Moving Past Appearances: Replacing Tokenism with True Allyship

Most of us see tokenizing every day, but it can be most obvious during days or months dedicated to marginalized communities. We see voices and faces that are amplified but not respected. True allyship, however, entails supporting systemic change, rather than performative tokenization (Af3irm, 2021).

Tokenizing is the use of the image or presence of marginalized individuals and those with lived experiences- especially people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, people with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence- in order to appear inclusive, but without sharing decision-making power with those communities. Tokenizing benefits those with power under the guise of benefiting the oppressed. Rather than the performative act of tokenizing, those with power have the opportunity to use their privilege to create space for marginalized folks to be at the forefront. There is an opportunity to fight alongside communities for their rights in impactful ways- ways that extend beyond appearances.

Allies will never be perfect, but no one is asking us to be. We all have multiple identities, and most of us know what oppression feels like, most of us live it every day. You can be both oppressed in one way and hold privilege in another. In some spaces, you may be part of the community, while in others you may be an ally. True allyship takes acknowledging both your privilege and your lack thereof, apologizing when you mess up, taking the time to learn on your own, and listening and taking it in when someone is kind enough to tell you how you can be more inclusive.

Here are some examples of tokenizing marginalized communities and how those in power can replace those behaviors with true allyship:

1. Uplifting Voices: Oftentimes, the voices of oppressed communities are uplifted during one month or day out of the year. Instead, uplift diverse voices year-round. Acknowledge that oppression occurs year-round and that marginalized communities matter year-round.
2. Sharing Power: Uplifting and amplifying voices is one step, but it is not enough. Rather than asking folks to speak about their lived experiences of oppression but not asking their opinions on how to lead, share decision-making power in your organization. Ensure oppressed communities are represented and hold power at all levels.
3. Compensation: Sometimes individuals from impacted and oppressed communities are paid in gift cards or asked to volunteer because there is an assumption that they should sacrifice for the greater good. We must compensate marginalized folks competitively for their work. Otherwise, we are contributing to cycles of economic abuse and re-exploitation.
4. Images of Marginalized Folks: Some companies use images of oppressed communities in their marketing, but fail to ensure that their programs, policies, and products are not causing harm to those communities. Instead, engage with the community to learn from them what is the real (intended and unintended) impact on staff from diverse backgrounds as well as the communities the company serves.
5. Symbols vs. Institutional Action: A symbol is only an image until it is supported by action. If a company posts a rainbow flag or mentions a particular month or day alone — like Juneteenth, Human Trafficking prevention, Black history, Sexual Assault awareness, AAPI heritage, Pride, Domestic Violence awareness, and many more- that symbolism should be paired with cultivating inclusive and affirming spaces with leadership opportunities for those communities. When in doubt, begin to change your culture by hiring experts with lived experience to partner with the marginalized folks at your company (staff as well as customers/clients). Institutionalized racism and discrimination has taken years, decades, and centuries to build, but it can be dismantled. The pain and trauma can never be undone, but we can fight for more for our communities.
6. Public Statements vs. Systemic Change: Rather than simply stating that a company is inclusive, back it up by co-creating strong anti-discrimination agency policies and enforcing them with accountability. But don’t stop there. Support community-led local, state and federal legislation that protects the rights of the oppressed.
7. Checking the Box: Many organizations wait until the very end to ask for input from marginalized folks (just to check the box and say they are inclusive). Instead, make space for those individuals to lead, create, and mold the work.
8. More Than a Story: Instead of reducing people to only a representation of the one identity we want to highlight, acknowledge them as whole, complex human beings with ideas and value that extends beyond their experiences of oppression. Never silence someone’s story, but never treat them like that is all they have to offer.
9. Controlling the Narrative through Sensationalizing: Experiences of trauma are often sensationalized or sugarcoated to fit the narrative that those in power want to tell. Marginalized communities should be represented as they choose, on their terms. Tokenizing can look like highlighting only the harms a community has experienced, displaying their pain for the world to observe for our own curiosity, morbidity, viewing pleasure, or savior/rescue mentality. This is also a form of what is referred to as “trauma porn,” the viewing of the pain of oppressed bodies for entertainment or notoriety.
10. Controlling the Narrative through Sugarcoating: Tokenizing can also look like highlighting only the healing and successes of oppressed communities without acknowledging the ongoing and historical pain. This is a form of minimizing harm and using power to control the narrative so those with privilege feel most comfortable. Instead, we should hold space for and educate on both the historical and ongoing pain and trauma, as well as the historical and ongoing resilience and healing.

To those who are feeling tokenized today, this month, and likely most days throughout the year, know you are not alone. If you are feeling exhausted by it all, know your feelings are valid. If you are feeling angry or resentful or sad or numb or anything in between, know these are all natural responses to generational, historical, and ongoing trauma and oppression. If you are feeling reduced to being defined by your traumatic experiences, know that it is one part of your life and that you are so much more. You deserve to be both heard and respected. My hope is that you can find a community that understands- or at least can be empathetic with- your journey, a community that doesn’t tokenize you but instead acknowledges and uplifts you, a community that holds space for you as the whole, complex human being you are.

And to those with power and privilege who strive to be allies, let’s replace performative tokenization with true allyship and shared power, let’s move past appearances and into action.