Now is not the time to pause or stop racial justice at work. It cannot be a “competing priority” that gets pushed down the list of importance. It is the priority. Your Black employees are hurting. Cutting or postponing efforts toward racial justice and equity in the workplace sends the message that you do not care about them or their well-being.
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One component of the DEIJ alphabet that often gets overlooked is the “A”– Accessibility. Considering accessibility as a standard practice in marketing offers incredible opportunities to build equity, inclusion, and justice. Marketing has one of the most influential and significant impacts on accessibility within an organization.
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Why can’t most white Americans lean in when conversations about race get uncomfortable? I’m not here to answer that question, but what has become increasingly clear to me is the harmful impact this dynamic has on BIPOC, especially from self-proclaimed “white allies.” In my experience, here are the top 5 ways I have witnessed and/or perpetuated, the centering of white comfort.
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The current anti-diversity rhetoric became very loud only after organizations pledged to focus on racial diversity after the murder of George Floyd. Diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts center on many dimensions of identity in addition to race including gender and gender identity, military status, people with disabilities, religion, and generational differences. Diversity objectives are about all employees, not just those who are protected by legislation.
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Make no mistake: Overrepresentation of white people in professional spaces not only has negative consequences on people’s day-to-day understanding of others and current events, but also for the health and long-term sustainability of our organizations. What can organizations do now to be proactive and stay ahead of the consequences of the Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action ruling?
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Many years ago, I suffered a heart attack. I have been battling heart disease since then, and I have learned that stress management is my number one task in managing my heart disease. I have found Neurofeedback — a way of monitoring brain waves in real time and building training around desired brain activity — helpful for both my health and for enhancing attributes to address political polarization.
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What is holding so many workplaces in a pattern that lacks direction or purpose? The simplest answer: complacency. In organizations big and small, there is widespread DEIJ overwhelm and disconnect. A general laissez-faire, opt-in engagement approach that yields mediocre outcomes, low accountability, and slow progress.
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Because whiteness is a dominant identity group in the context of white supremacy, white experiences dominate and voicing other experiences can be arduous. After being repeatedly dismissed, denied, diminished, disbelieved, and deflected, this experience becomes harder to express. Hence, people of color stop talking about it altogether. And if they’re not talking about it, then we’re not hearing it.
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After learning of your organization’s hard-to-swallow truths, sustain the effort of creating transformative systems of accountability by asking your whole organization why a transformative system of accountability is relevant, necessary, and important. Ask questions like these…
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When the impact of our sharing is not fully taken in because we’ve opted to jump immediately towards solutioning, fixing, or rushing, we actually don’t get to the roots of the problems that we intend to solve. We get half solutions based on partial truths.
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I started to review all of my friendships with white women: Could they be my true friend if they love me, but are apathetic toward ending the oppression of people who look like me? Am I the “Black friend” in their argument as to why they can’t be racist?
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After over 20 years of work in different industries, one commonality has been present. It is the fact that my tears are seen as an inability to do my job, my passion seen as aggression, my questioning seen as insubordination. There is a clear line between the way BIPOC are allowed to express themselves. It is time for a mindset shift. Here are a few things to remember as we do the work to create more inclusive spaces for our BIPOC employees.
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