Dismantling Racism in Workplace Corporations and Organizations

There is no doubt that diversity in all forms benefits any organization, but how this concept is curated , integrated, and celebrated can be daunting for those who struggle with change or have never experienced diversity. However, there is a severe diversity gap, primarily among racial differences in the workplace, and it needs to be fixed immediately. This integration of diversity must be done correctly and is a factor that is being tested and studied more than ever with an increasingly heterogeneous population. There are structural flaws in the system’s design: Verbally communicating that an organization wishes to integrate more racial diversity, and even hiring people belonging to varying racial backgrounds, is arguably the easiest part to accomplish. However, consistently celebrating these differences, including everyone of all racial backgrounds and complexions, treating people of color the same as white employees, and uplifting those of minority groups for long-term success appears to fail for many organizations. Thus, this creates a false narrative of hope and a significant discrepancy in doing good for an evolving society and business. Diversity in a team or place of employment may appear visually appealing on websites, social media, testimonials, pamphlets, and posters. However, research unveils what it truly feels like to have multiracial individuals involved. Proper accounts, surveys, and trends tell the truth and debunk these facades to hold all persons responsible. Some researchers mention that inauthentic approaches harm an evolving organization in the long term because it discredits a person’s identity. Ending racism and white supremacy can not be fixed quickly. However, everyone can do their part by stepping outside the box, pushing boundaries, holding others accountable, speaking up, and seeking that healthy uncomfortably. Furthermore, it is essential to mention that people will never be perfect, which is okay. To be even one percent better will set trends, teach others, lead by example, and open minds.

Prolific author Bethaney Wilkinson dives deep into this issue in her writing The Diversity Gap: Where Good Intentions Meet True Cultural Change, where she even takes a personal approach. She is a woman of color and regularly reflects on her life throughout the book. She brings up the concept of "origin stories" and how they comprise a person's individuality, leadership style, and interaction with others within an organization. Origin stories are a person's intimate narrative, upbringing, culture, beliefs, and traumas. Her writing is an ideal way to learn about this theory because it has an account of her origin stories. Personal experiences are too commonly left out when studying racial diversity. She debunks common organizational thought and misleading leadership in diversifying a group of people (Wilkinson 2). She goes on to say, 

Insight: Your team’s lack of racial diversity is not the root of the problem. Racism 

and white supremecy are the roots of the problem.

Action: Take inventory of how racism and white supremecy exists within your 

culture. Adjust your diversity strategy to disrupt these systems. 

In her writing, Wilkinson says that a company could physically diversify an organization. However, if they are not ready to amplify and uplift the voices of marginalized groups, then it makes no progress. Doing so means taking the time to understand fully, become educated on, listen to, immerse, and follow people of color. White leaders should take the time to listen to these origin stories because it can prompt change from the top and trickle down: This also means ditching outdated beliefs. For example, when talking about race, many people will say “black” and “white” when people are far more vast than this. While some people wish to be called a specific term, supplementing words and groups with descriptors like “biracial”, “person of color”, and “multicultural” is a step in the right direction. Even so, these terms are still not accurate enough and will never be. The term “race” has been utilized for centuries and is commonly used by white people to gain advantages. It is nothing more than a construct pushed onto and applied by society. As time and the world population progresses, it becomes more apparent that the concept of race is not accurate at all. It is a word used to categorize people to simplify a person’s genetic makeup. It lessens a person’s identity to sort them into a broad category. “Race is about how you are perceived, not about who you are,” said Wilkinson. “Race” is used to suppress people, ultimately pointing to white supremacy and exclusion. The author also introduced how companies and organizations will aim to diversify racially, which originates from a disingenuous mindset. She says that “motivation matters'' (Wilkinson 61). She says that an inauthentic approach is diversifying an organization racially in order to remain “relevant.” This concept does the opposite of augmenting a team, is inhumane, and does not honor people. This action is destructive and can harm people of color. Examples of this are when companies hire people of color, but the highest leadership roles are predominantly white. The National Football League is a prominent example, not only because of the billions of dollars of revenue it creates annually, but also because of the impact these organizations have on the entire country of America. According to the Washington Post, “Despite that about 60 percent of the players in the NFL are African American, only 3 of the current 32 head coaches (9 percent) are African American.” This ratio is disproportionate; Wilkinson calls this “Shallow Diversity” (Wilkinson 63).  Shallow diversity can also be observed when a company’s retention rate of people of color is noticeably less than white employees. Shallow diversity can be harmful, but there are also clues to consider when evaluating or auditing an organization. An organization should reflect on time. If an organization is rapidly integrating diverse complexions, especially in the media, this is a significant clue that the approach is inauthentic. Another example is when an organization fails to recognize the depth of race. Examples of this include not promoting people of color to leadership roles or high turnover rates; This means people of color are not being observed as closely or communicated in the same as their white colleagues. The final clue is failing to fully reflect on white supremacy and its impact historically on an organization. 

