After the protests…
“The Battle for the Soul of the Nation” was the tagline of the Biden-Harris campaign. In many ways it was a battle between the status quo of structural inequality and the promise of a new beginning. As Michele Alexander eloquently writes, this summer was not a racial reckoning; it simply unequivocally revealed the need for one.
While Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has been in fashion for some time, there was a noticeable spike in announcements and postings at the end of the summer. Universities purportedly in dire straits as a result of loss of tuition and room & board dollars, announced a plethora of chiefs and officers focused on diversity, equity, and/or inclusion. Corporations issued statements (and reissued for Black History Month), and my LinkedIn feed has been full of Black men being promoted to positions they should have held in the first place.
The speed at which the announcements about DEI officers, pipeline initiatives, and Black History Month collaborations happened demonstrates that the means and the need always existed, but the will did not. HBCUs have announced their largest donations in 150 years; how is that possible when bastions of privilege regularly rake in tens of millions of dollars annually CONTINUE READING: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives Provide Excellent Cover To Do Nothing - Philly's 7th Ward