color to make your organization “better” without changing how power moves.
Because you don’t want diversity.
You want obedient color.
You want palatable pain.
You want enough difference to look good—but not enough to cost you anything.
And that’s not equity.
That's pretending.
The Real Work Starts Here
Don’t read this and nod.
Read this and change.
Call in your board.
Rework your leadership pipeline.
Fund the voices you’ve overlooked.
Protect the ones who dare to name harm.
Stop pretending your good intentions are enough.
Diversity isn’t about who you bring in.
It’s about who you behave once they arrive.
Where does your organization still choose comfort over truth?
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