Welcome
Welcome to the HPU Libraries' Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Research Guide. This guide is intended to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion among the HPU community; to highlight social justice issues key to both HPU and our broader Hawaiʻi community, and to provide access to resources and facilitate learning and research in these areas.
In alignment with HPU's value of pono, HPU Libraries seeks to address social justice issues respectfully, with urgency and integrity.
In alignment with HPU's value of kuleana, HPU Libraries acknowledges that individuals and communities are differentially subject to discrimination and precarity based on intersectional identities (Crenshaw, 1989 [see suggested reading below]), including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, ability, national origin, and socioeconomic class. HPU Libraries is committed to--and aims to encourage--a culture of continuous praxis in EDI work.
In alignment with HPU's value of aloha, HPU Libraries aims to uphold the principles of kindness and humility by embracing the multifaceted identities of ourselves and our fellow community members; encouraging self-care especially for those with marginalized/oppressed identities; and by engaging in committed advocacy and/or allyship for marginalized and oppressed communities.
What is diversity?
“Diversity” denotes difference and variety. As a value, diversity translates into an embrace of difference among aspects of identity, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, ability, national origin, and socioeconomic class.
Diversity work involves acknowledging the unique, intersectional identities of ourselves and of others and how these lead to differences in lived experience. The goals of diversity work are not to enforce assimilation or homogenization, nor to merely achieve “tolerance” of difference. Instead the goals are to truly value our differences in identity, lived experience, and perspective, and--essentially--to eliminate differential exposure to discrimination and precarity that individuals and communities experience based on aspects of identity. As Sandra Ríos Balderrama says, “diversity requires ongoing learning--continual education--not learned in one swoop, with one handbook, with one set of guidelines" (Balderrama, 2000 [see suggested reading below]).
What is equity?
“Equity” means fairness and justice. The concept of equity recognizes that individuals and communities benefit from and/or are hindered by bias in different ways. The concept thus prioritizes structural supports for marginalized and oppressed invidividuals and communities.
What is inclusion?
Inclusion is a sustained, continuous practice aimed at promoting a sense of belonging, involvement, and empowerment for all members within a community. Inclusion aims to ensure that the complex, intersecting identities of all community members are recognized, respected, and valued.
Are diversity and inclusion enough?
While diversity and inclusion are essential practices, challenging and dismantling individual, group, and systemic biases also requires anti-oppression (adapted from Simmons University Library). Anti-oppression involves actively working to eradicate biases on all levels, as well as the systems of power and privilege that perpetuate marginalization and oppression. For those who hold privilege, it also means not being complicit in oppressing groups without privilege; this requires continuous learning and listening to those who occupy marginalized and oppressed identities. All three--diversity, inclusion, and anti-oppression--are necessary to work towards achieving justice and equity.
In this guide, HPU Libraries is compiling resources to support research and education in these key areas.
Very limited suggestions for further reading
This guide--and our learning--are works in progress. Please email us at reference@hpu.edu with feedback and suggestions for improving this guide, and correcting our errors, implicit biases, and blind spots.
We would also love to hear your suggestions for new content focused on communities not yet represented here. We appreciate you sharing your time and knowledge!
This LibGuide was originally created by Laila Brown.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.