Five Critical Steps for a National Action Plan on Racial Equality

Tone-deaf to the cries of protest and calls for help, America is in a self-inflicted crisis. Peaceful protests are ignored, inclusive voting participation acts are labelled as fraudulent, black professional athletes are told to shut up and dribble or worse, blackballed from their profession all while economic prosperity fractures at the color line. We treat the crisis symptoms of with overwhelming physical force and soul-crushing indignity. Our POTUS demands “no more game playing” and “get tough and fight” then describes the “most vicious dogs and ominous weapons” ready to confront protesters.

For the better, awareness is changing. CEOs are stepping up. They acknowledge the crisis and decry systemic racism and inequality. But thoughtful tweets and generous donations alone won’t get us through this.

It’s time for a national action plan on racism and inequality.

It’s a five part plan for a community:

1. Convene daily the local business, community, protest and police leaders to navigate the current situation together. Weekly press conferences should be held to share the results of the conversations and the plans. Every city needs a Task Force Against Racial Inequity
2. Commit to a joint police and protest leader dialog with two primary goals: A: isolate individuals responsible for instigating looting or property destruction. Expose instigators and turn them in to authorities. B: respect and dignify the protests, allow them to disrupt traffic and whatever normalcy we have. Protests should be not be overshadowed by destruction. The protests must be heard, seen, and respected without destruction of property and looting. Both can happen together, but only if the police and protest leaders work together.
3. End police militarization replace with a policy of deescalation. Police forces must reject the Israeli training handbook on forceful repression, tear gas, rubber bullets and crowd control designed to subdue protestors. Militarized policing disproportionally impacts communities of color and lower incomes. Police officers and protestors are members of our community. There is no military solution between them.
4. Publish metrics of racial inequality in their community. Reports and tracking of dashboard metrics related to racial inequality and treatment of people of color vs. whites should be published monthly. Blacks must feel safe in our communities and be protected by our legal and police system and not victimized. Only what we measure, can we improve. The data will help us celebrate progress or address regressions. But no longer can we ignore reality. We tracked Covid-19 with unprecedented detail. We can treat this crisis just as seriously.
5. Take aggressive action to reduce the racial economic inequality. After this economic depression, we must end up in a better place. Recovery is no longer enough. The richest (and often whitest) can’t end up with 90% of the recovery gains. The task force must focus on the working class so they have significant and, in some ways, disproportional gains in economic value including better paying jobs, dependable healthcare, and a voice in the future of the community. Nothing short of clear and absolute commitment to this goal will suffice.

Slavery is older than our nation itself. We are rooted in 246 years of slavery. Our founding fathers punted on addressing slavery while forming a free nation. Only a devastating civil war ended slavery in 1865 and provided the right for black men to vote, enshrined in the 15th Amendment of the Constitution.

Those in power resisted equality and passed local laws denying equal rights and equal access for blacks to voting, which continued for another one hundred years after the civil war.

Rosa Parks ignited 10 years of civil rights protests which drove the legalization of inter-racial marriage and spurred the 1965 Voting Rights Act banning racially motivated voting restrictions.

More recently, those in power resist equality and the Supreme Court, in 2013, allowed complex voting rules which dismantled a central component of the Voting Rights Act. States can, once again, make it more difficult for blacks to register to vote.

With 246 years of slavery and over 150 years of fighting for the right to vote, blacks have spent over 400 years seeking racial equality on voting.

Equal protection under the law and by the police, economic prosperity, voice and influence in the business, social and economic community are elusive. Blacks know it, yet nothing changes. The street protests must be heard.

This issue is deep. Monstrously deep.

Will it take another hundred years for meaningful racial equality?

We need dedication to seeing racial inequality, calling it out, and rejecting it. We can’t accept or ignore it any longer.

CEOs and leaders including Kevin Johnson of Starbucks, John Donahue of Nike, Tim Cook of Apple, Magic Johnson of Magic Johnson Enterprises are engaged with the local communities and bring a vision of modern CEO leadership. Unafraid to call out inequality and comfortable with committing resources and voice to societal challenges, they can partner with local communities to drive meaningful change.

This is our responsibility.

We’ll get through this difficult and painful period. We can’t repeat the past, by dodging the issue and deflecting the focus while deepening the problem.

It’s time to take measurable and real action.

Driven by vision of an equal society.

And build a better and healthier society.

We need to understand our history. Slavery is our pain. We must face it.

We need to hear and see the protests. They are legitimate.

It’s time for action that makes a difference. We are ready, capable and inspired.

Let’s start with these five steps to a national action plan.