The Right Side of History Talking Points for Partners
At Black Innovation Alliance, we have the best partners in the world. And we want to support you in continuing to champion our important work together, within your organization.
Here are talking points to help you navigate crucial conversations with colleagues and peers based on frequently asked questions.
Why should we still care about DEI?
Foremost, diversity presents a competitive advantage. Research has proven that firms with diverse practices outpace their counterparts who choose not to prioritize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
What we are witnessing today with the attacks on DEI efforts represents an unfortunate, yet reliable historic pattern of backlash to racial progress and the changing demographics of our country. America is increasingly becoming a more diverse nation in a more inclusive world. The companies who embrace this future are more likely to thrive in it.
For more information, check out Mckinsey & Company’s report, Diversity Wins: Why Inclusion Matters
Why do we always have to focus on race?
Racial progress has always set the pace for the advancement of other groups, whether women, LGBTQ, the disabled etc. The Civil Rights Movement for instance, served as the “tip of the spear”, making it easier for other causes coming behind it to achieve traction too. Supporting racial progress doesn’t only help people of color, but builds the foundation for a more free and just society overall.
Why focus our support on Black people versus any other group?
While other groups, like women and other people of color experience discrimination, Black people have a very specific experience in this country. Black people are the only group once considered property. It was written into the Constitution and into our laws. This has cast a deep, dark shadow which results in our racial caste system today.
To this day, race is the #1 determinant of life outcomes, with Black people reliably falling to the bottom. It is all of our responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to the opportunity they need to live fulfilling lives. And history has shown that when Black people do better, we all do better.
To learn more, read Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Aren’t there bigger problems? Shouldn’t we be focusing on climate, energy or some other major threat to society?
The idea that we have to focus on one issue at a time is a false choice. Yes, climate change and global boiling represents an existential threat to our planet. And yes, it deserves resources. But our inability to manage the changing demographics within the United States presents an existential threat to our democracy.
Race and racism nearly tore our nation apart during the Civil War. And it likewise has the power to destroy us today. For this reason, we must continue to do the work of achieving racial equality, while also making deep and lasting investments in the healing of our planet.
Why would our company support an organization like Black Innovation Alliance?
Black Innovation Alliance (BIA) is a network of organizations who work with under-supported entrepreneurs and innovators who face major disparities in everything from education to capital access. By helping businesses to grow, BIA and its member organizations are helping to create new products, services, industries and economies.
According to McKinsey & Company, an investment in more business ecosystems that provide Black business owners equitable access to resources and opportunities can unlock $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion in annual GDP. The work of Black Innovation Alliance not only helps advance racial equality, but is fostering a more vibrant and thriving economy overall.
To learn more, check out McKinsey & Company’s report Building Supportive Ecosystems for Black-Owned US Businesses.
Why do we need racial equity efforts? Isn’t choosing to benefit one group over another just a form of prejudice?
Despite common belief, we have never lived in a color-blind or race neutral society. In her book, Caste, Isabel Wilkerson describes American society as a play, where everyone is assigned a role at birth. She describes how, “For generations, everyone has known who is center stage in the lead. Everyone knows who the hero is, who the supporting characters are, who is the sidekick good for laughs and who is in the shadow, the undifferentiated chorus with no lines to speak, no voice to sing, but necessary for the production to work.”
Equal treatment in an unequal society freezes inequality in place. Racial equity efforts acknowledge the basic math that helping people catch up, means directing additional energy and effort to those who have been left behind.
To learn more, read Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Why should corporations care?
Today, Americans trust business and CEOs more than any other segment of American society including government, religion and the media. It’s an ideal time for corporations to consider how they might be true forces for good.
Our nation’s history is filled with profiles in courage where corporations took the lead in driving societal change. From Henry Ford whose Ford Motors not only helped build the middle class but was one of the first to integrate his workforce as early as 1918, to Pepsico which was the first corporation to hire a Black sales force back in the 1940s. There is still more work to do and more history to be made. Our world is changing, and it is the corporations who embrace the change that will be most likely to survive through it and benefit from it.
How will recent litigation impact organizations like BIA and its members?
It still remains to be seen. As a result of relentless aggression as gaslighting, organizations created to support entrepreneurs of color are having to pivot to proving that racism is real, and that racial equity, a necessary solution. At BIA, we are working hard to arm our members with the tools and resources they need to fight on their own terms, while providing them the “cover” needed to speak truth to power. We hope that the current moment will make us stronger in the long-term, but the need to respond and recalibrate is placing an undue burden on our members in the short-term.
What can funders like our organizations do to best support you in this time?
This moment represents an existential threat for our ecosystem. Organizations are already pulling back on their support of racial justice work. We need our partners more today than ever before. Here are three ways you can help:
- Financially support BIA and/or its member organizations. This is a costly fight with previously reliable sources of support rapidly falling away. If we, as an ecosystem, are to survive, we require financial support.
- Lend your voice. Whether it’s within the halls of your organization or on social media, lend your voice to this cause. We are on the front-side of a modern-day civil rights movement and it’s all hands on deck.
- Tell us your story. How is your organization navigating this moment? Where are you seeing courage at work and how might we, as a partner, continue to stand alongside you?
How is BIA responding to the recent events related to the Supreme Court Affirmative Action decision and the recent litigation? How will this impact your work and your current partnerships?
We are clear that we are experiencing backlash to racial progress which will require sustained resistance. Therefore, we are working with our members to build the sort of infrastructure that allows us to not merely be reactive, but intentional, deliberate and strategic.
To learn more about how we vision our role in this moment, check out the Clap Back – a 90-day campaign designed to galvanize, mobilize and inspire, for the ultimate purpose of building true collective power, capable of driving lasting social change.
If there are other ways that we might be supportive of you and the work of your organization in preserving and deepening investments in Inclusive Entrepreneurship, please tell us. And if there are other common questions that we might help answer, send an email to our Communications Director Janessa Bailey at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to assist.
