THE "DONALD STERLING" EFFECT
It's been 4.5 years since we heard the secretly recorded audio of then LA Clipper owner Donald Sterling's racist rant. The rant that cost him his post as team owner, and quickly setoff a new cultural norm as it relates to private and public discussions of perceived racism, sexism, and bigotry. Since Sterling's outing, we've seen a widening of cultural disavowal of distasteful commentary. The impact ranges from the now historic downfall of Harvey Weinstein and the #metoomovement, Netflix top spokesman Jonathan Friedman, Paramount television president Amy Powell, Google engineer James Damore, Uber former CEO Travis Kalanick, actress Rosanne Barr - the list can go on forever...sadly.
In addition to firings, there's another new trend of public apologies. Say something inappropriate or simply exist as an inappropriate person, make a Twitter apology and let's move on. Or even more interesting, if your dad says something racist 20 or so years ago, and someone finds it on the internet - make sure you apologize. I'm maybe becoming a bit uneasy with how linear the idea of racist or sexist commentary and perception is now being equated with fire that "person" or make that "person" apologize. These aren't individual problems people - these are systematic issues. When Starbucks stepped up and closed down it's entire operation for a day to train it's employees and executives on racial sensitivity as well as implemented new company policy to address these issues - this signaled an appropriate path to restitution. When I see someone like NASCAR Driver Conor Daly lose his Lilly Diabetes sponsorship this week because his father made a racist remark on the radio in the 1980s, this worries me. It worries because it sends a signal that corporate America feels that a firing, or a removal of benefits - even without investigation into the character or reality of both that person and organization - is enough to create real cultural norms around racist and sexist beliefs. A black man gets shot by a cop - suspend him or fire him. An executive, athlete, co-worker exudes outward defamatory behavior at work and within their community against other races and sexes - fire him. Remove the scab but not the infection.
in order to create change, yes, folks like Donald Sterling and others should no longer be allowed to hold their posts and influence decision making within organizations that touch the lives of all Americans, but there also needs to be a focus on 4 key pillars (or similar frameworks), if we are to see real change:
Purpose: What does your organization or your household stand for as it relates to diversity and inclusion? Sports teams, rural families, urban families, sponsors, entertainment companies, bakeries, etc... - it's time to define your purpose and be public about it
Principles: What principles exist within your organization and amongst your community that define how you will honor this purpose
Practice: What practices do you plan to implement to ensure that your purpose and principles are accomplished and become the bloodline of your organization and community
Policy: What are the rules, ramifications, reward systems you have in place to inspire action and adherence to your approach to diversity and inclusion
Without these core pillars both in the workplace, at home, and within our own personal communities, I'm not sure real change will occur. Firings, public apologies or lack thereof (great job Urban Meyer) and press conferences won't do the trick and can actually cause more harm than good in the long term by sensationalizing and desensitizing our society to the real issues. While I hope to see a world rid of bigotry, my more realistic hope is that both at home and at work we all become more methodical about systemizing acceptance and respect for each other that sets a new cultural norm.