Ending discrimination is a long-term project, said Mohamed Alsadig, and to get there people must embrace discomfort.
Alsadig, the executive director of the Greater Mankato Diversity Council, presented on the topic Tuesday as part of the Free Press Knowledge and Lecture Series.
“You have to feel the discomfort,” he told attendees. “Otherwise everything is nice and rosy and you just continue on the cycle.”
Breaking the cycle can’t be done overnight, he said. He sees it taking 20, 50, 100 years or more, but by embracing tough conversations now it’ll only help the next generations carry the effort forward.
His presentation touched on the history of racial classification, colorism, ways to help stop discrimination, and the limitations of diversity, equity and inclusion programming.
Because race is a human construct, he said he avoids classifying people by it. He attributed race classification to Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s work in the 1700s, when the German anthropologist defined different racial groups.
“There’s only one race, the human kind of race,” Alsadig said. “I’m not going to abide by somebody from the 1700s that said we are divided into five races.”
Discrimination can come in many forms beyond race, he said. It can be based on skin tone, age, religion, sex, national origin and more.
Alsadig — originally from northern Sudan but a longtime Mankato resident — acknowledged that white people don’t experience the same discrimination as people with darker skin tones, but said his work isn’t focused on guilting people.
“We can not continue to make people feel guilty about something they did not themselves feel they were part of,” he said.
Guilting or forcing people into diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts pushes them away, he said. It’s why the diversity council adopted a broader approach known as IDEA.
The letters in IDEA can include diversity, equity, inclusion, while going beyond it into education, action, accountability or more. By taking that approach, he said conversations become more fluid and inviting.
Many people have otherwise become fatigued by DEI projects, which he thinks have been misused by organizations for their own gain.
“We have to figure out ways where everybody is welcome rather than feeling pushed away or feeling like they’re pressured or forced,” he said.
Along with embracing tough conversations, he encouraged people to promote education on discrimination, be respectful, be thoughtful with their finances, shop local and celebrate other cultures as steps to take to stop discrimination.
He also advised people to research their identities and backgrounds. Knowing your history, both the good and bad, is important for education.
“Understand it so you can avoid the bad things and take away the good things,” he said.
Dominick Hall attended Tuesday’s event, saying he resonated in particular with one of Alsadig’s messages about not giving up in the effort to end discrimination.
“You just can’t give up,” he said. “You have to keep pushing forward.”