Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#1

Post by haleymbryant » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 1:46 PM UTC

I am a black leader at a startup. I sent a memo to our team on Monday to share how I'm feeling as a black person in light of George Floyd's death and the events of the last week. I've heard that many companies have shied away from directly addressing what's happening in the world and I know that that's due at least in part to lack of representation. Black people represent just 3.3% of senior leadership roles in our country (CNN). We're donating to charity and discussing D & I initiatives, but I know there are companies that will shy away from the conversations needed for change to happen.

What are your companies doing? Where are they failing? What's holding you back from speaking up?

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#2

Post by silvat » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

How do you even show that systematic racism exists?

-edit to assuage the presumptuous-

Assuming systematic racism does exist in US industry(I'm not from the US or live there) and a solution is provided to lessen it. At what point can you say that it no longer exists?

I don't think there will ever come a time where the demographics of Executives In Industry will match the demographics of a nation. There are a million different factors at play that have nothing to do with race, I think its not a very useful measure. But without that, what else can you go by?

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#3

Post by haleymbryant » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 1:57 PM UTC

silvat wrote: post #2

How do you even show that systematic racism exists? -edit to assuage the presumptuous- Assuming systematic racism does exist in US industry(I'm not from the US or live there) and a solution is provided to lessen it. At what point can you say that it no longer exists? I don't think there will ever come a time where the demographics of Executives In Industry will match the demographics of a nation. There are a million…

How do you think?

I feel like step 1 is helping people care enough to slow down and understand what it is to be able to identify it in themselves, their networks and their organizations.

This short video does a good job of illustrating how it piles up over time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrHIQIO_bdQ

I look at the amazing team I'm surrounded by that is largely void of people of color and think about our hiring practices, our exposure to communities outside of the majority and our customer base as well and see the direct and indirect ripples of systemic racism.

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#4

Post by seesawtron » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:01 PM UTC

No racism at our company. Neverthless we have well-structured independent channels to addresss systematic issues and biases when they emerge which fortunately do not require protesting. The personnel holding the position of these channels rotate after a fixed time so that they do not become authoritative or fascist.

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#5

Post by psychometry » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

silvat wrote: post #2

How do you even show that systematic racism exists? -edit to assuage the presumptuous- Assuming systematic racism does exist in US industry(I'm not from the US or live there) and a solution is provided to lessen it. At what point can you say that it no longer exists? I don't think there will ever come a time where the demographics of Executives In Industry will match the demographics of a nation. There are a million…

Qualitatively: By listening to employees and giving them appropriate channels to address incidences of bias.

Quantitatively: By looking for bias in employee advancement, hiring, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#6

Post by newfeatureok » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:09 PM UTC

Unless a company is willing to do completely blind hiring and eventually promotions/raises anything they do internally to "address systemic racism" is merely posturing.

To illustrate this point, suppose there's Big Corp A - a company that's extremely racist. However they say they're not racist. To prove this they do everything you could imagine for their employees, seminars, diversity training, etc. All of the employees who work there conclude Big Corp A is not racist. However, suppose they actually are racist and simply do not hire anyone who is not of their preferred race. This would mean it's possible for the employees to feel that they're not racist, but also that they have racist policies.

Racism is something that can be viewed empirically. Without transparency, any company claiming to not be racist is lying. Blind hiring, transparency in wages, etc. are all things that a company would do to address systemic racism.

In any case, a company could make a large donation to many organizations trying to solve these problems I suppose. One would have to measure that impact vs. the impact they have that furthers the divide (e.g. a company whose existence might hurt individuals of certain races disproportionally).

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#7

Post by haleymbryant » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:10 PM UTC

seesawtron wrote: post #4

No racism at our company. Neverthless we have well-structured independent channels to addresss systematic issues and biases when they emerge which fortunately do not require protesting. The personnel holding the position of these channels rotate after a fixed time so that they do not become authoritative or fascist.

It's great to hear that there are structured channels for communication about racism and bias.

Your message is in conflict with itself though; you're saying there is no racism but that it is consistently addressed internally - racism and more broadly unconscious bias is everywhere. One of the things this time is reminding me of is that fixing this problem is not some one else's job, it's all of our jobs. Believing racism doesn't exist in our own networks/companies keeps us silent about the problem and slows the honesty and understanding required to make change happen.

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#8

Post by LukeBMM » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:14 PM UTC

psychometry wrote: post #5

silvat wrote: post #2

How do you even show that systematic racism exists? -edit to assuage the presumptuous- Assuming systematic racism does exist in US industry(I'm not from the US or live there) and a solution is provided to lessen it. At what point can you say that it no longer exists? I don't think there will ever come a time where the demographics of Executives In Industry will match the demographics of a nation. There are a million…

Qualitatively: By listening to employees and giving them appropriate channels to address incidences of bias. Quantitatively: By looking for bias in employee advancement, hiring, etc.

Furthering the quantitative angle a bit, it's easy to overlook the decision-making power of the positions involved (ie: the number of people of color in leadership roles, versus in entry level positions).

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#9

Post by haleymbryant » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:15 PM UTC

newfeatureok wrote: post #6

Unless a company is willing to do completely blind hiring and eventually promotions/raises anything they do internally to "address systemic racism" is merely posturing. To illustrate this point, suppose there's Big Corp A - a company that's extremely racist. However they say they're not racist. To prove this they do everything you could imagine for their employees, seminars, diversity training, etc. All of the employ…

Thanks for your thoughts.

Totally. Diversity and inclusion can end up feeling like and being a box to check versus a genuine effort to create change.

Process changes take time and can get easily derailed. I think about the small changes that can make a difference. Sharing resources written by black people, looking at your website to see if people of color are represented and giving solution oriented feedback if it isn't, asking for/demanding unconscious bias training for all team members...no act of inclusivity is too small. They all plant seeds of change.

Re: furthering the divide, it's interesting to look beyond the gestures of Fortune 500 companies esp to think about how their mission and model hurts or helps people of color broadly.

Re: Ask HN: How are your companies addressing systemic racism?

#10

Post by austincheney » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 2:16 PM UTC

I work for a ginormous monster huge bank. Diversity and inclusion are incredibly important values at all levels. It’s not just lip service as the leadership goes well out of their way to impose these values.

> What are your companies doing?

I have been away on military assignment since the chaos caught fire, but before that the company strongly encouraged people to socialize outside their comfort groups and treat people as family (the kind you like). The company didn’t especially focus on race as this is factored into diversity.