None of us can remain silent.
I work in Diversity and Inclusion and have conducted Unconscious Bias workshops for over a decade. Some things have changed and some remain the same. I’m concerned we’ve avoided the hard work of actual inclusion. There’s definitely been progress for women in the workplace, but focusing on one area of diversity, gender equity, while remaining overly silent about racial equity, is problematic, at a minimum. We must refuse to choose, instead, promoting and working to ensure both are addressed.
After watching the stories in the US unfold, I can’t remain silent. Who can? Collectively we must now address the simmering issues of workplace inequality, moving beyond talk to action.
Let’s look at racialized realities in two industries: tech and banking.
“Among 8 of the largest U.S. tech companies, the portion of black workers in technical jobs rose from 2.5 percent in 2014 to 3.1 percent in 2017.”
“At JPMorgan Chase, Women and African Americans respectively made up 25.8 percent and 2.9 percent of senior executives in 2015. That rose to 26.3 percent and 3.7 percent in 2018.”
It’s not hard to see there’s been a greater focus on gender diversity than on racial inclusion in corporate governance. As of 2019, women hold a seat at every single S&P 500 company! While we can rightly celebrate no more all-male boards, here’s another statistic: In 2019, 37% of S&P 500 companies had not one single black board member. Some may say the tide is changing. After all, Facebook, Alphabet, and HP have two African Americans on their boards. However, a wholesale change in board diversity has lagged. As we tackle systemic racism, we must also address how both gender and race intersect to empower or disempower people.
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