On Friday May 7, 2021 Caroline Dwyer, AICP a project manager with Renaissance Planning moderated a session at the American Planning Association’s 2021 National Planning Conference (NPC21). Joined by Chanelle Nicole Frazier, Chloe Green, Daniel Besinaiz, and Monica Tibbits-Nutt, the session “Confront and Dismantle Discriminatory Workplace Practices” featured background information on ways discrimination is expressed in the workplace, the white, male-centric roots of accepted “professional norms,” and a question-and-answer session with the four panelists focused on their work identifying and breaking down racist, misogynistic, and anti-LGBTQ+ workplace practices.
Caroline designed the session to challenge attendees to think differently about the “norms” we accept and take for granted and to consider how Western, Euro-centric, gender binary norms impact the lives and careers of our non-Western, non-white, non-binary, non-straight peers and colleagues, in everything from hair styles, to clothes, to names, to the food you bring for lunch. For example, if you search the word “professional” in Google Image Search, you are primarily presented with white men and women with shiny, straight brown or blonde hair wearing business suits in conservative colors. But if you search the word “unprofessional” you will see more non-white people wearing bright colored clothes, head scarfs, natural hair styles, and other expressions of personality.
After discussing the roots and impacts of discriminatory professional norms, the session speakers issued a call to action to the over two hundred session attendees. Using the virtual conference’s chat function, session attendees (of culturally dominant groups) were asked to identify one action they would commit to taking, to expose and dismantle discrimination in their own workplaces or (for participants not identifying with culturally dominant groups) to name an action that they believe would be most impactful, that attendees could commit to taking.
Overall, attendees reported that the session was “informative,” “fantastic,” and “amazing.” Caroline is grateful to the panelists who shared their experiences and descriptions of the amazing work they are doing and to APA for hosting an exceptional virtual conference under challenging circumstances.