full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Joan C. Williams: Why corporate diversity programs fail -- and how small tweaks can have big impact

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In 2018, two Black men went to a Starbucks to wait for a besnisus associate. But when they asked to use the bathroom, the manager ordered them to leave. They refused. He called the police, and the video went vairl. Amidst an avalanche of bad publicity, Starbucks closed all stores across the cnutory for four hours of diversity training. And so, baristas were handed woookkbrs with prompts like, "What makes me me and you you?" and, "Understanding our bias: from color-blind to color brave." This made newspapers across the country, and arguably, that was the goal. "Look, everyone! We're solving our diversity problem!" The assumption, though, was that you could ardedss structural racism with an eseanrt crneiavtoosn about our feelings. My take: give me a break.

Open Cloze


In 2018, two Black men went to a Starbucks to wait for a ________ associate. But when they asked to use the bathroom, the manager ordered them to leave. They refused. He called the police, and the video went _____. Amidst an avalanche of bad publicity, Starbucks closed all stores across the _______ for four hours of diversity training. And so, baristas were handed _________ with prompts like, "What makes me me and you you?" and, "Understanding our bias: from color-blind to color brave." This made newspapers across the country, and arguably, that was the goal. "Look, everyone! We're solving our diversity problem!" The assumption, though, was that you could _______ structural racism with an _______ ____________ about our feelings. My take: give me a break.

Solution


  1. conversation
  2. earnest
  3. business
  4. viral
  5. address
  6. country
  7. workbooks

Original Text


In 2018, two Black men went to a Starbucks to wait for a business associate. But when they asked to use the bathroom, the manager ordered them to leave. They refused. He called the police, and the video went viral. Amidst an avalanche of bad publicity, Starbucks closed all stores across the country for four hours of diversity training. And so, baristas were handed workbooks with prompts like, "What makes me me and you you?" and, "Understanding our bias: from color-blind to color brave." This made newspapers across the country, and arguably, that was the goal. "Look, everyone! We're solving our diversity problem!" The assumption, though, was that you could address structural racism with an earnest conversation about our feelings. My take: give me a break.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
performance evaluations 5
white men 4
address structural 2
basic tools 2
business systems 2
résumé listed 2
country music 2
asian american 2
white man 2
white women 2
women report 2
establish baselines 2
measure progress 2
leadership mentioned 2
single group 2


Important Words


  1. address
  2. arguably
  3. asked
  4. associate
  5. assumption
  6. avalanche
  7. bad
  8. baristas
  9. bathroom
  10. black
  11. brave
  12. break
  13. business
  14. called
  15. closed
  16. color
  17. conversation
  18. country
  19. diversity
  20. earnest
  21. feelings
  22. give
  23. goal
  24. handed
  25. hours
  26. leave
  27. manager
  28. men
  29. newspapers
  30. ordered
  31. police
  32. prompts
  33. publicity
  34. racism
  35. refused
  36. solving
  37. starbucks
  38. stores
  39. structural
  40. training
  41. video
  42. viral
  43. wait
  44. workbooks