How Diversity Can Enhance Diplomacy.

• Author: Perry, June Carter

Title: How Diversity Can Enhance Diplomacy

Text: August 2021

Given their life experiences, People of Color (POC) and women already possess many of the skills to succeed in diplomacy. These include cross cultural communications, linguistic competence and acceptance of practices absent from life in the United States and Western countries. From childhood, People of Color and women often learn "to fit" into concepts of appropriate attire, hairstyles and even speech, an experience akin to what diplomats face as they encounter new cultures. Male colleagues often dismiss their statements in meetings. Or, later take credit for their ideas and may perceive efforts to reinforce contributions as demonstrating the individual as being "difficult" or "overbearing", which leaves often good ideas by the wayside in negotiations.

People of Color learn early in life to navigate in a culturally fraught environment and to code switch (via language or dress) in situations where they are often the only person in the room gifted with a natural tan. This cultural awareness is helpful in diplomatic careers.

A wise friend once shared that "99.9% of conflicts are resolved by talking... it's the heart of negotiations and diplomacy." With rich oral traditions, many Black and Brown individuals possess these talking/negotiating skills of diplomacy. Many are also able to use their experiences to address negotiations or bilateral talks in a more welcoming environment and may be viewed as having a commonality of heritage either by ancestry or customs in the receiving country. Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin proposed that "we need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers." As indicated below, women and POC have enriched the State Department and its effectiveness by bringing the concerns of color and gender to the agency's leaders. If these concerns are addressed, officers acquire more confidence and perform better in a supportive atmosphere throughout their diplomatic careers. In the late John Lewis's terms, marginalized individuals embody those "good" troublemakers.

In my 26-year diplomatic career, I have found that People of Color who become Foreign Service Officers bring positive elements of their diverse backgrounds, including linguistic skills honed in a variety of languages that may include Spanish, French, Tagalog and Krio. For example, international affairs students at Howard University who became successful Foreign Service Officers quickly learned the...