There is a need for racial diversity in businesses: This is no myth, but it is vital to break down; This is the leading cause of the wealth gap and institutional racism. The wealth gap is attributed to various factors, such as the history in America: there is less generational wealth for people of color. There are fewer connections for families of minority groups and fewer leaders because they are not given the opportunities to work in predominately white organizations. According to a study from 2019, mentioned in writing by Kay Formanek Beyond D&I : Leading Diversity with Purpose and Inclusiveness, “Already before the pandemic, there was a growing racial wealth gap for Black families in the U.S: in 2019, the median white household held $188,200 in wealth— 7.8 times that of the typical Black household ($24,000).” (Formanek 32). Considering revenue, diversity in a business not only noticeably boosts work efficiency and culture but also sales compared to non-divers enterprises. Diversity in a business also makes understanding consumer feedback easier. Janet Stovall, who is a speaker on this business idea, gave a TedTalk with over 300,000 views on YouTube. Her Speech titled, “How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace,” is insightful, well thought out,  and comes from the personal perspective of a woman of color. She began talking about the gentrification of the town she attended university. While gentrification is an additional severe issue that makes people of minority groups have a more challenging experience finding a job, commuting to, and being hired by higher-paying organizations. She published a proposal to diversify her University in North Carolina while earning her undergraduate degree. Systemic change is no easy task to accomplish as an undergraduate student, but many years later, she was able to diversify the deans, professors, and students of her alma mater. The most vital point of this speech is the difference between diversifying a workplace and implementing inclusion. “Diversity is a numbers game. Inclusion is about impact. Companies can mandate diversity, but they need to cultivate inclusion” (Stovall). A place of occupation is an ideal organization to get started in the battle of normalizing inclusion and ending white supremacy because of the natural working relationships. A business is not only an organization that needs employees, but also a place employees want to return to because it pays the bills, pays for the expenses of living and hobbies, and employees must attend work to earn their paychecks. It is a team effort in that everyone reaps a benefit. Many people from all walks of life spend many hours together, people communicate with others they usually would not cross paths with, and having a job is not mandatory in life. Having a job is entirely voluntary, and how most people financially care for their families. Businesses have this opportunity that universities and churches do not. Businesses are powerful in removing racial stigmas and can be the proprietors in ending the issues of racial injustice. According to Stovall, to bring about this change, someone has to care enough to do something about it, and most of the time, a person not a part of a minority group is more likely to be heard. A company must have at least 30 percent of its workforce be multicultural to be heard like a white employee (Stovall). Stovall says this percentage is consistent when observing organizations' communication with people of color. Stovall says, “If your name is Molly or Connor, you have got a 14 percent better chance of getting a callback on your resume than if your name is Shanice or DeShawn '' (Stovall). If not for someone within an organization pushing for this change, it could be customers and consumers taking this duty. Customers can also do this because they have a different symbiotic relationship with a company. Implementing inclusion is difficult. Most people will resist and push back because it is out of their ordinary, they do not understand the depth of issues like shallow inclusivity, which requires thought and work. A person could care about it, he or she could pray for it, and they could also feel strongly about it, but nothing is accomplished unless action is taken about it. Change means setting goals, defining percentages and other numbers, and being stubborn in favoring inclusivity beyond diversity’s visual aesthetics.

