In Jun, we celebrate LGBTQ Pride, and anticipate celebrating our nation’s independence. This piece was going to be a criticism of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs but turned out to be a reflection on liberty and justice for all. The DEI criticism will follow in a later piece.
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In this post:
Story: Searching for Liberty and Justice for All
OK Boomer. I am a child of the Cold War. My public school experience included starting each day with the Pledge of Allegiance. The words, “with liberty and justice for all” are etched into my memory. My experiences as a young person reflected those American values. I took “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” as the testimony of America as a great melting pot of diverse people from diverse places.
- My grandparents and my Pa spoke Italian most of the time they were together.
- It was common to hear unknown languages in the homes of neighborhood friends.
- I saw our friends Dorothy (Dotty) and Cinita (Ricky) in a loving, committed relationship.
- I learned my way around a kitchen from a black woman, Willie Jackson.
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I gained insights into strategic thinking from a black man (Frank Bowdry) who didn’t know how to read but knew how to prioritize workflows.
I became aware that the principles of, “liberty and justice for all,” and “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” portrayed in the Pledge of Allegiance and Preamble to the Declaration of Independence are not universally shared. The summer of 1968 illuminated some of the challenges the United States faced as a nation. The assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968, and Robert Kennedy on June 6 were the catalyst for a chaotic summer. I happened to be in Chicago, visiting Dottie and Ricky, at the time of the 1968 Democratic Convention.An understanding of racism was barely on the periphery of my consciousness. My family managed a restaurant in the 1970’s. When My Pa hired Willie Jackson AS A cook, she asked what door she was expected to enter through. He told her she could enter through whichever door she wanted: I was aware of my Pa’s racial discomfort since the staff were all expected to enter the restaurant through the kitchen door in the back of the building.
I became aware that homosexuality was considered a bad thing. I also knew that Dottie and Ricky were good friends who had helped my family through some tough times. I couldn’t reconcile how these beloved friends could be bad just for being who they were.
During much of the turbulence of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s I was delivering the Milwaukee Journal newspaper. I read the front page almost every day. I was exposed to history as it developed through such images as Neil Armstrong on the moon (July 20, 1969), Mary Ann Vecchio at Kent State (May 4, 1970), the Watergate break-in (June 17, 1972), and the McGovern/Eagleton presidential ticket of July 1972. Statements like: “go back where you came from,: :all you have to do is…,” and “my country right or wrong,” did nothing to address the challenges facing the nation. I recognized that supporting “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a riddle that cannot be reconciled through platitudes.
Upon reflection, it’s not surprising that my undergraduate studies were a combination of philosophy and business courses. My interest in such things as Taoist philosophy, and the creative tension between the one and the many, were born out of the riddles I observed. On the other hand, business systems provided a pragmatic method of bringing order to complexity. Focusing on a well-defined set of parameters (and ignoring everything els) allowed for clear and simple answers. I saw that who is included in “all: and what “equity” is are subjective concepts that I can either make through contemplative reflection or determined by out-sourcing my principles to others. I no longer pledge allegiance to flags or nations, but I do hold to the pledge’s commitment to, “liberty and justice for all.”
My own journey has led me to be more interested in ways personal relationships affect the way we gather as people than how business systems affect our personal relationships. I am especially drawn to the challenges faced by persons with disabilities (PWD) members of the LGBTQI community, and other disenfranchised people. As a facilitator, I find a reluctance to acknowledge the disparity between the ideal of “liberty and justice for all” and the inequality around us.
I have witnessed A disturbing phenomenon in recent years: an apparent disconnect between leadership and equality. I realized that the intersection of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness with equity may not be self-evident. After the murder of George Floyd in May, 2020 I have began focusing on the intersection of leadership and inclusion.
Postscrip
I first conceived of this piece as a criticism of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The craft of storytelling brought me to this writing. I will follow up with a piece that takes a more technical perspective on the intersection of DEI programs and the pursuit of “liberty and justice for all.” Until then, please know that I have great respect for the values this nation was founded on. I believe We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Declaration Preamble
Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
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Dan Lococo 