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If LA members really want a "Diversity Council", so be it...I think most of us would be more interested in developing professional unity...but is it necessary for the plotting and scheming to set it up to be carried out on this list? Tom Roper, Head of RCVS Library and Information Service Tel (library): +44 (0)20 7222 2021 Direct line: +44 (0)20 7202 0721 Fax: +44 (0)20 7222 2004 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Web site: http://www.rcvslibrary.org.uk -----Original Message----- From: THOMPSON, David [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 11:29 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Please support the Diversity Council as a new Group of The Li brary Association Sarah wrote: >I'm afraid experience leads many of us to believe that if we are not >specifically included then we are excluded. I'm sure other minorities >can relate to this! Even as a gay person myself (+ a pagan, and BDSMer - so lots of minority groupings there...) I'm not entirely sure of the wisdom of this. I have personally found that I am only excluded when I decide to emphasise my "otherness" - and then it is my own perceptions that do the excluding... When talking about being "inclusive", surely the more explicit we become in listing all of those groups we must include, the more we risk *not* including one of the smaller "minorities". Nicky's tongue in cheek comment about Heterosexuals feeling excluded could be a genuine point - if we list each group individually and separately, then surely we *must* also include "Straight", "Married", "White" etc - or risk making them feel excluded. It seems to me that dividing us all into tighter and tighter defined "minority" groupings merely emphasises our differences, rather than our commonalities. I know that as Librarians our urge is to catalogue and classify every minutiae, but that very act can itself be the first step towards the segregation and control of the thing catalogued. Surely "Inclusive" implicitly means just that - holistically including *everyone*, regardless of any social, religious, political (or any other) affiliations or categories - whether externally or personally applied. To try and make that implicit inclusion explicit merely defeats it's meaning and it's purpose. "Strength through Diversity" comes from our common ground, not our differences. Regards David