In August, the reverberations of the Supreme Court ruling hit our ecosystem hard with a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, a Black women-led fund, over a grant program targeting women of color. It was a “shot across the bow” signaling that our mission and the work of social justice warriors everywhere was under attack. Just three years after the commitments of investment and solidarity towards racial justice and Black economic empowerment, the pendulum is recklessly swinging in the opposite direction.
Given a torrent of lawsuits, major institutions across society from universities, to corporations to government are scrambling for fear of litigation, whitewashing and further diluting their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. According to a survey released last month by the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals, “more than 80% of executives with a role in corporate responsibility have either changed the language they use to talk about their [racial equity] work or cut down on external communications about their efforts”.
Our legacy is strong. Our cause is just. And our time is now.