The accusation that a business or place of employment is not inclusive is a significant event and should not be taken lightly. While leaders of an organization and neutral third parties can run audits on companies, employees and customers can determine if a company is genuine and serious about diversity. Begging this question and being vocal about inclusivity takes courage and conviction, but it is necessary to discuss false accusations; This theorizes if an organization can be falsely accused. If so, why would that happen? Racism is a sensitive issue that affects people deeply. With the gentleness that society has towards victims of racism, this same tenderness should be given to wrongly accused individuals. When someone is wrongly accused, it can be defamatory to a profitable business or an individual’s reputation. Racism is misconduct, but bringing forward an allegation without evidence is also. Every allegation needs to be honored and investigated, but it is up to the victim of racism to know the difference between patience and blatant exclusivity. Author Letlhokwa George Mpedi expands on this in their online journal “Racists Beware: Some Labor Law Perspectives on Racism in the Workplace,” 

Racial harmony in the workplace must be of paramount importance to each and

Every employer and employee alike. Just as racist behavior needs to be rooted out, 

allowing employees to willy-nilly accuse fellow employees of being racist or  

Displaying racist attitudes,  must be addressed with equal favor…(Mpedi pg. 5)

Mpedi also implies in their writing that racism is an over-arching problem in society that is vast in its effect on multiple aspects of life. Racism is a learned behavior that is solidified with the same thoughts in a multitude of situations, both in and out of the workplace. In order to end racism, these tendencies must be unlearned, whether they are intentional or not. The workplace is an ideal scenario to exercise these new thoughts because it will take the average person out of their usual culture. It is a vehicle to work closely with people of all diversities. Unlearning racist tendencies can not be forgotten and should not be forgotten in the forms of hardships communities have endured for centuries, but practicing inclusion in the workplace will augment an inclusive work culture. Employees have the role of opening their hearts and minds. Employers have the roles of leading by example, making inclusivity mandatory, eradicating old practices, and keeping everyone accountable. Unions have the roles of continuously bringing up these discussions, understanding all members’ accounts, and pushing an agenda of progress. (https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/445/315)

Deconstructing racism in the workplace can begin with running an audit of sorts, and author Shereen Daniels explains this in her book, The Anti-Racist Organization : Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace. Through her work as a woman of color, working in Human Resources for her professional career, and researching race-based employer complaints, she invented the “Four Factor RACE Model” (Daniels 153). R stands for “Recognise the problem.” Occasionally, this can be the most challenging part for people because the discovery of white supremacy and exclusion is uncomfortable. Racism and white supremecy may not appear to be a top priority to leaders who believe it is not a huge problem. However, this is where people and groups commonly fail the most.  It is hard to own up to a mistake, and it is challenging to know an individual unintentionally hurt someone; it is confusing when a white person can not feel sympathy for a person of color. “Not at my business,” “We are not racist here. We have several Black employees,” “The most qualified person should get the job,” and “Anyone can succeed at this job if he/she works hard enough” are all examples of denial of racism and the inability to acknowledge the hardships people of color have had to endure to be where they are today. Employees and employers should discuss these topics in meetings and one-on-one conversations because an issue like racism can not be understood and reprimanded unless it is verbally discussed. Leaders may feel timid, especially if they are not a person of color. However, a person does not need to be an expert to bring up the idea. It is ideal to be well educated on racism and how it is subtly contaminating an organization, but it can also be harmful to look over a critical factor: If a leader of a company is white and spends credible time in understanding racism against people of color, some may lose their perspective of being a white leader. The fact is that a white person will never understand the harmful behaviors against people of color because they never will be a person of color. It goes down to DNA, which is unchangeable, and not acknowledging one’s white race is a behavior that comes off as aloof, insensitive, and unbalanced. A white leader can lead a potent approach by stating that they will never understand, which speaks volumes about their research’s humbleness. What a white leader can be an expert on is being white and how white complexions have impacted racism in America. Understanding the origin of the issue is mandatory in order to fix it. Daniels puts in her writing the saying, “energy flows where attention goes,” so if even a single person stays strong on inclusivity, others will follow. Daniels mentions that if others resist these discussions and where they must be coming from, 

Until this point, they have been able to bask in the glory of the way that things have always been done, the systems and processes that have unfairly benefited them over everyone else, and all of a sudden, in their mind, you are taking some of that sunlight and redistributing it to Black colleagues, and considering doing things that will actually never benefit them.

