How marketers can be allies for diversity and inclusion

Quotes

• “We like to think that they were better in the 70s. That’s a yes andwe still have a lot of opportunities to improve. The data shows that here in 2020, the organizations are still very, very white male-dominated, over 93% of CEOs are male and we only have, right now 5-10% African-American CEOs so we have a lot of work to do on diversity.” -Julie“There is a real fear and sentiment right now, especially with racial conversations getting really heated. I found in my work in diversity and inclusion over the last six years that there is a withdraw of the white male from the conversation around diversity and inclusion.” -Julie“Can I mansplain about this? Well, sometimes, not all the times obviously, and I’m picking my words very carefully, it can be used as a weapon. You’re doing something wrong because you’re the white maleand if your company didn’t hire me, it’s because you’re being racist or sexist and it’s hard to engage in those conversations without having the finger pointed at you.” -Ben“From feminism, there’s a reason why there was a backlash that men didn’t feelincluded in those conversations. We are seeing it now with race with white people not knowing how to get in those conversations.” -Julie“Diversity inclusion cannot be done by excluding the majority group. There is a reason that inclusion is a part of it and we need white men to be a part of the conversation.” -Julie“To overcome that fear, for the white man listening, there are some easythings that you can do. The first thing is really listening to learn. Listen to people that are different than you because, in different dimensions of diversity and the richness of human experience, you learn.” -Julie“We surround ourselves by people like us. If that’s the case for you, I promise you can do better by being intentional about diversifying who you spend time with. It’s natural to gravitate to people like you but you don’t learn from people just like you. You just hear your own voice reinforced.” -Julie“That’s one of the things that I feel strongly about. There is the stat of 93% of CEOs are a white male and I don’t necessarily believe it is because they are white and they are male. It is because of the infrastructure that those people have had given them role models, education, templates to follow, and resources that helped them get to where they are and in some of the other communities which are predominantly minorities, they don’t have that infrastructure, that set up.” -Ben “It is systemic racism and systemic issues. What you need to understand is, you didn’t create the system, none of us did. We inherited it but we are playing a role in it. It’s one thing to acknowledge these are the facts, these are the systems and it’s a whole other thing to say that this is not okay.” -Julie“It’s everyday small, subtle, and intentional actions that people can take to make a difference in that system because we’re all benefiting from the system in different ways. Some more so than others.” -Julie“Another thing I want to say is the privilege. No one is saying that you didn’t work hard to get to where you’re at.” -Julie “The good news to this, is I like to flip the P-word as a positive. Having privilege is a chance to be an ally. The more privilege you have, the more access to resources, education, the more voice share you have and we are seeing this today.” -Julie“I think we need to be careful that the conversation is not just a one and done, check the box because you know marketers to communicate a corporate statement or have some sort of advertisement that isn’t consistent with what you’ve done in the past.” -Julie“You can’t just plan it like, ‘I’m going to be inclusive this week, this day or this ad. It really needs to be an intentional series of events. It’s a long game and we cannot undo centuries of inequality with swift acts of advertisements and corporate statements. There has to be intention long term and we can see this.” -Julie“It is kind of a chicken and egg problem. If people don’t see themselves reflected in the guest, they are not likely to apply to be guests. This happens in corporate America a lot. If you don’t see people of color, as a person of color you are unlikely to apply. So that’s why it’s important to be intentional to go to places you haven’t gone in the past.” -Julie