Thread by @michaelharriot

Three years ago, I realized one of my lifelong dreams that reflects the racial progress this country has made throughout its history.

I became a diversity hire.

A thread.

Growing up, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED stand-up. As a kid, I watched episodes of "Evening at the Improv) & once got in trouble for listening to Richard Pryor (Even worse, I dubbed it over my grandma's James Cleveland album).

And I LOVED Late-night TV.

Every night, my mom would even record Johnny Carson's monologue for me (This was BEFORE VCRs. She would literally put a cassette tape recorder by the TV & hit record).

I swung on a college roommate once because he turned off my favorite show – David Letterman

I always wanted to write for a late-night TV show but there was just one problem:

I was Black.

It's not that that late-night TV writers' rooms didn't hire Black people. It's that NO ONE DID.

Plus, it wasn't like I could just Google "How to become a late-night TV writer"

It's always interesting to look at IMDB and discover how few Black people wrote for shows like The Jeffersons, Good Times" or even The Cosby Show.

Even when you see Black people on TV, their words are usually written in white writers' rooms staffed by white showrunners.

To be fair, it's possible white showrunners don't hate Black people or intentionally exclude them. Maybe –like every other industry– white showrunners are just people who hire ppl they know, whose work they are familiar with or ppl they just "vibe with."

But here's the thing:

It turns out, the reverse isn't true.

When @ColorOfChange examined 234 Television shows across streaming, cable and network platforms, MOST white-led writers rooms had no Black writers. Nearly 90% had 1 or fewer

EVERY SINGLE Black showrunner hired multiple white writers.

Now, a lot of people have the mistaken opinion that racism & white supremacy have something to do with hatred or intent.

But, according to a very obscure book called a "dictionary," TV writers' rooms fit the literal, statistical definition of racism and white supremacy.

Anyway, in 2021, I recieved an offer to work on a new late-night talk show headed by a Black woman. To my surprise, the writer's room was majority Black.

By then, I had written THOUSANDS of articles for major publications including for @TheAtlantic @washingtonpost @NYMag @THR

I had written two television specials. I had a social media following.

Now I was NEVER under the impression that being Black had NOTHING TO DO WITH me getting the job.

And, of course, there were a lot of white writers with better resumes and more experience in late-night television.

But does that mean I took a job from someone who was MORE QUALIFIED than I was?

Does it mean that I got the job because I was Black?

One more question:

Let's say I was just an unqualified diversity hire who stole a job from a more qualified white man...

Why isn't anyone mad at all those white writers hired by white showrunners in all those white writers rooms?

Statistically, MORE of them have to be unqualified, right?

My point is, if you equate "diversity," with "unqualified," you have to INTENTIONALLY overlook the history of EVERY SINGLE INDUSTRY THAT'S EVER EXISTED IN THIS COUNTRY

You'd have to believe that ALL THOSE WHITE PEOPLE who got ALL those jobs were MORE qualified

Then you believe in the OPPOSITE of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

There's actually a phrase for people who believe in the opposite of Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The phrase also perfectly explains why anyone would automatically equate "diversity" with "unqualified" or support a status quo system that continues to perpetuate inequality.

Anyway, here is the first thing I wrote as an unqualified diversity hire.