One Year Later: Have Corporations Starting Caring About Black Lives?

May 25th marked one year to the day since the murder of George Floyd; a day that could be considered the catalyst of the racial revolution. A once-in-a-lifetime pandemic during a U.S. election year with a contentious presidential administration exacerbated what has seemed like a targeted pattern of brutality against Black and brown people. Unlike several of the horrific stories we’ve witnessed in the past, the killing of George Floyd sparked global protests during a time when attention was heightened. Within the last year, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has reached new heights and conversations about systemic racism and critical race theory have intensified. Have companies put their black squares and statements of solidarity into action? Looking back at the last 12 months, here are some patterns that have emerged when examining the treatment of Black employees within corporations.

1.    The creation of employee resource groups (ERGs). More and more companies have decided to establish ERGs for employees of color and Black employees within the organization. ERGs can serve as a powerful tool in collective healing while providing support for marginalized groups of employees. It’s important to remember that ERGs often thrive because of the unpaid labor from Black, Indigenous, and employees of color. ERGs should have clear expectations, objectives and should be structured to improve effectiveness. Some additional best practices employers should consider includes compensating ERG members and ERG leaders for their efforts.

2.    Racism in the form of retaliation. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s fiscal year data for 2020, retaliation was the most frequent type of discrimination that was reported. Retaliation was a common theme in several high-profile cases involving well-known companies during 2020. Pinterest, McDonalds, and Amazon have all recently made headlines for reports of retaliation experienced by employees. Often times retaliation occurs after employees expose their employers for some form of discrimination, bias or other exclusionary behaviors. Are Black employees being pushed out of your organization? An important step should be to ask Black employees specifically but if the environment doesn’t feel safe, employees aren’t going to feel comfortable disclosing their real opinions. Analyze company data to understand retention and turnover rates for different racial groups. Many corporations are able to attract Black employees, yet they’re leaving the organization at higher rates than their counterparts. What safeguards can be put in place to prevent retaliation? Employee complaints must be taken seriously—failure to adequately address legitimate concerns from employees could also result in costly litigation for the organization.

3.    Open conversations about formerly taboo topics. Prior to the racial revolution of 2020, many companies were reticent about having open dialogue around topics like white supremacy and anti-black racism. In 2020, there has been a rise in “courageous conversations” and listening sessions—more companies have been inviting anti-racism educators into the organization to facilitate discussions on what used to be considered off-limits topics. With the increase in these types of conversations, there has been some pushback and diversity resistance as well as what some may call performative allyship. Corporate diversity efforts feel performative when they aren’t backed by action or real systemic shifts. While these types of discussions are critical, they have to be followed by changes in policy, practice and procedures in order to be effective.

4.    Lack of accountability. Despite the pledges admonishing racism and injustice, there is still a lack of accountability when it comes to employees behaving badly. We saw this with the viral story of Dr. Timnit Gebru who felt like she was targeted and then fired from her role at Google. We also saw this with Dr. Aysha Khoury who was pushed out of her institution after teaching a class on medical racism. There seems to be a lack of accountability when Black employees are sounding the alarm to let leadership know that the proverbial house is on fire. Without accountability, there is no sustainability—organizations will implode. After a year of making promises, building pipelines with Black talent, celebrating Black history and Black culture, and wetting employee appetites with conversations about social justice and change, if there is no culpability for the racism and wrongdoing that seems to be rampant within corporations, nothing will truly change. The best way for employers to demonstrate that Black lives really matter is to listen to Black employees; believe Black employees. Give Black employees the benefit of the doubt. Employers should follow the sound advice found on this t-shirt: Don’t negotiate with racists. Lastly, harm reduction strategies must be implemented to prevent further trauma on Black employees.

This article was originally published for Forbes.

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