Then

After the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, executives from more than 1,400 Fortune 1000 companies came forward, publicly, to demonstrate their support to create an antiracist workplace. These companies, mostly led by White men, included a range of industries including Technology, Healthcare, Energy, Retail, and Finance, with the last being the largest sector represented.

According to business consulting giant McKinsey, these leaders also put their money where their mouth is by pledging a total of $340 billion to fight racial injustice. These funds would purportedly be used internally to ensure hiring and supplier diversity, and support DEI efforts, as well as externally to invest in Black communities and social justice organizations.

Now

In the six years that have followed, some progress was made. We wrote about some of that progress in The Business of Race. However, since the current administration’s executive order forbidding any DEI training for federal employees or even the mention of “DEI” on company websites that do business with the government, many of these 1,400 Fortune 1000 companies have either scaled back their DEI strategies, rebranded them, halted efforts altogether, or are continuing them but are not publicly disclosing them.

Why? Fear. Fear of losing business? Fear of being canned by their board? Fear of being rejected by one’s peers? Fear of retribution?

Or maybe the commitments made by some corporate leaders back in 2020 were just window dressing. They didn’t care then. They don’t care now. They are followers, not leaders. And they always follow the money.

Where are our corporate leaders now …in this moment when our civil rights are being stripped away? When heavily armed and masked federal agents are snatching people at their workplaces and in their homes. While dropping off their children at school or daycare. While attending religious services? And on the very streets of our beloved cities and hometowns.

What’s required at this moment in history is courage. Who has the courage to step forward and say, “Enough. We don’t care if we lose your business. We’ll attract new customers.”

Who has the courage to use their company resources to help employees who are afraid to leave their homes and go to work for fear of being snatched or worse, killed, by masked men?

Reflection

• Do you work for or know of a company or leader that has publicly denounced I.C.E. and its brutal tactics?
• What are some of the ways you’ve heard companies are supporting their immigrant, and Black and Brown employees?