Diversity Executive - September 2008 - (Page 16)

GUEST EDITORIAL | Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Diversity Is a Diversion Inclusion and equanomics are key to equality A few years ago, I attended the annual meeting of a Fortune 500 company. The RainbowPUSH delegation and I were met by company representatives, all three of whom are African-American and who immediately began to tout their company’s record on diversity. They handed us beautifully produced, full-color diversity pamphlets that spoke glowingly about how the company’s values were aligned with diversity. They even produced a PowerPoint presentation echoing these sentiments. We sat down, pushed past the brochures and surface elements and asked some key questions relating to performance: “How many people of color do you have on your company’s board of directors? How many people of color occupy the top 20 executive leadership positions?” The answer to both questions was zero. directors and in their senior executive ranks. The results are not surprising: 13 of 443 blacks on the boards of companies in the New Orleans region, 27 of 795 black directors of companies in the Detroit area and 17 out of 540 blacks in the New York area. The data is not better relating to the inclusion — or exclusion — of people of color in corporate America’s senior executive leadership ranks. There is much work to be done. The equanomics index relating to minority asset management ﬁrms tells a similar story. In the U.S., some $12 trillion is invested in mutual funds, and only about 3 percent is managed by AfricanAmerican ﬁnancial services ﬁrms. African-Americans generate nearly $845 billion in consumer buying power. They comprise almost 13 percent of the U.S. population, but corporate America total procurement purchases with African American businesses is just 4 percent. We have come a long way and made much progress over the years. But we should not be diverted by the rhetoric of diversity, nor should corporate America be content. It’s time to look at race equality and parity through an economic lens — equanomics — where progress can be quantiﬁed and measured. Nothing less will do. We did not know how good baseball could be until everybody could play. Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947. Then came Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, Sammy Sosa and Chico Carrasquel. We will not know how good business can be until everybody is on the playing ﬁeld. When the playing ﬁeld is even, the rules are public and the goals are clear, we can all compete and win and make America a more perfect union. For the ﬁrst time in history, an African-American became the nominee of the Democratic Party and may become the president of the United States. Barack Obama’s candidacy inspires us all to think of a new day and a new way. I invite Diversity Executive readers to join us as we together complete Dr. King’s dream of achieving real economic and racial equality in our lifetime. « The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. is president and founder of the RainbowPUSH Coalition. He can be reached at editor@diversity-executive.com. We should not be diverted by the rhetoric of diversity, nor should corporate America be content. “Do you utilize any minority investment banks in your stock buyback programs? Do any minority ﬁrms manage your pension fund assets?” Again, the answer was zero. We had done our research. The organization targeted people of color as a key consumer group buying a huge percentage of its product. We asked, “Do you have any black or minority advertising, law or accounting ﬁrms on your roster? What percent of business procurement do you do with minority businesses?” They replied, “Well, we are working on that; we just don’t seem to be able to ﬁnd them.” This example illustrates that diversity can be a diversion. We must go beyond diversity to “equanomics” — real equality and parity where inclusion of people of color on corporate boards, in senior leadership roles, advertising and professional services can be quantiﬁed and measured. At RainbowPUSH, we no longer use the term diversity. We focus on inclusion as the key to economic growth. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about this concept when he spoke of the unﬁnished business of the civil rights journey. In “Where Do We Go From Here?” he said we’ve won the battle for freedom. We are free to vote. We are free to use public accommodations. We have won these basic civil and voting rights. But beyond freedom, there is the unmet goal of full economic and racial equality: equanomics. Beyond the surface of diversity, we seek measurable inclusion of people of color at all levels and in all dimensions of a company’s institutional DNA. Recently, RainbowPUSH researched the top 50 companies in key markets around the nation. We broke down the number of people of color on these companies’ boards of 16 Diversity Executive | www.diversity-executive.com | September/October 2008 http://www.diversity-executive.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Diversity Executive - September 2008

Diversity Executive - September 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Leadership Connections Guest Editorial Diversity Executive Online 2042: A New Business Era Begins The Rules of Attraction Where to Look for Diverse Talent Like Minds Think Great Culture Teams Target Business Opportunities at Luxottica Retail Special Section Rebalancing Gender At ING Americas, the Color of Diversity Is Orange Profile Business Intelligence Case Study Strategies Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources

Diversity Executive - September 2008

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