The next step in Daniels’ model is A, which stands for “Analyse the impact.” As discussed prior, there is no doubt that diversifying an organization is profitable in all ways, and data proves this. Analyzing takes more detail and comprehends that racism is deeper than it appears. Employees embody systemic racism, biased attitudes, and actions in different forms. The analysis will begin with recognizing racism. However, it does not stop there; This is seen in titles and promotions, hiring and firing, and raises and recognitions. Analyzing in this step goes beyond numbers, and insights will be the most fruitful discovery in this stage. Listening to stories while interpreting the pure numbers of the data will give a full understanding and be insightful. The origin stories will expand on the numbers, and the numbers will show trends. This method saves time because a leader will not ask the wrong questions. Wrong questions will always lead to wrong answers, which can become frustrating to the company. Another tool in the analysis step of the RACE method is to bring in a third party. A neutral facilitator can help the flow of resourceful conversations. Conversations in the form of a forum are an opportunity for employees to open up and be vulnerable. The lead in a company should begin introducing this practice by talking about what a forum is, how vital it is for the company culture, and the kind of person the mediator is. The leader should introduce the reliability, credibility, and publications or achievements of the facilitator/mediator. A forum is another word for mediation. Using the word forum sounds less harsh, approachable, and enjoyable. Leaders in an organization should not make mediation mandatory because any feedback is forced and could be disingenuous; This also allows everyone to come to the mediation well-prepared. The CEO and other leaders of the company or organization would work closely with the facilitator so that it is organized, follows steps in a typical mediation, and time is distributed evenly. The beginning of the mediation is ignited by introducing a neutral third party, which notifies employees to prepare emotionally and personally, and removes the stress of a regular meeting. The joint and caucus sessions, which will vary depending on the organizational culture, are developmental, honorable, and expressive. The final step of the mediation is to follow up with everyone later and comprehend personal accounts. The third step in the RACE model is C, which stands for “Commit to action.” (Daniels 194). Commit to action is a powerful statement because action means doing more than caring about these racial mistreatments. Committing means staying loyal, not quitting, and making a long-term promise. At this stage in the audit, there has been an in-depth, meticulous, and precise understanding of how racism has contributed to an organization; This is a decisive part of the RACE method because the people of a company choose what to do about the injustice. The severity of the issue needs to be addressed, but leaders should be mindful of not letting this break strong and healthy relationships already in place. The action must incorporate an overarching value: companies will share this in mission statements or slogans. The company may produce products or services, but the group also has an impact it wishes to push to the world. Nike is an example of a company that is not only diverse but inclusive. They design and produce athletic wear, but their mission statement as of 2022 is “Our Mission: Bring innovation and inspiration to every* athlete in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.” (https://about.nike.com/en) They do the mere expectation of creating products to sell, but they are leaders in abolishing exclusion. This mission is strategic, clear in its values, and impactful. To write a mission statement is different from actually applying it to the company and the customers: From the top, all the way down, the values are highlighted and appropriated through behavior, language, and daily life. Companies with a mission statement that mentions diversity, but their demographics of employees and leaders do not display these are the main problems. Committing to action is the ability to decipher the company’s values and honestly know if they are being adopted. The final step in the four-factor RACE model is E, which stands for “Evaluate for change” (Daniels 222). This step means to give people purpose. A purpose is needed for every member of an organization to feel important. When abolishing racism in an organization, this should be practiced regularly. One of the best ways to diversify a company is to begin diversifying one’s personal life. This can be difficult when a company is located in a town with a high majority of a white population. Thankfully, social media makes any friendship or relationship possible, no matter where someone is located. A company can regularly implement practice by celebrating all holidays for people of color, like Black History month, utilizing software that eliminates racial biases when hiring, or requiring anti-bias training for leaders and employees. Daniels says, “It is up to you whether interventions, training, knowledge and upskilling should be compulsory. But for transformative change, the choice is better than force.” (Daniels 223). Leaders must be creative and find new ways to open their teams’ minds. This process is full of self-reflection and holistic reflection on a company. Daniels concludes the teaching of the RACE method by saying, “Every action you take under each of the Four Factors of the RACE Model is going to differ depending on the size and scale of your operations and on your line of business.” (Daniels 231) Daniels is saying that this evaluation will never be the same as another.

