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Hi, I’m T1J.
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Hey let’s check out the voicemail!
[CALLER:] Hey T1J, My name is James.
I'm a white male, and I was recently having
a discussion with a friend, and I said I was
trying to read more diverse voices, because
I read a lot of books.
So I've been trying to read more books by
authors who are women, immigrants, Muslim,
African-American, trans, etc.
My friend said that if I'm reading an author
because they are a minority, then that's "tokenization."
But I was thinking that I was just trying
to make sure at least half the books I read
are by women and minorities, so I'm trying
to make sure that I hear more diverse voices.
So I just want your opinion on if trying to
read more minority authors is a form of tokenization
or if it's a good things to be trying to read
more diverse voices.
So, I’m 34 years old, which seems to be
a lot higher than the average age of people
who watch YouTube, and people who specifically
watch videos like the ones that I make.
So I’m always kind of worried that my takes
and worldview might be unrelatable or out
of touch in the eyes of certain segments of
my intended audience.
Now according to Google, I’m a millennial,
and so are people who are 10 years younger
than me, which seems to imply that we share
certain sensibilities and outlooks because
of the generation in which we were born.
Which may be true to some extent, but I routinely
look at people who are in their early 20s
with utter bewilderment.
Much less, people younger than that.
This is also true when comparing myself to
black people of a younger age.
Especially those who are socially and politically
active.
So although I’ve devoted a lot of time on
my channel to discussing race issues, I sometimes
wonder if the younger generation of online
minority activists are on a whole 'nother
level that I am too far gone to really be
involved with.
My thesis is and pretty much always has been
that it’s important to find ways to discuss
and evaluate solutions to serious issues in
a productive way.
And my assertion is that the most productive
way to do so is using civility and compassion.
You know, the whole HAKO thing.
The problem is that most political discussions
these days are had on social media, which
is notable for its distinct shortage of those
two things.
Which I think has changed the landscape of
how people think about politics.
Now this sounds like a huge digression from
the topic of the voicemail.
But I just want to say, I still feel confident
in my thought-process, and if I make a convincing
argument for you, that’s great --but I also
don’t want anyone to get into a mindset
where they think something is OK or correct,
just because T1J said it.
I’m just one guy on the internet.
And maybe there are takes out there that are
worth considering, even if my joint-pain-having-ass
thinks they’re weird.
It’s something that I want to emphasize
for this topic but also something I’ve been
meaning to emphasize in general, so I might
as well go ahead and do it now.
.
So, I think that people in marginalized groups
have always had a healthy skepticism of people
from privileged groups.
But these days, that skepticism seems to be
evolving into widespread mistrust, if not
outright antagonism.
Some of this may be justified, as we’ve
seen over the past decade what seems to be
an increase in bigoted political propaganda
coming from the right, and even violence towards
groups like black people and LGBTQ people.
But this mistrust has evolved and even spread
towards progressives and people on the left.
Some of it is the unrealistic expectation
for privileged people to automatically understand
the plight of those who are marginalized.
The “You Should Know Better” mentality.
It’s an idea that a person isn’t allowed
to call themselves an ally unless they have
total understanding of all the relevant social
justice issues.
And if they make wrong assumptions, or use
the wrong terminology, or work with the wrong
people, or tweet the wrong thing 10 years
ago, they are susceptible to being #Canceled.
This has grown to the extent that even people
who are actively trying to inform themselves
are met with suspicion and criticism.
So what is “tokenization?”
(Or “tokenism,” which is the word I will
use because it’s easier to say.)
My first experience of this idea is I think,
from movies and TV shows that had a supposedly
token minority person on it.
The argument is that only a superficial or
minimal effort is made to be inclusive to
minorities, in order to give the appearance
of diversity.
And so a character from one of these minority
groups is shoehorned into the story without
any believable reason for them being there.
And yes, I’m gonna use this opportunity
to talk about sitcoms again!
Maybe I should I just make some videos about
sitcoms outside of the politics involved.
Cause I kinda just always want to talk about
sitcoms.
Would you guys watch that?
Often, these characters are brought on the
show specifically to engage the main characters
about topics like race and sexuality.
And beyond that, they really serve no purpose.
But other times, they’re brought on very
clearly to address a lack of diversity, often
as a response to public criticism.
So there are two issues I see with this idea
of the "token minority character":
Firstly, it’s difficult to determine when
a character is in fact a “token.”
