The Plight of the Polka Dot: Why Most Brands Can’t Live up to Their BLM Statements
“If there is anything I can do to help you better understand how to address issues of racism in the workplace, please let me know. I’m open to supporting you as best I can.”
As a diversity professional those words came off my lips during a zoom meeting as if they were rehearsed. I was speaking to a predominately white staff of more than 150ppl and while I meant what I said, the weight of those words was so unbearably heavy that I instantly pressed mute, and with my picture icon up, I sobbed uncontrollably for the last 45 minutes of the meeting.
I am a Black professional. The only Black person in leadership at my job and that creates a pressure that is unreasonable and a responsibility that is unsustainable.
The murders of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, have rallied people around the world to protest not only police brutality, but also white supremacy and the systemic racism that permeates through nearly every institutional structure in America. As companies and institutions rush to make public statements in support of equality for Black people, the big question is: What are they actually prepared to do? And do they have the workforce in place to do it?
The white workplace is challenging for conscious Black people. To survive it requires over-performance, emotional numbness, and a compass of intellectual restraint. Entry into this workplace and rising to the top while Black is rarely about performance or mastery of skill. Instead, it’s about image — a way for leadership in companies, institutions, and organizations to prove their commitment to meritocracy and dedication to diversity. However, by embracing the age-old assumption that racial tokens are all they really need to prove they’re not racist, in fact proves the opposite.
Racial tokenism isn’t new. It’s a practice that only marks a symbolic gesture of diversity by allowing a small number, in some instances only one, person of color in the ranks of leadership and decision making. The goal is to present the appearance of inclusion, but it comes with no real action — something broad workplaces embrace, and liberal white workplaces seem to have mastered. Political stripes don’t matter. Workplaces with liberal leanings can be equally resistant to change as conservative ones. For these spaces, a sense of moral superiority feeds a refusal to be self-reflective around how they perpetuate inequality, ultimately reducing the sense of urgency that might create change. There is comfort under this liberal banner, and they tote it around as a qualifier for their goodness and dedication to the advancement of Black people.
Being tokenized is taxing on the mind and bruises the spirit. It’s a condition that makes you question who you are, and if you belong. Racial tokenism washes away hard-earned credentials and attempts to relegate Black professional’s entrances into these exclusive leadership positions, to a favor; and one that burdens Black people with proving such a promotion wasn’t a mistake. This experience encourages you to pull back the veil and see the lie of meritocracy in plain view and only then might you begin to recognize this environment for what it truly is — a maze for which you do not have a map.
Black people navigating these types of professional spaces have no real power. When their ideas are not consistent with their white counterparts they are often relegated to the margins and are only brought to the center when racial tensions are high and the guilt of their white colleagues leave them in a state of social paralysis. Many Black professionals have to constantly walk the line that juxtaposes what you should say with what white people are able to hear — recognizing that showing your expertise has the potential to be a threat to white fragility. The truth is, people carry their individual experiences and communal legacies into the workplace and Black professionals must constantly navigate the trauma of racist white legacies while at work. It is truly exhausting.
It is time for these environments to create more space for Black talent at entry levels and management levels in high numbers. As brave young people occupy the front lines of these protests with calls for action, it is time for America’s companies, organizations, and institutions to follow-up on this public relations chorus of support for Black lives with swift change. These same college students, recent graduates, and young adults who are leading this movement need employment worthy of their talent, strategic thinking, and community organizing skills. They need mentors (who look like them) in their respective fields that can help them navigate the labyrinth of the white workplace.
The excuse of, we can’t find enough Black experts for this work, is anchored in racism and insecurity and given the mediocrity seen on some management tiers, it highlights the different criteria used to judge Black candidates in relationship to their white counterparts. So how do companies begin the work of abandoning racial tokenism and thus embracing this anti-Black racism agenda that so many are touting? I suggest the following as a start:
Strengthen your relationships with HBCUs. Recruitment relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities must be developed and maintained. These institutions are meccas for creating competitive Black professionals and establishing deep connections with them will strengthen the pipeline of continuous Black talent in an array of fields.
Diversify your networks. People operate in racial silos. We often live in segregated neighborhoods, worship separately, and often attend schools that are racially homogenous. Given that many don’t come to the workforce with diverse networks, white leaders have to utilize Employee Resource Groups or make conscious efforts to connect across racial difference. This will not only help when sharing professional opportunities, but navigating these spaces will help to challenge racist stereotypes about Black people.
Attach Anti-Black Racism to each individual’s bottom line. Human Resource professionals should be required to keep track of all racial bias reports of employees and these reports should be taken into consideration when an employee is up for promotion. This allows companies to promote leaders who operate in alignment with company values and don’t have a track record of discrimination which would likely reveal itself in their hiring decisions.
Require a diverse pool of candidates. No hiring decision, at any level, should be made unless the hiring pool has a critical mass of Black professionals. In order to diversify your workforce and maximize your company’s reach, you have to make sure that you’re seeing black professionals at the onset.
Use Hiring Committees. Hiring Committees should be necessary for jobs at any level. Given people’s tendency to hire themselves due to familiarity bias, job interviews should be done by committee and not by a lone manager.
Black professionals should be occupying management and C-Suite positions, and serving on corporate boards in record numbers. At this point any organization, institution, or company that lacks a critical mass of Black people in any of these areas has chosen to do so intentionally.
If workplaces truly want the change you proclaim in these public relations messages they’ve shared to safeguard their brand, they have to abandon racial tokenism and bring Black talent to the table.
