Michael Eric Dyson Says Companies Should Commit To Racial Justice, Not Just DEI

“If Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are having contests with Joe Biden about what’s going on in terms of inflation, why can’t those business leaders step up and speak up…?” Dyson said. “Business leaders, entrepreneurs, corporations can step up and support reasonable protection of their clients, of their customers, of people who frequent their stores–online or in-person.”

The diversity, equity and inclusion goals that American companies have been pursuing over the past two years are insufficient if racial justice is not a part of the equation, award-winning author and professor Michael Eric Dyson said at a recent Forbes event.

Dyson, a leading thinker on race in America, said such corporate efforts to diversify are important, but companies should also find ways to advance racial justice on issues, such as police reform, gun reform, voting rights, and under-resourced schools.

“A gaggle of multi-racial, multicultural police people put this man on the ground and kept him there,” Dyson said about the officers on-site during the murder of George Floyd, who was killed two years ago Wednesday. “So it’s not enough to have DEI. It’s not enough to have diversity imperatives. What about justice, at the end of the day?”

Dyson spoke Wednesday during Black Culture and Capital, For(bes) The Culture’s new live interview series where Black leaders and luminaries assess the state of the world and business. Speaking on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd, Dyson said companies play “a huge role” in advancing racial justice in and outside their walls, but said this work should not fall solely on people of color.

“Are we putting all the burden on black and brown and red and yellow people?” Dyson said. He added that it’s fine for white people to consult people of color on diversity matters, but they should also ask, “What can we do?’”

Dyson said that following an outpouring of support after George Floyd’s death, there was a “predictable backlash” from “conservative governors and conservative politicians.”

“Where we are now? We’re in full rebuff of the very progress we thought was portended, suggested, pointed to, with the outpouring of allyship in the aftermath of Geogre Floyd’s death.”

A recent survey conducted by Harris Poll for For(bes) the Culture found that about 60% of Black Americans trust small businesses to meaningfully advance racial equity, while 40% trust the federal government and 38% trust big businesses. Dyson said he believes that distrust stems from big companies being afraid to stand up for justice in fear of political criticism. He said “conscientious” business leaders need to speak up more about social justice issues.

“If Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are having contests with Joe Biden about what’s going on in terms of inflation, why can’t those business leaders step up and speak about gun violence in America?” Dyson said. “Business leaders, entrepreneurs, corporations can step up and support reasonable protection of their clients, of their customers, of people who frequent their stores–online or in-person.”

Dyson’s comments come a day after at least 19 children and two adults at an Uvalde, Texas, school were killed in the deadliest school shooting in a decade, and a week after a shooting massacre in Buffalo, N.Y. that targeted a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Dyson also said companies should forge partnerships with grassroots organizations, to adopt or invest in schools. Some of the organizations he listed include the National Action Network (NAN), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Rainbow Coalition and National Urban League.

“Imagine if we fixed the infrastructure of education for these young people and helped them out through the resources of corporate America? Man, you can make a difference in this world, and change the prospects of those young Black and brown and other minoritized people and populations, but also create even more loyal customers in the long run.”

Dyson said that he had no issue with Walmart’s Juneteenth ice cream, which had “Share African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope” written on its Pan-African colored carton. The product sparked a backlash on social media, and Walmart
WMT
has since apologized for their product and removed it from store freezers.

He said Black people should not be too critical of symbolic gestures made by corporations, but understood the sentiment that companies should be taking more substantive action.

“It shouldn’t be [that] we give you the holiday as a modicum of concession, but we don’t engage in the hard work of systemic inequity itself,” Dyson said, referring to corporations. “I agree with that…but it ain’t gotta be either-or, it can be both-and.”