I don’t need my everyone in my workplace to think like I do (in fact, I hope they don’t!) or be woke, but I do need my coworkers to be able to identify reliable sources, be open-minded when new evidence comes to light, and treat one another kindly and equitably. I don’t work well with bigots.
Let me explain. . . As a U.S. history professor, I ensure my students hear marginalized voices from the past, as well as present-day marginalized people’s perspectives on the past, at least as much as they hear dominant voices. As a white person, I’ve sought out those marginalized voices. I’ve spent decades reading about and recognizing structural inequities, as well as witnessing (and, yes, calling out) everyday acts of bigotry. I recognize and struggle with my complicity in unjust systems and the ways I benefit from them, even as I work to make them more just and equitable.
In short, I’m working on my stuff, and I’m happy to work alongside and support people who are as well. We learn from each other when we make mistakes, we remediate those errors as much as possible, and we try our best to move on. That said, after years of living in Idaho, I don’t have much patience for people who consistently spew misinformation or who act and speak in ways that are racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, antisemitic, or ableist.
If your organization employs bigots, I neither want to work with them nor with the people who tolerate them. You wouldn’t want me working with them, either. In most of my life, I am a very patient and forgiving person, but I can be, er, rather direct with habitual bigots.