DEI, A Mayor, A Crisis & Me

Ed note: This was meant to publish last week but a flu bug delayed it. Thanks for reading.

Last Tuesday, early in the morning in the city of Baltimore, MD, a tragic accident led to the collapsing of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Lives were lost, infrastructure destroyed and questions about what comes next.

As is custom with moments of tragedy, no matter the time of day or night, the news will report on it and there will be an initial press conference with local autorities to speak to the moment at hand, immediate assessments and potential next steps. The mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott, took questions very early in the morning in the midst of shock and sadness as a mayor does. He stood poised in the midst of brokeness and attempted to lead his city through a deep moment of uncertainty. Not an easy task.

And on Twitter (I refuse to call it its new name), this was a comment made about him.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term DEI it stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and was initiated by many companies in North America circa 2020 in the midst of much social unrest after multiple instances of police brutality, prejudices and injustices in major cities. In hopes to level the hiring playing field for minorities and women, many companies adopted DEI roles to study hiring practices and open doors for people to be interviewed for jobs that they may not have had a chance for prior to. These roles would also, hopefully, keep companies and organization honest - or at least accountable - to keep moving forward as our world becomes more and more complex.

In recent days, DEI has gotten a lot of backlash. Many companies have, in the midst of social and political backlash, have cut funding to DEI initiatives in their spaces through closing their DEI offices (thus firing or restructuring people in those areas), making statements and in my view, moving backwards. For those with the loudest voices, the idea of DEI hires means too many minorities taking jobs of "non-minorities" and that could no longer stand. Men like Elon Musk, who yells about wokeness on Twitter regularly, blames DEI hiring practices anytime there is a malfunction on a Delta plane. And yet, research shows that white women benefited from DEI practices more than anyone else. Makes no sense but here we are. Which goes back to Baltimore.

A mayor is an elected official, voted in by members of their city/town. They don't apply for the job in a "I want to work at Hudson's Bay" type deal. They apply to get on a ballot, they present their policies, they canvas, they debate, they challenge and they put themselves to the mercy of the people. According to a recent census, 62.3% of Baltimore is black/african-american (the entire state of Maryland is at 31.7%) it stands to reason that a black person could be a candidate and let alone win an election of their peers there (Unless you're in the TV show The Wire where Carcetti pulled a massive upset in Season 3 and beat the black incumbent...lol). Mayor Scott's track record in local politics shows that he is fit for the role and has done a good job so far in his office. And yet, someone chose to, on the worst of days, claim that he was there because of a racial initiave and not because of his hard work and merit. And the comments snowballed from there.

To Mayor Scott's credit, he has responded to these words with grace and poise. He has continued to lead with the Governor of Maryland to bring peace and leadership during a dark time in his cities history. And yet, those words linger. Last week, I was sick with the flu so I was able to watch and read a lot of the news around this and it got me thinking about my own professional journey. I've stood in rooms where I was told to my face that I was there to "help meet a quota" or to be the "token black guy" to help with pictures. I've been told that I got there not because I was the best guy for the job but because "well, you know...". And that lingers. It means that in any room I am in, there's always a feeling of impostor syndrome. A feeling of "You're here because..." and not because you were head and shoulders over the rest. It means feeling like one is under a magnifying glass. It's getting paraded when you win - cause it looks good for the company - and being shamed when you make a mistake - cause the company needs to look good. And while some of this is real, some of it is also in one's head and it is always hard to know which is which.

I have to assume that this will always be the case, especially as our world goes deeper into political and social decay. I have to keep my head on a swivel and choose when to say something when the right person uses the word "woke" in the wrong moment or with the wrong definition because that could be the end of me (A bit dramatic? Yes. Possible? Yes.). It means knowing that hard work doesn't always pay off and weak work may get your judged harsher than your peers. I means knowing that race is knitted into the fabric of many things while learning how and when to say that because in the wrong room "You're always making it about race, man!!! We need to get past it!! Martin did (Note: MLK was killed for his beliefs...)!!!" It means knowing that your best on your worst day may find someone bringing you to the gutter but you still gotta face them cameras and lead.

My parents would always tell me that I cannot control the reactions of others but only my own. We say similar thing to our teens as parents today but with the small caveat that our kids can work to leave little room for error ("Don't give 'em space to say nuttin!!"), to back their work up, to own their falls and to lean into their wins with grace. Judgment is a tweet away always but being better is too.