White-washed DEI can take several forms. Pivoting and shape-shifting in order to appease, deflect, and deceive are a part of its charm for the performative companies that subscribe to a “words only” approach to DEI.

It goes without saying that….

The aims of a white-washed DEI—whether intentional or unintentional—are detrimental to melanin-enriched people and contribute to our ongoing exclusion and erasure.

When a company fails to decenter whiteness, DEI becomes merely a systemic staging tool that grooms and readies “others” to….

assimilate into whiteness
be tolerated by whiteness
be controlled by whiteness
be regulated by whiteness
assume the traits of permissible “authentic self” and professionalism
serve as “DEI-splays” that beard for whiteness
model acceptable proximity-to-whiteness behaviors for non-compliant “others”

I Have Questions

Because whiteness rarely implicates itself, any “yes” answers to the following 15 questions will provide more than enough information to determine if your company is trafficking in white-washed DEI.

Just for the record, “others” already know whether our company’s brand of DEI is a sham. And in some cases, the companies themselves know as well. Let that sink in.

Let the implications of that sink way in.

Does your company evaluate a candidate for “culture fit” based on whether they share commonalities with the white power majority, whether they will fit the dominant culture-clique? If the answer is “yes,” this is “assimilation 101.” In fact, the term “culture fit” undermines the very foundation of DEI.
Are candidates that are not white and male referred to as “diversity candidates” or “diversity hires”? If the answer is “yes”, your company is using and relying on a lens of whiteness. Plus, this is a deeply offensive company-sanctioned racial microaggression. The company is virtue-signaling to all employees what is prized and prioritized.
Does the issue of “not lowering the bar” come up only in discussions about melanin-enriched candidates? If the answer is “yes,” by implication your company is communicating that whiteness is the established bar—the standard against which all are measured. Enuf said. This one becomes most evident when the actual advanced skillset of “others” is compared to the relative mediocre skillset of melanin-deficient counterparts.
Is your company utilizing a non-measurable way to eliminate “other” candidates from hire consideration? If the answer is “yes,” your company’s decision-makers are having behind-closed-door discussions to eliminate candidates based on these kinds of statements: “Candidate X has all the right skills, but I just don’t think they will fit in here….I don’t think Candidate X is a good fit….Candidate X is… not really right for this job….I don’t think Candidate X will be happy here….I don’t get a good vibe from Candidate X….I can’t explain it, but I just don’t feel Candidate X is the right one for this role.”
Does your company have an “unspoken” or official “look-book” or “professional standards” policy penned by melanin-deficient leaders and decision-makers? If the answer is “yes,” your company is concealing whiteness-centering behind the coded language of “culture,” “the company look” and/or “professionalism.”
Is your company uber-focusing on mere representation numbers and prioritizing the “acquisition of others”? If the answer is “yes,” your company is relying on tokenism to “take the heat off” and does not value the retention of “others.” Your company is committed to the status quo of whiteness while engaging in illusion, in appearances, in a big show.
Does your company rely on POC reporting in order to hide data on its low numbers (or lack) of members from specific melanin-enriched groups? If the answer is “yes,” your company is engaging in deceitful practices that uphold the continued exclusion of melanin-enriched hires and erasure of current melanin-enriched employees. Insist that your company make its EEO-1 reporting transparent instead.
Does your company place boundaries and limits on discussions of race but no boundaries on discussions of other dimensions of diversity? If the answer is “yes,” your company has no intention of providing an environment of safety or racial equity to its melanin-enriched employees.
Is the final sign-off or approval of DEI initiatives granted by melanin-deficient folks? If the answer is “yes,” your company employs a gate-keeper system to perpetuate whiteness.
Is DEI education provided by primarily non-melanated practitioners and consultants? If the answer is “yes,” your company is operating “on code” by partnering with whiteness-beneficiaries who understand “the assignment” and who will knowingly or unknowingly maintain and perpetuate whiteness as the priority.
Does your company insist on pre-approval of talking points, PowerPoint slides, and or curriculum of both internal and external DEI practitioners and consultants? If the answer is “yes,” your company is engaging in regulation and control that protects the system of whiteness and safeguards the comfort of melanin-deficient employees.
Is the comfort of melanin-deficient employees top-of-mind when planning DEI initiatives? If the answer is “yes,” your company is full-on whiteness-centered.
Does your company disallow anti-racism education and or place bans, restrictions, or limitations on BLM for its employees? If the answer is “yes,” your company is full-on, next-level whiteness-centered and isn’t even trying to hide it anymore.
Does your company consider racism to not be an issue within your company? If the answer is “yes,” your company is not only part of the problem but is the problem. Racism is an issue at EVERY company if EVEN ONE employee is experiencing racial microaggressions. Kindness and “color-blindness” are not remedies for racism.
Has your company actually regressed since May 25, 2020, to the point where you consistently feel more emotionally and psychologically unsafe, to the point where you are “microaggressed on the daily,” to the point where you know you’ll face retaliation if you report anything to your manager or human resources? If the answer is “yes,” please run don’t walk to the nearest exit and “get the hell-o” outta there.

The Cost

It’s simple. Whiteness, in all its manifestations, harms (kills body or spirit). There is no lack of historical precedent that attests to this fact. I’ll also put it in the “love-language” of power and profit that companies more readily understand.

Under a system of whiteness…..

“Others” are likely to quit and sue, tarnishing a company’s image and reputation and impacting its bottom line, even if the lawsuit is not successful. “Lost” cases are frequently “won” in the court of public opinion via social media. If the lawsuit goes forward and is successful, a company will likely pay out large damages and the case will be part of an official and permanent record of judgment against a company.
“Others” are likely to quit and stay. The cost of disengagement and decreased productivity costs $350 billion annually in the U.S. The approximate cost of each disengaged employee is at least $2,246 per year. All it takes is one disengaged employee to impact and “infect” other employees. Are you picturing all that cost adding up?

Reality Check on the State of the (Work) Union

If recent events of inhumanity, hypocrisy, caucacity, and unchecked hate haven’t clued in companies to what “othered” employees are feeling, here’s a snapshot.

We are angry.

We are frustrated.

We are tired.

We are tired of being tired.

We are un-okay.

And if, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “a riot is the language of the unheard,” then surely within the workplace…

disengaging

resigning

suing

is the language of “others” subjected to active white-washed DEI.

A Leadership Pledge to Work By and Live By

“I use my full capability and advantage to proactively dismantle racism and imbed DEI into all policies and practices in order to create an environment of safety, equity, and belonging for all.”

If you, as a leader, are not doing this, you have failed.

Let me repeat that.

You. Have. Failed.

And just so no one assumes that a title or direct reports are what makes one a leader, I’d like to dispel that myth.

If you have the ability to impact (√) and influence (√) those around you, you are a leader.

Ergo, EACH ONE of us is a leader.

So here’s a modified pledge for leaders without direct power to change or implement policies and practices.

“I use my full capability and advantage to proactively dismantle racism and imbed DEI into all that I say and do in order to create an environment of safety, equity, and belonging for all.”

Roll Call

The system of whiteness in all its forms is an expensive poison that forever “tarnishes” a company in the eyes of “others” in all the ways that really count.

There is a Jamaican saying—”those who can’t learn, must feel.”

Perhaps your company should have a chat with leaders from these companies who’ve failed and “feeled” the hard way:

Abercrombie & Fitch

Tesla

Memorial Hermann