Over the past few weeks, The Winters Group has received communications from current and prospective clients stating that they are either going to pause their work with us, or not do it at all due to “competing priorities.” We have seen the momentum and desire for diversity, equity, and inclusion wane over the last year or so — a stark difference from the strong commitments expressed after the murder of George Floyd that gave us hope that we were amidst a movement.
On the heels of the racially motivated murder of three Black people in a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General, 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. After tragedies like what happened in Jacksonville occur, Black employees are expected to shrug it off and come into work like it is business as usual. But it is not. 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.
A social media post the Monday after the murders in Jacksonville from shea wesley martin expressed these very sentiments. They posted, “On Thursday night, cops murdered a pregnant Black woman just a few miles from my home. On Sunday afternoon, a white man walked into Dollar General in Florida and murdered Black folks for existing. [O]n Monday, I wondered why I could not focus on work.” Aiko Bethea, Principal Consultant and Founder of RARE Coaching and Consulting, LLC, posted similar sentiments on LinkedIn about the toll these events take on her well-being and how she interacts with others. Commenters on her post expressed comparable emotions:
“I can’t shake this feeling of anxiousness. We don’t realize how much we are impacted by widespread news of trauma. I hate this for us.”
“Constant feelings of fear and trauma for me!”
“It’s hard to imagine a world where anti-Blackness doesn’t exist. And I’m sad I’ll never experience this in my lifetime.”
“To exist and thrive while black…requires superpowers.”
These commenters may be some of your employees. These may be some of your employees’ same thoughts and feelings.
When the world outside of the organization continues to experience racism, it is important that companies recognize this, and understand how it impacts their people and culture. It is also important to recognize that the walls of the organization do not protect it from experiencing or perpetuating racist practices and systems. As Mary-Frances Winters discusses in We Can’t Talk About That at Work! How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics, when events occur outside of the organization walls, they do not stay there. Employees, especially BIPOC employees, are bringing those feelings with them into work and those discussions are being had at work — even if the company is not making diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority. Discontinuing efforts toward a more inclusive, equitable, and just workplace and society causes more harm and exacerbates inequities.
Organizations need to recommit to their diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism goals. Three years after the murder of George Floyd and we have barely made a dent in actualizing justice. Simply because the outcries may not be as loud as they were in 2020, does not mean the work is done. As Mary-Frances Winters shared in her recent post, this work requires systemic change, and systemic change takes time. We are talking about changing, reimaging, or building anew systems that have been in place for hundreds of years. So, how will we know when we no longer have to focus on racial justice? How will we know when justice is actualized? Justice is actualized when we can no longer predict outcomes by one’s social identity. Justice is actualized when systems no longer cause harm and benefit all of us.
Will you recommit to making diversity, equity, inclusion and (racial) justice at work the priority?
