Today was a bit of a unique day. It was less about the land and resources today and much more about what it is like to be part of the federal government. Every five years, Washington DC sends someone out to review the diversity of the districts. I could tell that Rich wasn't really concerned that he would be in any sort of trouble, especially since he was the regional leader for the Civil Review group in this area. But it was also a review, so there were definitely some tension going around. Today I mostly sat back and observed the insanity but it gave a different view of what it means to work for the government.
We had organized all the civil review information, including pamphlets for Black, Asian, Latino, Native American, and other what the government calls "socially disadvantaged people". Being someone with a diverse background and having been raised in an extremely diverse area, I am no stranger to the tensions talking about race causes. I find the term socially disadvantaged for diversity ridiculous. Apparently before it was that, it was historically underserved, and before that just called minority. It's interesting to see the change over the years as people normally not owning large farms or ranches take over and attempt to make definitions apply. I also really enjoy watching people attempt to be "politically correct". I felt bad for Rich as I watched him try to be extremely professional when talking about the diversity in clients and in staff while talking to the reviewer, which happened to be a black female. I think because I grew up in such diversity, I don't think I would have cared if the reviewer was white, black, asian, latino, purple, blue or an alien, I would still speak the way I felt comfortable. Which might possibly be something I should learn to change if I need to be professional in a job someday.
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