Speak Your Truth - Racism within the Walls

Being an ally means speaking truth especially right now. Being an inclusion leader means having the hard discussion. 

I have had the privilege to operate in a number of elite circles. Whether it was because of where I lived, the educational institutions I attended, or work that allowed me to walk some very hallowed halls. In all of those settings I have felt like an outsider and rarely spoken about it. I’ve spoken about my difference but rarely about the actual interactions that clearly defined me as different to my face. 

I’ve rarely spoken about it, not because I didn’t want to. 

Not because I wasn’t hurt but because there was no real space to talk about those things and because I have been taught NOT to talk about those things.  

But you know what happens when you don't get to talk about those things? You start to question if they are even happening. Instead of finding my power, I let confusion set in. For me confusion took the role of doing better, doing more, working harder. The more I felt "othered" the harder I worked.  

I am still finding words for these last few weeks. I’ve reached out to those around me who seem like they can use a shoulder. I’ve sat in silence as an inclusion leader wondering what else I need to do to help the situation. I’ve been holding space for POC, WOC and my Black friends to come together and talk. But the weight of this moment is palpable not because the world has changed, racism has existed for a long time, but because we may have taken the lid off the conversation. I am hoping we can’t put this conversation back in the box. 

Black lives do matter. It is a different experience to walk down the street as a Black person in America. 

And I am also hoping that this week allows us to talk about the systemic racism that happens in MOST companies. Racism that we pretend doesn't exist in our institutions and especially in corporate America. I think I didn't have the hard conversation when you said or did something because I wanted to fit in. It was easier to act like I wasn't bothered or impacted and move past it, or churn on it on my own, than try to work it out with you. There is no space for raising systemic racism when it happens and there is little reward for it. I hope that changes. 

And over the last few years, the conversations have shifted. When I received opportunities people would sometimes say you got that because you are a woman of color. You are a twofer (a woman and a person of color). Well, I want to say, I don’t want those opportunities. I don't think "we" want those opportunities. We want true change. We want to be able to talk about the underlying dysfunction openly. We want a space and ability to do that. Without burden or cost. And we want to evolve systems so they work for all of us.

We want to be seen and heard as we are. We want spaces at the table so we can tell our truths. Then we want to create new tables and new ways of working that are not based on historical values but new ways of working.

The last few days are an opportunity to discuss how Black men and women are treated in greater society. But they have also created an opening for corporate America to talk about how racism shows up within its walls. They have created a space where we can discuss that although we espouse values of meritocracy, something else sometimes abounds. It's time more of us talked about what it is truly like to be a person of color in corporate America. How this feels every day. It’s time we tell our truths and share our stories. It is time to take the veil off and have the conversation that has not been had. Not to educate but to release and liberate.

Maybe it’s time we redefine what it means to truly or really belong so that belonging means speaking so the culture fits everyone rather than conforming to fit the culture. 

Companies and leaders ask yourselves:

1. When have you (White leaders) shied away from a difficult or uncomfortable conversation? How can you do better?
2. When has the company’s exposure risk been placed over the need to hear issues of descrimnation and race?
3. Are you asking your Black employees and employees of color about challenges they face internally in honest and real ways? Is there a real sense of safety?
4. In what ways does systemic racism show up within your walls. If you say it doesn’t you aren’t listening. It shows up in hiring and firing, in ratings, in pay and promotion, in leadership representation, and roles and opportunities just to name a few. 
5. Are you more worried about doing the wrong thing than trying to do anything at all?

To employees:

1. Find ways to tell your truth. If you do, others will follow.
2. Find support with others who live your truth. Community matters.
3. Be brave and know if and when you are ready there are people ready to hear and see you.