I would never suggest we be so cynical that
anytime a minority character is added to a
show or movie, we then accuse the creators
of tokenism.
Sometimes, characters who represent typically
marginalized people add value to media that
would clearly be lost without them.
Even if their characters aren’t designed
to start a conversation about social issues.
But sometimes of course the token is kind
of a shitty stereotype that reinforces negative
sentiments towards already marginalized groups.
But sometimes it’s hard to say.
Maybe, like most things.
It’s f**king complicated.
Isn’t that right Sir Applesauce?
♪
[VOICEOVER:] Ikuze!
[T1J:] The second problem with this idea is
that it is remarkably similar to complaints
of “forced diversity” from the reactionary
right.
I don’t want to spend too much time on this
idea because I don’t think it’s a very
well-thought out argument; but it’s essentially
the same concept on the surface.
It’s the notion that media creators force
women and minorities into their stories simply
to create a superficial image of diversity.
The difference is in why they think it’s
bad to do that.
While “tokenism” causes concern because
of how it might caricature and dehumanize
minorities, often reinforcing negative stereotypes,
“forced diversity” is usually cited as
a pandering cash grab implemented at the expense
of the quality of the story being told.
Never mind that some of the most critically
acclaimed and widely appreciated media gets
accused of “forced diversity” like Steven
Universe and Star Wars.
Now this is dumb of course, because it implies
that it’s okay for able-bodied cis-hetero
white men to appear in media by default, but
if a woman or minority is added, there needs
to be some explanation for them to be there.
And it has to be a good, well-written character,
otherwise that’s evidence that it was forced.
Never mind all of the terribly written white
male characters.
It’s okay for those to exist.
It’s dumb, like I said.
The problem is that sometimes these poor arguments
slip into the tokenism conversation as well.
The “token person of color” for example
may seem to not have a purpose within the
story, but who says they need to have a purpose,
or at least any more purpose than any other
character would need in that role?
Why can’t they just be another person in
this fictional world?
I feel like we don’t demand this level of
complexity and backstory from white male characters.
What I’d look for is whether or not the
characters are objectified, otherized or treated
differently than the others.
An important thing to note is that “otherizing”
can be negative or positive.
Sometimes characters in media are negative
stereotypes, but also sometimes creators overcompensate
by making minorities unrealistically virtuous,
sometimes literally magical.
This can still have the result of tokenizing
characters by illuminating the fact that they’re
really kind of out of place in the world.
When people who create media really care about
their minority characters, they usually don’t
tokenize them.
They treat them like humans, or at the very
least with as much depth and care as they
would any other character in that position.
I am fortunate enough to have a lot of friends,
and a lot of those friends are white.
So depending on the social situation I’m
in, I sometimes find myself the only black
person and sometimes the only non-white person
in the room.
And sometimes people will joke that I’m
the “token” black guy in the group.
Now it’s a joke, but you can understand
that joke multiple ways.
Maybe it implies that white social groups
might befriend a black guy just to demonstrate
to the world that they’re not racist.
You know, he “I’m not racist, I have a
black friend” thing.
It's a meme that’s been around for ages
and is a perfect example of tokenism.
Or it could satirize the fact that white friend
groups often don’t include people of color
at all.
So the fact that I’m there is fairly conspicuous.
But again, are we going to argue that if a
group of white people hangs out with a black
person, that means they’re tokenizing them.
Tokenism is also an area of concern in the
workplace.
Much like what I’ve discussed before, sometimes
companies hire minorities with the primary
goal of avoiding criticism and creating a
shallow appearance of diversity.
But like with media and friend groups, just
because a minority is added doesn’t necessarily
mean that person isn’t actually valued.
As a black person, I have been in situations
where I have felt like people are treating
me differently both in negative and positive
ways.
I’ve been in situations where a person has
told me straight up, 'I’m giving you an
opportunity, yes because I value you, but
also in large part because you are a minority,
and I understand that diversity is important
and minority voices are often silenced.'
Now all you young folks out there, correct
me if I'm wrong, but I feel like some of you
might feel tokenized by something like that,
because you are being treated differently
than other people.
Personally, I usually appreciate things like
that.
I think one of ways that allies help marginalized
people is by using their influence to provide
opportunities to them that wouldn’t otherwise
exist.
