The first objectionable phrase Martin and Visconti discuss is, "You're not diverse." Visconti tells an anecdote about a hospital system employee who told him that the system was "81% diverse." She really meant it was 81% women and people of color, and Visconti uses her words to talk about the assumption that white people are not a part of a diverse workplace. Obviously diversity means including a wide variety of different groups, and if one of those groups is white men, the entire community isn't necessarily less diverse. However, this is more of an issue of language than Visconti makes it out to be — measuring the company's "percentage of diversity" is misleading, and calling a single person diverse or not diverse is just bizarre. The assumption that white people can't be included in diversity at all is a bad one, but we're not sure how often people actually make it.

Visconti also has some odd things to say about the concept of white privilege. He tells Martin,

White privilege, I tell other white people, is the most amazing thing. You can give away your white privilege by helping other people gain access, and it never diminishes your white privilege. You're born with it, and it remains with you, so it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Throughout the interview, Visconti comes across as someone who genuinely wants to work toward a more equal society. However, his idea of white privilege as a "gift" that whites can bestow on others is somewhat paternalistic. It promulgates a view of race relations in which white people "give access" to minorities, rather than everyone working together to create equal access. It also assumes that white privilege is something you can give away, when the idea that it "remains with you" is probably closer to the truth. Helping a person of color does not make that person white, and does not confer upon them all the unconscious benefits that society gives to whites. All people can work to reduce the influence of privilege, but that involves a widespread change of behaviors and attitudes — not individual "gifts."

That said, Visconti does have some good ideas about race relations. He says no one should ever say the phrase, "There's no way you as a white person can understand." He should have mentioned that people of color do have experiences that white people probably can't fully understand (similarly, a man can't really know what it's like to be a woman, nor can a woman know what it's like to be a man). However, he's right that by focusing only on differences or on what is incommunicable, "you eliminate potential allies, and you shut people down."

Many in the past have said that white people have no place in creating equality, or in erasing the wrongs they themselves have perpetrated, but Visconti makes a persuasive case for including whites in the drive to end discrimination. He mentions the many white men he has known whose lives were affected by prejudice, perhaps through an interracial relationship or a gay family member. Many of these men want to work against the discrimination they have seen, and Visconti argues that their help is valuable. Of his work for diversity, he says, "what this is all about is enabling people to bring themselves to work 100%, so they can be engaged, productive, and innovative, because their heart is in it." Despite his missteps, Visconti's heart seems to be in it too, and his message of inclusion deserves a hearing.

Diversity 101: What Not to Say to White Colleagues [NPR]
9 Things NEVER to Say to White Colleagues [DiversityInc]

• Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid has decided that the entire Democratic caucus will vote next week whether Independent Senator Joe Lieberman will keep his seat as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee after having back John McCain and gone negative against Obama. [TPM Election Central]
• How negative did Lieberman really go? There's a video to count the ways. [Politico]
• And both the Clintons swear that — despite leaked reports that rather obviously came from Lieberman's camp — they aren't pushing to keep Lieberman at Homeland Security or in the caucus. [Politico]
• Racist Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss, who, according to the Constitution represents all the citizens of Georgia regardless of their race, knows the reason he didn't avoid a run-off election because not enough of "his" people turned out. You know, white people. That always vote for the white guy. Because they're white. [Think Progress]

• In the meantime, the Bushies are mad that the Obama folks leaked that Bush will only support an auto industry bailout if the Dems pass the Colombia FTA, as though that wasn't a legit assumption given that the Bushies already told the Hill that exact thing the day before. [Politico]
• Obama released his guidelines covering lobbyists' activities for his transition team and good government types think he is, like, so cool. [The Hill]
• And if the fact that he was able to outspend John McCain by crazy margins wasn't reason enough, it turns out that skipping public financing means Obama's campaign won't face a crazy audit. Raising tons of money means that if they did get some unlawful contributions, they would be so minor the FEC doesn't really care, either. McCain, though, gets the full accountant treatment, which is not as sexy-dirty as it sounds, sort of like how fucking an accountant isn't. [Politico]
• And Latino groups expect that Obama will appoint Latinos to the Cabinet. They are, apparently, pushing for Governor Bill "McGrabbyhands" Richardson, but I'm throwing my completely inconsiderable weight behind New York Congresswoman (and Small Business Committee Chair) Nydia Velázquez for the top spot at the Small Business Administration. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is supposedly on the list for something (and is, strangely, one of Obama's economic transition advisers), but I think he's more likely to get a sub-Cabinet appointment than a Cabinet slot. [Washington Post]
• Alaska's verified 50,000 of its early and absentee ballots and will start counting them this week to see if convicted and corrupt Senator Ted Stevens will actually win re-election and thus give Governor Sarah Palin a shiny new Senate feather to add to her political cap. [CNN]
• The GOP has started smearing Minnesota's Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie in a misguided attempt to provoke peals of laughter from every Democrat that ever dealt with Katherine Harris and stop the legally-mandated recount in Minnesota because the margin separating Coleman and Franken is still teeny-tiny. Apparently, since 3 people heard him speak at a non-prime-time spot during the Democratic convention, Minnesotans don't need a recount. [TPM Muckraker]
• Noted cursing afficianado Joe Scarborough has earned himself a 7-second on-air delay for saying "Fuck you" earlier this week. My momma would've washed my mouth out with soap, but I could run faster. Not 7 seconds faster, though. [Politico]
• John Edwards has decided to give make his first public appearance following his admission that he fucked around on his wife. What do you think the odds are that audience members will ask him how he's coping with having cuckolded his wife the way that people seemingly insist on asking Elizabeth how she feels about it? Slim to none? [Time]
• Hopefully, the odds are better that the next Congress really will examine Bush's abuses of power next year. [Washington Independent]