The Little Red Hen Gets Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training.

Part One of a Two Part Story

Introduction

The story of “The Little Red Hen,” a classic children’s fable appeared in St. Nicholas magazine in 1874 and was later published in a collection of children’s stories in 1918. This antiquated story is a defense of hegemonic capitalism and privilege hording and could be considered a dated relic. Perhaps, it should even be banned.

Alternatively, it might be rewritten to offer updated moral lessons and point out the inherent flaws it seeks to perpetuate. Having chosen the latter, I have rewritten the story. It will be presented in two parts. In Part One, the little Red Hen will learn the error of her ways and get diversity, equity and inclusion training. In Part Two, we will follow the story as the happy diverse farm lives a woke life and learns some lessons in economics.

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Part One

The Little Red Hen Gets a Lesson in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

One day, the little Red Hen was in the farmyard with her chicks when she found some grains of wheat. That is a small seed that can grow into a plant.

"Who will plant this wheat?" she said. “Will someone help me plant it. Then we can have more grain when the plants grow.”

"Not I," said the Goose.

"Not I," said the Cat.

"I will, then," said the little Red Hen. She was disappointed. The other animals should have helped. But she planted the grains of wheat by herself. She watered it, too. Every day she checked the plants to see how they grew.

After a month, the wheat seeds grew into plants. The wheat plants grew and had many more seeds. “Those can be planted or used to make food, when the wheat is ripe,” she said.

After the wheat was ripe, the little Red Hen said, "Who will take this wheat to the mill?" The mill is a place where people grind the seeds and turn it into flour. Then you can make bread from the flour.

"Not I," said the Goose.

"Not I," said the Cat.

"I will, then," said the little Red Hen, sadly. “I will do it myself.” So, she took the wheat to the mill by herself.

When she brought the flour home, she said, "Who will help make some bread with this flour?"

"Not I," said the Goose.

"Not I," said the Cat.

"I will, then," said the little Red Hen. She was disappointed again.

When the bread was baked, she said, "Who will eat this bread?"

"I will," said the Goose

"I will," said the Cat.

"No, you won't," said the little Red Hen. "You did not help. My chicks and I will eat it ourselves. Cluck! Cluck!"

“You are living in the past and must be reeducated,” said the Goose. “In goose culture we do not put work before play like you chickens; but our goose culture should be equally as respected as your chicken culture. All animals must be treated equitably and receive a fair share of the bread!”

“Yes!” said the Cat, “You have bread and we don’t. Your parents taught you to peck in the dirt and find seeds. Mine never taught me that. You have chicken privilege and are hoarding that privilege for yourself and your chicks.”

“Do you think chickens are better than geese and cats?” asked the Goose. “If so, you are a terrible animal – you are a speciesist!”

Now the little Red Hen really had to stop and think about this. Life had always been this way on the farm, the animal that made food owned it and could do as they chose with it. But the Goose and the Cat were hungry and they were her neighbors. Perhaps they had a good point and she should share the bread.

As she was mulling over this dilemma, her chicks piped in. “Momma,” said the first chick, “the Goose and the Cat are right. We learned about this in school.” “Our class read from a book by Robin DiAngelo, and she said:”

The system of racism begins with ideology…Examples of Ideology in the United States include individualism, the superiority of capitalism as an economic system and democracy as a political system, consumerism as a desirable lifestyle, and meritocracy (anyone can succeed if he or she works hard.)…

Whites enact racism while maintaining a positive self-image in many ways [including]:

• Attributing inequality between whites and people of color to causes other than racism.

The chick continued, “The fact that you worked hard to make the bread and feel it belongs to you, is speciesist; because it represents individualism, capitalism and meritocracy. The fact that we have bread, and the Cat and the Goose do not, can only be attributed to speciesism.”

The little Red Hen paused to think for a second, and said, “We’ll that’s certainly a new way to look at things. Thank you for sharing what you have learned at school.”

Then the second chick piped in, “Yes Momma, we read a book by an expert named Ibram X. Kendi, and he says:”

The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only answer to past discrimination is present discrimination….

To be antiracist is to equalize the race-classes. To be antiracist is to root out the disparities between the equal race-classes in policies, not people….

The source of racist ideas is not ignorance and hate, but self-interest.

“Well children,” said the Little Red Hen. “Our schools have the finest experts in the world sharing their knowledge. They certainly know more than me, I am just a barnyard hen, they must be correct. That’s why they call them experts right? You have convinced me. The equitable thing is for us to stop hording our privilege and share our food with the Goose and the Cat.”

And so, the little Red Hen and her chicks sat down at the table with the Goose and the Cat and shared a lovely meal. They all became best of friends and there was no more jealousy or strife on the farm.

To be continued; look for part two on Tuesday, April 20th.

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