In 2020 I wrote an article on Racial Equity called Diversity Moment or Movement geared toward business leaders. A year removed from writing this; I think this is an important read for Fathers as well. Racial Equity is a problem in the United States. Whether a leader in business or as an example for your kids, showing compassion and action toward this situation is a necessity to make the world a better place. Model inclusion for your kids and find ways to improve your community as equity starts at home!
Movement or Moment
Recent events have driven companies of all shapes and sizes to come out on their social media platforms in a show of support for African American equality in society and the workplace. The reactions were swift and passionate, but as we get some distance from George Floyd’s death these same companies are left to determine if their social media outcry was just a moment or truly a movement. There are a lot of ways to improve racial equity in the workplace, and there are thought leaders out there much more equipped than I am to discuss this. I am going to focus on my home (St. Louis) and write this as a call to action to do something, prior to getting left behind.
The Resilient St. Louis 2019 Report defined Racial Equity simply as a state in which statistical outcomes can’t be predicted by race. Using this definition, the report highlighted the inequity in St. Louis. St. Louis City is predominately a Black (48% of population) and White (43%) population. The Report looks at Racial Inequity using several meaningful categories, but for this article we pulled income disparity (chart below) from the Report to highlight the 2-to-1 gap between White and Black households. Meaning that for every $2 dollars earned by a White household in St. Louis City, a Black household earns half that ($1). It does not get much better in the St. Louis Region at 1.9-to-1 and the National average is at 1.7-to-1. I say this to point out the size of the problem we are facing. If we can close these gaps, this will lift the city, region and country up.
I do not know how to fix years of systemic racism. Years of systems, laws and politics that were designed to create inequality. That said, I do know that as business leaders in St. Louis and around the country, we all have a responsibility to act to leave our community and our world a better place for our children.
In 2018, we started to brainstorm what program we could implement to help improve our diversity and better serve our community. One of the ideas that took hold was a high school internship program that could expose our industry to a group of students. We reached out to school districts that served impoverished communities in St. Louis and got an overwhelming response as these educators were hungry to show their students different opportunities and different fields. We visited the selected school during the winter semester and brought a dozen kids to our office for an overview of our industry and company. From there we conducted interviews and narrowed our selection. We paid the interns an above average wage (for a high school student) and offered transportation if needed (the schools will also work with you on this). The program has been a great success for us as it gave us a diversity in thought and a youthful perspective on our business.
Equity Planning
By no means is this one program solving inequities in St. Louis, but it could. If all the companies working in the region began to think about their role in this, we could start to make a change. Maybe it’s a high school internship, a board seat, or other more meaningful programs, but we all have an obligation. Also, if you are not doing things to improve this problem, your constituents will know. The younger generation is less tolerant of ignorance and inaction, putting those no/slow moving companies at a great disadvantage. This problem was not created overnight, and it will not be solved overnight either. Make this a movement and not a moment!