* Marginalizing the interest of underrepresented groups.
* Using tokenistic gestures [token black, token woman, token services etc]
* Stereotypical assumptions.
* Omissions of modifications, adaptations or changes.
* Decisions based on stereotypical or patronising assumptions.
* Hidden assimilationist assumptions relative to resources.
* Excluding under-represented groups from positions of responsibility and power.
* Building in failure.
* Rationalising failure.
* Negating the effectiveness of diversity management initiatives, including the work of outside consultants, trainers and researchers.
* Refusing to believe or being seen to be refusing to believe that the organisation can possibly be discriminating against underrepresented groups.
Denial of responsibility for injustice takes many forms, among the most common are:
* Blaming people, the targets of injustice/discrimination, for the effects of that injustice/discrimination.
* Promoting equal responsibility theories for addressing the effects of oppression.
* Hiding the centrality of institutional promotion and perpetuation of injustice. (the one bad apple mythology)
* Focusing blame on one individual's behaviour, rather than looking at the institutional and cultural context for that behaviour.
* Tokenism: the effort to overturn racism or sexism etc in a white supremacist institution by hiring “one” person of colour or a woman in a leadership position, while leaving the racist/sexist politics, practice and power intact.
* Judging discriminatory behaviour by the intent of the oppressor rather than effect on the oppressed.
* Speaking and writing with racially colour coded terms, such as criminal, illegal alien, immigrant, welfare mother, drug dealer, gang, etc; instead of the racial epithets that were common in times past.
* How can you tell when a white person is denying personal responsibility for racial injustice? Listen for the “but. I'm not a racist, but...
* How can you tell when a white person is denying collective responsibility of white people and white institutions for racial injustice? Look for the passive or inactive voice in the verbs. Such as, “The indigenous people died of many diseases. or The young man was made homeless...”
Paraphrased in part from: http://www.prisonactivist.org/archive/cws/cws-culture.html
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