Ultimately, leadership needs to be the priority in corporate organizations and inclusivity, and there is no better time for this change than now. Leadership is the most influential factor in improving an organization’s culture. James D. White calls this in his book Anti-Racism Leadership: How to Transform Corporate Culture in a Race-Concious World “CEO-Driven Change” (White 35). He describes this as, “...If you are leading this kind of transformation, it is equally critical to have diversity at the top; that way you not only show all stakeholders what a true meritocracy looks like but you also populate the board and management with people who are likely to support the structural changes you want to accomplish.”(White 47). What is intriguing about this statement is that hiring people with an inclusive mindset, to begin with, is a prosperous advantage to have; This makes for less stress and difficulties and will easily manifest its way for change. It should be normalized more often to ask questions about inclusivity in the initial interviewing process. A leader should want immediate change in an organization and its design, but some people are significantly set in their thoughts. Diversity is innovation. Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the acceptability of discussing racial discrepancies in the workplace and an increased number of Americans that changed their career paths. The catalyst of these integration discussions could be because of George Floyd being brutally murdered by a police officer on May 25, 2020, or because of the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred after Floyd’s death and occurred well into June. Understanding white supremacy’s effects on work and the continuous burying of racism could have finally been heard because people of color had higher rates of positive covid-19 cases and deaths. White says, “In addition to rampant inequality regarding access to good medical care, people of color made up a disproportionate number of frontline and essential workers exposed to the virus” (White 170). It could also be because of the nature of the pandemic, which was full of isolation, and the change to virtual offices, which separated people more. It likely is a combination of all of the traumatizing history America has compiled in the past two years, and either way, change is inevitable. As of 2022, having a CDO in a company is becoming more common. This stands for Chief Diversity Officer. CDOs are primarily people of color. If it is not a person of color, it is a woman. This concretely displays that a company is loyal to change and inclusivity, as long as the CDO is well-respected within a company, has the power to implement change despite other significant leaders and is approachable and caring. Another concrete example of change that a company can invest in is OneTen. According to their website, 

OneTen is a coalition of leading chief executives and their companies who are 

coming together to upskill, hire and advance one million Black individuals who do

 not yet have a four-year degree into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for 

advancement over the next ten years. (https://oneten.org/).

This is a direct cause that white leaders can donate to with their money, connections, and spreading awareness, and it is valuable. They have assisted over one million people of color in getting a job.

Suppose a CDO is not the ideal route for a company or budgeting for organizations like One Ten. In that case, another option is a procedural approach, as authors Jennifer Brooke Flynn and Tom R. Tyler write about in their work “Promoting Diversity in Organizations: A procedural Justice Approach''. This attempt initiates with equality, so there is less resistance from employees that benefit from white supremacy. Flynn and Tyler prove the benefits of this idea through five different studies that were performed. The first study was of police officers in Las Vegas and Baltimore and their retention rates. The second study was about negotiations between men and women. Study three set equality rules for a resume reviewer and whether they would work unbiasedly. The fourth and fifth studies were very similar, they gave employees mission statements from their leaders that talked of diversity and inclusion, and as a result, they felt more committed to the company. While all these studies are helpful, the first study elaborated on race the most. The study of police officers is essential because of police brutality and racial profiling and their significance in tackling racism. Police officers have an entirely different experience of inclusion in their employment. This study was presented as a survey with nearly three thousand voluntary participants. (Flynn and Tyler 13). The survey had questions about their diversity training, personal experiences with job inclusion, and even retention questions. The survey combined a scale system to answer their level of satisfaction with diversity training and open questions that were answered in their own words. The combination of these two questions is similar to the neutral third-party approach because that method also used numerics and personal accounts to target specific issues. This method will identify the organization’s failures and help find solutions. The surveyors received details on improving training, like the preferred enrollment size for training classes (Flynn and Tyler 20). The shocking part of this study was that many officers in these two highly diverse cities disagreed with the training, to begin with,

