Shakil Choudhury - Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us vs. Them

Shakil Choudhury offers a genuinely new and fresh understanding of how we see and so often do not see each other. He offers practical tools for transforming from an Us versus Them mentality to a mindset that honours and grows our deep diversity. Meticulously researched and beautifully written in an inviting narrative style, this is a must-read for anyone concerned with race, difference, and diversity.

JAMES ORBINSKI, Head of Mission for Doctors Without Borders during Rwandan genocide, author of An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-first Century

Shakil Choudhury has written a breakthrough book about how to achieve the kind of racial equity that goes far beyond traditional notions of diversity. In his deep dive, he grapples with the implications of several decades of neuroscience, reflecting on the role of emotion in racial matters, while still grounded in systems, rules, and power. Everyone working on race issues should read this book. Even when you dont agree, you will be provoked to think harder about the enormity of our challenge, and how to generate the emotional and intellectual fortitude to meet that challenge.

RINKU SEN, Executive Director of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines

Deep Diversity offers an important analysis to help us achieve the genuine reconciliation that we must achieve between Canadians and Indigenous peoples in order to move forward.

ARTHUR MANUEL, Neskonlith, Secwepemc Nation, author of Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call

Choudhurys text offers straightforward tools that can help everyone assess their own innate reactions in any situation. More than that, its a great readthe book derives its heart from its author, who writes scientifically but very personally, confronting his own discriminatory reactions unflinchingly, as he asks us to do, and effortlessly straddling the line between insightful analysis and compelling narrative.

JORDAN HEATH-RAWLINGS, deputy editor, Sportsnet magazine

While reading this wonderful book, I felt alternately humbled, deeply moved, in admiration, grateful, impatient, and profoundly hopefulsometimes all at once Shakils willingness to hold his mistakes up for scrutiny and insight invited me to do the same. He matter-of-factly insists that each of us, no matter what body were in, has a responsibility to heal the racism in ourselves and in the world around us. Its infectious because the book doesnt stop there. Written into every chapter are specific skills we can practice as citizens of the world wanting to live in connection with our neighbours.

BARB THOMAS, social justice facilitator, writer, and activist, co-author of Dancing on Live Embers: Challenging Racism in Organizations

Deep Diversity is a valuable read for leaders looking to better understand how to successfully lead todays increasingly diverse workplace environments. By combining research findings with his own personal experiences and insights, Shakil Choudhury helps us to understand whats behind our inherent biases and beliefs about those different from us, and what we can do to overcome them in order to create a more inclusive workplace environment and worldview.

TANVEER NASEER, MSc., award-winning leadership writer, Inc. 100 leadership speaker, co-author of Leadership Vertigo

As the Associate Director of Canadas second-largest public school board, it has been my pleasure to work closely with Shakil Choudhury and to encourage the introduction of the principles outlined in Deep Diversity, which have proven effective in our workplace and classroom equity efforts. I commend his work and recommend this book as an essential resource for equity and inclusion educators everywhere.

SCOTT MOREASH, Associate Director, Peel District School Board

I sincerely wish this book had been written ten years ago. I saw myself in many of the experiences and struggles described, as Im sure many of my equity colleagues will. I was in tears twice reading thisit really got to the core of why this work is so difficult, and why its so rewarding Deep Diversity emphasizes the importance of relationships and compassion, principles I have always maintained are keys to equity work I found this book not only helpful but also hopeful. Miigwetch for sharing this.

DONNA GERBER, Aboriginal Liaison and Recruitment Manager, Niagara College

OVERCOMING US VS. THEM

SHAKIL
CHOUDHURY

BETWEEN THE LINES
TORONTO

Deep Diversity

2015 Shakil Choudhury

First published in 2015 by

Between the Lines

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Studio 277

Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8

Canada

1-800-718-7201

www.btlbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored
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Every reasonable effort has been made to identify copyright holders. Between the Lines
would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its attention.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Choudhury, Shakil, author

Deep diversity: overcoming us vs. them / Shakil Choudhury.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77113-025-7 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-77113-026-4

(epub). ISBN 978-1-77113-027-1 (pdf)

1. Prejudices.2. RacismPsychological aspects.I. Title.

BF575.P9C462015303.3'85C2015-903799-9

C2015-903800-6

Design: Gordon Robertson

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing activities the Government
of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year
invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and the
Government of Ontario through the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Book Publishers
Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

To Arion, Koda, and the next generation.

May you build on our successes
and learn from our mistakes.

The deep diversity model outlined in this book seeks to reframe the debate regarding systemic racism and discrimination in a practical, scientific, and compassionate manner. It is intimately tied to my personal and professional story. Its a culmination of twenty years in the field of diversity and inclusion, one emotional burnout in my early thirties, and a childhood pretending I was white.

Ive had the honour of teaching, working with, and learning from thousands of people and many organizations in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and South Asia. Thats provided a lot of grist for the mill on the topic of race, ethnicity, and culture. Ive been involved with projects that were substantial successes, fabulous failures, and everything in between.

The Five Approaches to Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Cohesion sidebar gives a thumbnail sketch of several basic ways to approach the work I domulticulturalism, cross-cultural communication, business case for diversity, cultural intelligence, and anti-racism. I also offer my perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Overall, I see them as strategies to help both individuals and groups nurture environments in which all people feel they matter and belong, with fairness and justice as underlying principles. Essentially, this work strives to increase the sense of us while reducing the feelings of them.