And sometimes, as a black person, or LGBTQ
person, or woman, or disabled or neurodivergent
person, it’s efficient to take advantage
of opportunities to increase your standing
in the world, even if the intent of the person
who gave you that opportunity is superficial.
So you can then use your expanded resources
to achieve your goals and help others achieve
theirs.
But as far as tokenism goes, I do think intent
matters.
If you get hired somewhere, or get promoted
or signal boosted.
Or you get invited into a friend group and
you want to know if you’ve been tokenized,
or if you’re the tokenizer, there are a
couple things you can look for, according
to a great blog I read, which I’ll link
in the description.
Those things are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Firstly, if the claim is that diversity is
the goal, you should see an ongoing and earnest
pursual of it.
If a company hires one gay person and never
hires another one until that person leaves,
that’s a good sign of tokenism.
If a showrunner creates a show with only a
couple of black people, maybe check how many
black people are on their next show.
If it’s still few and far in between, could
be tokenism.
If you’re recommending YouTubers of color,
and you’ve been shouting out T1J and Kat
Blaque for the past 4 years because you’ve
never bothered to find any others—maybe
it’s tokenism.
The second thing you need to look for is equity.
Equity mean equal access to resources and
other things available to everyone involved.
So if a company hires a disabled person, but
makes their salary lower than everyone else’s,
that’s evidence of tokenism.
If a minority is one of the main characters
of movie but barely gets any lines and dies
in the first 20 minutes, probably a token.
And finally inclusion, which kind of encompasses
the other two.
Tokenism as a whole could arguably be succinctly
described as “Diversity without inclusion.”
People from marginalized groups should feel
just as important and just as valued as anyone
else involved, and should be treated as individual
human beings, not representatives of whatever
group they happen to be in.
If you tell everyone about your awesome good
friend who’s transgender but never actually
invite them to hang out like you would your
other friends, that's probably tokenism.
This is why minorities can often feel tokenized
even when they are being promoted and given
opportunities.
So if you want to signal boost or endorse
people from these groups, find a way to do
so that is inclusive and not otherizing.
Feel free to give special attention to people,
if you think they deserve it, but don’t
do it, just because they happen to be a minority.
It’s like, are you helping me because you
like me, or just because I’m black.
And don’t just stop there, remember the
diversity and equity parts as well.
At the end of the day, if you’re not actively
doing something just to avoid criticism and
just to give the appearance of diversity,
you’re probably not guilty of tokenism.
I think a lot of people just simply don’t
know how to navigate conversations about race
and gender and sexuality.
Which is fair, because it’s complicated.
Hyper-awareness of these things leads to stereotyping
and generalizing, while attempts to erase
these concepts ignores the fact that they
play a big role in the everyday lives of millions
of people.
So I think we also have to try to analyze
people’s intent and meet people where they
are.
So how can we translate this strategy to political
discussions and informing ourselves with diverse
viewpoints?
Finally we address the actual question that
was asked in the voicemail!
But by now, hopefully you have some idea of
what my answer is.
The mere act of including, endorsing, or learning
about marginalized people is not tokenism.
In fact, James, what you are doing is the
opposite of tokenism.
The problem with tokenism is that it ignores
the whole purpose of diversity.
Diversity is meant to bring together ideas,
cultures, backgrounds, strengths and talents
from a wide variety of people.
Tokenism focuses on quotas and group designation.
But by making an effort to stay informed and
expose yourself to a variety of viewpoints,
you take advantage of the very strength of
diversity.
The only thing that sounds a little weird
to me is that you seem to have a very specific
number that you’re trying to reach, like
I think you said at least half of the books
you read.
When we start thinking in terms of quotas
that’s when we get into tokenism territory,
in my opinion.
I think you should feel free to make a special
effort to seek out books by people from underrepresented
groups.
But if it gets to a point where you’re just
doing it out of a sense of obligation rather
than a genuine desire to explore diverse ideas,
that’s when it starts to sound a little
iffy.
Now I don’t know you James, maybe you’re
reading all this stuff just so you can say
you did, and just so you can go on Twitter
and brag about how many books by woman authors
you’ve read.
Maybe you spend money on most on your books
but all the books by minorities and marginalized
people, you check out at the library and don’t
support the authors.
But I get the impression that you’re probably
alright and your friends just being a little
overzealous.
Maybe tell em to take a break from social
media for a while.
S*it f*cks with your mental.
DAS JUS ME DOE.
What do you think?
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