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IDEAS

Writer's picture: Fletcher ConsultingFletcher Consulting

When the College Board announced the latest version of their landmark Advanced Placement African American Studies course on the first day of Black History Month, they may have thought they would be celebrated. Instead, they were accused of cowardice. A few weeks earlier, Florida’s department of education had loudly dropped out of offering the course to its high school students, citing topics they called “indoctrination.” The revised course de-emphasized those very topics—appearing to bow to political pressure.


Black History Month is an apt time to call out these censorship efforts. The last few years have seen rampant government bans of books like The 1619 Project, and attempts to punish teachers for material that makes white students feel bad. As historian Carter Woodson said, “When you determine what a man shall think, you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do.” (He should know; he created Black History Month.)


Fortunately, elected officials can’t determine what we think. Your teachers may not be allowed to teach from Nikole Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project, and you may not even be able to get the book from your public library. But Hulu has released a powerful documentary series expanding on it. This follows an incredible podcast inspired by it, which I listened to in 2020 after watching a police officer murder George Floyd. If you’re short on time, the original Pulitzer-Prize winning magazine series is still there at the New York Times website.


All Americans should study Black history. It is American history. I remember when I took US History at 15 and I was the only Black kid in the class. When we got to slavery, I felt my classmates looking at me with concern, as though this was a shameful heritage. I didn’t feel that way. My ancestors didn’t do a bad thing—they were incredibly strong people. In spite of being captured, journeying in the hold, enduring beatings, family separation, and incarceration, we are still here. We are enriching culture and society. I am proud of the strength and resilience of my ancestors.


Plus, Black history is more than slavery and oppression. There were African empires before our ancestors were captured and brought here, and even within the times of oppression there have been so many inspiring lessons of families thriving and innovators contributing. There are many joyful moments in Black history and Black lives.


Even though some people in the Sunshine State are trying to keep this information away from us, I hope you will enlighten yourself this February. And once you’re in the habit, keep it going all year long. Despite the best efforts of Ron DeSantis, there are still far more ways to study our nation’s history than anyone can absorb in one month!


Writer's picture: Fletcher ConsultingFletcher Consulting

You believe in the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. (I assume so, since you’re reading this blog.) Maybe you describe yourself as a DEI champion, or even an ally. You interrupt bias in the moment; you say something when you see something insensitive or unjust.


My question is: have you ever faced a situation in which you feared you would face a cost for your actions? That it would be risky for you to speak up? Did you speak up anyway or hold back?


It is easier to interrupt bias when we are not worried about personal repercussions. I think it is worth asking ourselves, how much are we willing to put on the line to stop an inequity? What would we be willing to give up?


My aunt recently told me a story about my grandfather that brought this to mind. It was the early ‘70’s, in Jamaica, and my grandfather was a member of an exclusive lunch club for businessmen. One day, he submitted his younger friend’s name for membership. The admission committee responded swiftly: no. The man was Chinese. In post-colonial Jamaica of the early ‘70’s, light-skinned professional Jamaicans were being granted more privilege, but Chinese Jamaicans, it seemed, were a step too far.


According to my aunt, my grandfather said, “Okay, no problem, I understand.” And after a short pause, he added, “By the way, I am resigning my membership.”


My grandfather was a respected attorney, well liked in the community. Leaving the club could have resulted in sacrificing countless professional and social opportunities with potential clients, and damaging his reputation.


But his principles outweighed those benefits. He couldn’t let discrimination stand unchallenged. I never heard him raise his voice, so I picture him calmly turning in his card and walking away without offering an ultimatum.


In this case, the club saw my grandfather’s sacrifice as a risk to their reputation. After some backroom conversations with management came a flurry of backpedaling and apologizing. And they admitted my grandfather’s friend. That young man ended up running a large organization and becoming a well-known power broker in Jamaica. They remained life-long friends. In fact, it was his daughter who shared the story with my aunt.


I’m proud to be his granddaughter. This story inspires me and reminds me that standing up for inclusion can be risky. Many of us aren’t willing to stand up in those moments for fear of losing some of our privilege. But that bravery is exactly what true allyship calls for.


So look around at the injustices, large and small. Ask yourself, as I ask myself: “What are you willing to give up for DEI?”


Writer's picture: Fletcher ConsultingFletcher Consulting

The airport is a great place to observe human behavior…especially bad behavior.


Last month, as I was waiting to board a plane, the dreaded words came over the speaker: “This is a full flight.”


Everybody knows what that means—they won’t have room for everyone’s carry-on bags. Ever since the airlines started charging extra for checked luggage, more travelers have been packing carry-on and there is a race to get on board early. There’s no prize for winning—but if you lose, you have to wait at your destination for your bag. So we passengers were on alert for our group number to be announced, so we could claim the scarce spots.


This cutthroat contest at the airport gate got me thinking about the hustle of the workplace. In a diverse organization, employees all bring their well-packed skills like carry-on bags, hoping to apply them where they can be seen and make a difference. In both situations, inequities will naturally form.


Airlines ensure that people’s varying needs don’t prevent them from smoothly accessing boarding with an equity-based system: calling passengers with disabilities on to the plane early on. The same should be true at work. A learning style that makes it take longer to read a document; a back injury that keeps you from sitting for long periods of time; or a mobility issue that prevents you from using stairs—these challenges don’t need to be penalizing if leaders build equitable systems, policies, and habits.


I applaud the airlines and their regulators for this policy. But systems are made up of people. It’s still up to the passengers to check our own biases about who is in line and when it’s our turn.


For instance, last month when there was one remaining passenger in a wheelchair waiting for the staff escorts to come back—a Black man—I watched with amazement as the people behind him walked in front of him to board! Fortunately, an escort came and got him before they announced the next group. An unconscious bias around ability may have been compounded by unconscious bias about race, allowing some people to completely see through another human being.


An airport experience a few weeks later reminded me that not all disabilities are visible. A woman near me in the waiting area asked me which groups had been called. When I told her they had only called for people with disabilities, she zipped forward with her sister. A couple of passengers behind me commented about them not looking as if they had a disability. I had been talking with the woman earlier and she had told me that her sister had anxiety so I knew why they boarded with that group. But, absent information, our brains tend to make judgments quickly, especially in stressful situations or when we think that someone else is getting a privilege that we aren’t receiving.


Overcoming bias is about pausing and considering a wider range of possibilities. That’s our responsibility as individuals to promote equity. Workplaces, in turn, need to create accessibility through policy and ensure that it is applied in practice.


And it’s up to the airlines to build planes with bigger overhead bins - or stop charging us to check our bags!

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