Reflection on Juneteenth

250 years of slavery followed by 150 years of exclusion: what’s next

I’m not sure many of us can truly imagine the range of emotions felt by Black slaves when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, or felt by the 250,000 slaves in Confederate controlled Texas, who had to wait nearly two and a half years for their freedom, which occurred on June 19, 1865.

As a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practitioner for the past 6 years, Juneteenth has become a time of reflection. I reflect sadly upon the horrible institution of slavery, and I struggle to understand how one person could rationalize the enslavement of another. I also reflect on the fact that instead of creating a path to success for newly freed slaves, the federal government, along with state and local governments, business enterprises and individual citizens instead created barriers and obstacles.

To quote Shawn Rochester in his book The Black Tax, “Black Americans were emancipated, but denied land, capital, means of production, skills development and free trade.” In effect, the 100 years following emancipation (which included the Jim Crow Laws) was a time of widespread and systematic exclusion for Black Americans.

While the Civil Right Movement brought improvements, massive inequality still exists today for Black Americans, reflecting ongoing exclusion over the past 50 or so years, along with the impacts of the 100 years following the end of slavery. A few relevant examples:

·        Higher unemployment – At 9.1 percent, unemployment among Blacks is 78 percent higher than unemployment among Whites.[1]

·        Lower wages – For every dollar a White man makes, Black men make 87 cents[2] and Black women make 63 cents.[3]

·        Higher poverty levels – The Black poverty rate in the U.S. is more than 2 times the White poverty rate (21.2% versus 9.0%), and more than 3 times the White rate in 8 states, plus the District of Columbia.

·        C-Suite under-representation – Blacks make up approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population, but with only 4 Black CEOs in the Fortune 500, that’s less than 1 percent.[4]

·        Lower educational attainment – Blacks are more than two times as likely as Whites to have dropped out before completing high school (11.9% versus 5.9%) and 36 percent less likely to have earned at least a bachelor’s degree (24.2% versus 38.0%)[5]

Since we can’t erase the past, let’s talk about what’s next. What are WE going to do about it? I know I’m not going to repair this situation with a blog, but I firmly believe that DEI is part of the solution. If we want to influence people to act differently, we must get them to think differently. The starting point, as I suggest above, is making sure people are aware these inequities exist and understand that they are a direct result of exclusion. Too many people just aren’t familiar with the facts. And too many people can’t admit they don’t know what they don’t know. For many of us, we simply have no idea the struggles that Blacks and other underrepresented groups face as they attempt to thrive, or even just survive in the workplace. I too am learning in this work.

Thinking differently, and the “People Case” for DEI – we will undoubtedly need a sustained effort over an extended period to address inequities more than 400 years in the making. There’s been a lot of talk about the business case for DEI, and it’s certainly compelling in terms of greater innovation, risk reduction and financial outperformance. But I also believe DEI programs often fail because we take a sterile approach to an emotional issue. I think we need to spend more time getting people to understand that committing to DEI is about doing the right thing not only for others, but also for themselves. Committing says I believe in fairness and in equal opportunity. I believe in treating others the way I want to be treated. As one other aspect of the people case, diversity makes each of us smarter. There is so much more to learn from people with different life experiences and backgrounds than we can learn from people who are just like us. Learning different experience makes us think differently.

Acting differently, starting now – While organizational commitment to DEI has increased, some 60 percent of the Fortune 500 don’t have a director level diversity and inclusion executive.[6] My experience suggests that it is rare for a small or medium size business to have a person dedicated to DEI. My point? We can’t wait around for someone else to get things started, for someone to put a program in place. Here are five things each of us can do now:

·        When you witness prejudice, exclusion, microaggressions, bullying or disrespect – call it out and make it clear that those behaviors are unacceptable.

·        Expand your personal network. Find the person who is most different from you in your organization – and offer to be their mentor or ask them to be yours.

·        Ask members of under-represented groups about their experience at your workplace. Then actually listen to their answers. And when they tell you something’s wrong, do something about it.

·        If you are part of a strategy or decision-making team, look around the table. If people of color aren’t represented, or women aren’t represented, get a bigger table.

·        Ask questions about your organization’s personnel data to determine if there are systematic biases built into the hiring process, in how people are compensated, how people are given opportunities and in how people are promoted. Work to change the system.

I wish I had all the answers on to how to eliminate the inequities that exist today. I’m not sure anyone does. But it gave me hope to see that on June 17, 2021, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was signed into law, officially making June 19th a federal holiday. While this doesn’t fix inequities, I see it as a signal that we all need to recognize our part in this work. On this day, I hope you will join me as I recommit…to asking the real questions, to speaking out and to acting for inclusion and against exclusion.

[1] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm

[2] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/racial-wage-gaps-persistence-poses-challenge.aspx

[3] https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Black-Women-Wage-Gap-State-By-State-2021-v2.pdf

[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2020/06/11/why-we-need-more-black-voices-in-the-c-suite/?sh=2776ba464841

[5] https://www.equityinhighered.org/indicators/u-s-population-trends-and-educational-attainment/educational-attainment-by-race-and-ethnicity/

[6] https://www.hrdive.com/news/di-roles-have-more-than-doubled-since-2015-report-says/581309/