2019 Federal Election

[tomh009]

This was a major epiphany for me. It took me a long time to realize that a lack of diversity is a major harm...even if you get good people, they won't have a lived experience of other folks.  I do my best to empathize and to understand--which is more than many people do--but I still have never experienced life as say, a person questioning their sexuality, or a person who feels (rightly or wrongly) that the police are the enemy.

Yes, but every individual has lived different experiences. Having skin colour X does not necessarily mean the person has been discriminated against -- in fact, such a person could possibly even be a racist, even if X is not "white". And even if X is "black", it doesn't mean you necessarily have been harassed by the police.

Visible minorities are indeed more likely to be discriminated against, and more likely to be harassed by police, but that does not mean that every such person has had those experiences. So a candidate having such a skin colour may not have lived such experiences, either. (In fact, it's probably less likely than average as most political candidates tend to come from the higher socioeconomic classes.) On the other hand, a candidate (regardless of skin colour) who has experienced poverty and/or homelessness would indeed bring some valuable experience into the discussion.