Expressing a political opinion, especially publicly, has always felt like a risky move. It holds the risk of nasty ideological confrontation; it can end friendships, or a job. A person might not want to risk learning something they’d rather not know about someone they respect (or conversely, share views that are unpopular), lest their view of that person changes radically and irreparably alters that relationship. Taking a political stance can rock the boat in a manner that disrupts our peace and makes our daily existence more complicated.
Not everyone has the luxury of being apolitical, though. For some, their very identity is political. Ask any immigrant, trans person, or the targets of the attacks on DEI or anything considered “woke.” People in any of these groups (and many others) are thrust into the political fray, often against their wishes, as pawns in another’s ideological agenda. When your very existence is political, you don’t have the luxury of being apolitical.
Personally, I am generally non-confrontational. I speak out when I feel circumstances require it, but I tend to keep my personal opinions to myself. The past few years have made it difficult to keep quiet. More and more, I’ve been commenting on hypocritical, anti-humanist ideas that tend to threaten the liberties and agency of other people and taking a public stance for the ideas that I believe can uplift and empower everyone.
At work, this can be much trickier. I keep my political stance quiet for the most part, but it isn’t hard to know where I stand; it tends to manifest itself in the work I do. For one, I’m a Black man living in Chicago. Second, I’m a Human Centered Design practitioner. My job is to talk to everyday people and advocate for their empowerment in situations where they may not have much. As noble as that may sound, there are those that profess that working towards universal empowerment is not a good thing. There is an increasingly pervasive idea that rugged individualism trumps community, and if someone ever finds themselves in a moment of dire need, that person is nothing more than a parasite and a burden on our society.
As a designer, my success depends on community. I have a responsibility to push for outcomes that empower the people that make use of the solutions I create. That often means taking into account how a proposed solution will impact people in distinct communities, regardless of their background. Diversity is an asset in this work. Many a company or product have failed because a decision maker gave his own preferences too much weight and neglected to consider other viewpoints.
Embracing viewpoints other than your own is an act of empathy, which, believe it or not, is also now being politicized. It is a key principle for being an effective HCD practitioner. Simply put, empathy is the ability to identity with the challenges someone other than yourself may face. Put even more simply, empathy is caring. Caring about individuals, about communities, about society and its collective challenges. The idea that caring for others is considered a liability, a weakness amongst a vocal and active segment of our society is not only distressing, it is shortsighted. The irony is that same cohort will expect empathy for their grievances while denying it for others. Its not hard to see why this approach does not work; it stokes yet more harm and division, and threatens to destabilize society as a whole.
It becomes more and more difficult to hold on to the principle of empathy when we see increased antipathy towards one another. The ease with which some among us are willing to inflict harm and suffering on others makes it all too easy to harbor no empathy for those willing to inflict that harm. I find myself guilty of slipping into the morass, barking back at any expression of an anti-humane viewpoint. To be clear, embracing empathy is not the same as tolerating abhorrent views and actions. It is still possible to embrace empathy while taking a solid stand against anti-humane views. Designers have learned how to pitch the principle of empathy to business, and explain why it benefits business. Doing that requires taking a stand for not just the practice of Design, but for what design makes possible, and how it can contribute to humanity, as a whole.