Issue of the week: Black lives in the boardroom
Rhetoric about diversity is all very well – but companies must take hard action to close the race gap
The discussion platform Reddit has been criticised in the past for “allowing provocative content and hate speech to flourish”, said Chris Nuttall on the FT. But last week – as America continued to reel from the impact of George Floyd’s murder – its co-founder and chairman, Alexis Ohanian, made a telling gesture. He announced his intention to step down from the social media company’s board and called for a black candidate to replace him. “I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now,” wrote Ohanian, who is married to tennis champion Serena Williams. “I’m saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: ‘What did you do?’”
For years, black deaths at the hands of police “have gone unremarked in corporate America”, said Natalie Sherman on BBC Business. Not this time. “While companies remain as reluctant as ever to wade into controversy”, the scale of the demonstrations has made speaking up a “business imperative”. Activists say the corporate outpouring makes a welcome change. Even five years ago, “corporations wouldn’t say black lives matter for a billion dollars”, observed Jade Magnus Ogunnaike of Color of Change. But the “show of support” has also “raised plenty of eyebrows” – not least when delivered by companies with all-white boards or a “chequered record” when it comes to the treatment of black employees. The beauty company L’Oréal came under particular fire when it issued a post – “speaking out is worth it” – echoing its long-running ad campaign. “I am SO angry,” was the response of the British model Munroe Bergdorf, who was dropped from a campaign by the beauty giant in 2017 after she wrote about white supremacy on social media.
Ultimately, it’s hard appointments that really make the difference, said Vinjeru Mkandawire in The Daily Telegraph. And Britain’s record of race diversity in boardrooms is every bit as dire as America’s. Beyond Arnold Donald, CEO of London-listed cruise operator Carnival, and Sharon White, chair of the John Lewis Partnership, “examples of black people at the top of the largest British companies are few”. The Parker Review, set up to redress the situation, recently noted that 37% of FTSE 100 companies had “no non-white board members” at all, said the Financial Times – hence, perhaps, the “brain drain of black executives opting to start their own businesses”. That, in itself, might prove in future to be a useful development. Another reason to be hopeful is “multiple studies” showing that “racial equality, like gender equality, is not just a moral issue but makes business sense”. Inclusive teams tend to outperform their peers. Investors, take note.