Read about how representation can sometimes be used for the wrong reasons and how you can become aware of it.
Edited by Tyler Vu
Tokenism can encompass a vast amount of topics, so the best place to start is simply by defining what it is. The Oxford Dictionary defines tokenism as:
The practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality within a workforce.
Essentially, tokenism is the act of representing a group/race through only one or a couple of people. Through this, groups can make larger organizations or people doing this seem more inclusive. For example, suppose a woman receives a job at an overwhelmingly male company. In that case, the public may question whether the company is biased in choosing the people they hire; they can use the one woman to show that they do not discriminate. Situations like this raise questions such as whether people are hired to companies based on their merit or simply because companies want to make the impression that they are diverse. The effects of tokenism can also be damaging to the people it is done to. For example, affirmative action (essentially favoring one group of people due to discrimination against them, used especially in college) can make people question their own abilities. A black person who gets into Stanford, for example, may wonder whether they got in because of their accomplishments in school or because they are a minority. If a member of the LGBT community gets a job in a highly competitive field, was it merely to make the company appear diverse or because the person has legitimate skills? While the intent may be good (hiring a woman to a majority male workplace; hiring a black person in a majority white industry), as Consuela Knox stated in a panel at Vanderbilt University: “You could be in an organization where there are very few people like you. And in one regard, it could have been that you were hired as a token. In another regard, it could be a company that’s really, genuinely interested in diversifying but their efforts haven’t been fruitful…the intent was good, they just haven’t gotten things lined up well.”
Now, let us look at another way tokenism can be harmful. Tokenism can misrepresent a group of people to the public and enable an organization to have discriminatory habits without much backlash. This was precisely the concern when Jay-Z joined the NFL to “amplify the league’s social justice efforts.” The NFL has already been subjected to criticism regarding Colin Kaepernick’s situation and how he has remained unsigned for four years since resigning from the San Francisco 49ers. In addition to that, after Colin Kaepernick kneeled, garnering nationwide controversy, the NFL banned on-field kneeling in response. Going along with this, the league’s richest owners are all white and billionaires and the NFL’s League offices, head coaches and CEO/Presidents are all majority-white by a large margin (CEO/Presidents specifically being 100% white). In contrast, the average NFL player’s salary is 2.7 million and the NFL players are 70% black, so there is an apparent racial question to be asked, particularly whether white owners are profiting off of black athletes who are the ones who are at risk of severe injury. Given all these problems outlined, Jay-Z’s decision to join the NFL made people wonder whether this would serve as a benefit to the few at the top of the NFL and a detriment to actual change within the organization. Tokenism comes into play here because if people questioned whether the NFL was doing their part to reduce the amount of racism present in the league, they can point to Jay-Z and use him in order to show and prove their “efforts” even if they had not done anything. The simple fact that Jay-Z is part of the league’s social justice reform branch allows the NFL to use him as a black man who approves of what actions they are making, no matter how minuscule. Jay-Z is seen as a token suppressing people’s criticisms of whether the league is doing enough for racial justice reform. Finally, tokenism can be most harmful when used in the media. In this case, the danger is with misrepresentation. In some cases, the effects of tokenism are blatant. A perfect example of this is Horace Cooper, who frequently is a guest on Fox News, a news outlet that speaks to a 74% white demographic. Horace Cooper is a black man who often spews rhetoric such as “America isn’t a racist country,” attempting to disqualify the systemic racism in America, and wrote a book called How Trump is Making Black America Great Again. These sentiments do not resonate with the majority of black America, yet they are the talking points, being fed a majority white audience, who already may discount the concerns most black people have about issues of race in America. Horace Cooper’s ideas misrepresent what black Americans live through and feel to a substantial amount of Americans who do not even understand the larger issues in the first place. This is the most potent and irresponsible use of tokenism. It does not promote diversity. It does not attempt to represent. It does not provide a voice for the people. Tokenism only encourages deception and excuses for organizations and those with influence. Sources: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/tokenism https://business.vanderbilt.edu/news/2018/02/26/tokenism-in-the-workplace/ https://www.nfl.com/news/jay-z-s-roc-nation-entering-partnership-with-nfl https://qz.com/1287915/the-nfls-racial-makeup-explains-much-of-its-national-anthem-problems/ https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/01/heres-what-the-average-nfl-players-makes-in-a-season.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/10/nfls-richest-billionaire-owners.html https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-your-team-didnt-sign-colin-kaepernick-1514312820 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/23/nfl-bans-on-field-kneeling-during-the-national-anthem.html https://www.foxnews.com/media/horace-cooper-and-an-anti-independence-day-activist-spar-over-the-holiday-stay-away-from-the-tide-pods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsrEscm33D0 https://pos.org/whos-watching-a-look-at-the-demographics-of-cable-news-channel-watchers/
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