I was excited to be asked to review the book Out & Equal in the Workplace: From Closet to Corner Office, edited by Selisse Berry. The reason I am interested in this book is that the contents of the book match what I believe: that everyone needs to be treated equally and fairly. The book is comprised of chapters written by company executives, many of them members of the LGBT community, who have helped push this issue in the workplace.
I was very surprised and pleased to hear that many well-known companies are supportive in this area: Disney, Clorox, Dell, HP, to name a few. Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, Chief Diversity Officer at Campbell Soup company states something that stayed with me:
…”Isms” are a part of my life…My work is to create ways for people to learn about the impact of biases and stereotypes on minority and majority members. It is my job to change behaviors and help companies become more away and inclusive…
O’Neale’s thoughts are the same as mine. I feel it is important for readers, especially young readers to read books with characters who look, act, or think like them. Books are getting better about including minority populations, but the characters are still marginal and usually stereotypical characters. That’s what pluralism is: including everyone.