Many police officers described a negative attitude toward the concept of diversity 

training in general, and expressed their belief that prejudice cannot be changed by a 

training seminar (47 officers), that the department was simply doing the diversity training 

for legal reasons (57 officers), and/or that the training course was a ‘waste of time’ (47 

officers) (Flynn and Tyler 21).

These officers commonly believed they only had the officers do the training for liability reasons. This factor shows that some participants feel skeptical about change, feel the company is not serious about its approach to inclusivity, or do not feel the survey matched the organization’s values. This tells both cities that they should look deeper into why the officers answered questions in that fashion; From doing so, they could invite a mediator or utilize the RACE method.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that diversity is beneficial to organizations and companies. However, thorough research, personal narratives, studies, surveys, external factors, leadership, and motivations show that inclusion goes beyond the surface. Learning to honor everyone, speak up for what is essential, run audits and programs, and be vulnerable with accountability is the change. Facing the unknown in an evolving society is daunting and scary. The place of employment is the first place to learn, practice, and heavily experience the full navigation of integration. Leading by example is representative to others in the company, the consumers, and the world. Humans are not perfect, and mistakes will be made along the way. With honesty, accountability, and vulnerability, a person can do no wrong if the motivation is genuine. Every person in an organization should ask the hard questions, push for that healthy discomfort and challenge the commitment to diversity. Every person in America should aim to diversify their own life and normalize the concept of racial inclusivity. One person may be the only force of change in a company, yet others will follow if people do not back down or diminish under scrutiny. Leaders like Nike, Janet Stovall, and Daniels are powerful voices in their own lives and publications. Feeling strongly about abolishing racism and doing an act for change are two entirely different leaders. Together and individually, commitment is within work cultures, and leaders are the gatekeepers of this power. So, question leaders, consider how people of color are not being heard in your organizations, make strides to hire people from multicultural backgrounds, and question company’s intentions. Work slowly in diversifying a team and understand everyone individually. Consider how you talk to individuals and challenge social constructs like race. Support companies and patronize organizations that are clear in their missions and authentic in their actions.

Works Cited

Bowen, Fred. “Perspective | the NFL Has Only 3 Black Head Coaches. That Needs to Change.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 30 Sept. 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/29/nfl-has-only-3-black-head-coaches-that-needs-change/. 

Daniels, Shereen. The Anti-Racist Organization : Dismantling Systemic Racism in the 

Workplace, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central, 

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/pepperdine/detail.action?docID=6983458.

Flynn, Jennifer Brooke, et al. “Promoting Diversity in Organizations: A Procedural Justice Approach.” New York University, 2012.

Formanek, Kay. Beyond D&I : Leading Diversity with Purpose and Inclusiveness, Springer International Publishing AG, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/pepperdine/detail.action?docID=6803032. Accessed 14 Dec. 2022.

About.nike.com, https://about.nike.com/en. Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.

Mpedi, Letlookwa George. “View of Racists Beware.” View of Racists Beware: Some Labor Laws Perspectives on Racism in the Workplace, https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/445/315. 

Stovall, Janet. “How to Get Serious about Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace: Janet Stovall: Ted.” YouTube, 13 Sept. 2018, https://youtu.be/kvdHqS3ryw0. Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.

White, James D. Anti-Racist Leadership : How to Transform Corporate Culture in a Race-Conscious World, Harvard Business Review Press, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/pepperdine/detail.action?docID=6678559.  Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.

Wilkinson, Bethaney. The Diversity Gap : Where Good Intentions Meet True Cultural Change. HarperCollins Leadership, an Imprint of HarperCollins, 2021.  Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.