Things Aren’t Right and Real Change Needs to Happen

There is no one right thing to do. There are only the collective steps toward better that we can take. None of us have all of the answers, especially with something so deeply rooted, complex, emotional, and painful as what America is feeling and living. And, I almost said, ‘right now,’ but the fact is it isn’t right now. It has been right now for hundreds of years. It’s every day for our African American friends, peers, partners, neighbors, colleagues, and fellow human beings. We cannot change the past, but we also cannot accept it as the way it must be. We can no longer settle for small steps forward. The time is now—it has been for a long time—to make real change in how we think, act, and communicate about race, diversity, inequalities, and the treatment of anyone that does not look white in this country or the world.

In business, we push our teams to move the needle quickly if they are performing below the goal line. We recognize progress, but we do not accept that as enough if the results continue to be sub-par. Our stance on who we are as a society should be no different. We are well below the line of acceptability when we can watch abuse after abuse unfold on TV, on YouTube, on social media, in our own communities, or in front of our faces. Small progressive steps are not enough. Celebrating what Martin Luther King did nearly sixty years ago isn’t good enough to say we’re working in the right direction.

I am a white privileged male. I have taken that for granted, because I can. It’s not right. I can try to empathize with peers and colleagues who are black, but I will never fully realize what it is like to be in their shoes. I will never know the pain they suffer in knowing that they will always have to work harder to get many of the same things that are afforded to me. I will never know the difficulty they face when they have to explain to their young children that they have to act differently when around police or in certain situations. I can ask. I can listen. I can learn. But, I will never fully know and we (I am talking to anyone white right now) should not pretend to know. Now is the time for humility. Reflection. Understanding. Doing first-hand research is critical. Asking questions is healthy. Truly listening to the answers is imperative. Our growth and knowledge building is incumbent on us, as individuals, not someone else’s responsibility. Listening to diverse voices and talking to others (in all communities) is more important than ever. Then share your learnings, feelings, and ideas with fellow friends, family members, peers, colleagues, and your community at large. This is how real change can begin. And then, through our actions, we can and must make leaps forward and stop accepting a status quo that we should be ashamed of.