Why are we still talking about diversity?

Fatima Syed — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 15:58:05 +0000

“Is it Fateeema?” asked two editors interviewing me in a boardroom much too big for a three-person meeting. I tried to impress them with three story ideas: something about transit, something about local politics and something about immigration. They asked follow-up questions about the third one—How did I think of the story? What are the main issues? How would the story come together?—even though I thought the second was better developed and delivered.

For the first time, I was concerned that becoming a journalist in Canada might mean accepting that I would probably be placed in a box. It’s a box many people have written about and many still live in. Historically, these voices are rarely heard, so now every time I don’t get a job, I wonder if it has anything to do with my name or my ethnicity.

For too long, the white landscape of Canadian journalism has stood on excuses, such as:

“We don’t get a diverse pool of applicants.”
“We couldn’t find anyone qualified.”
“We don’t have the resources.”
“It’s just the way things are.”
“We tried our best.”

When did the conversation get stuck on repeat? …

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Why are we still talking about diversity?