Hi, my white friends. We’re not bad people because we grew up in a society that incorporated racism into its structure, and left us with some unconscious biases. Neither are we bad people if we’re feeling stuck, right now, when it comes to what to say about race and racism to our black colleagues.
But here’s why I will buy you a cookie if you use the word “race” on LinkedIn. Seriously.
This week I’ve heard white people say they want to write something in support of the protests sparked by George Floyd’s death, but that they sorta want to run it past a black person for approval, first.
Trust me, black people are tired of being roped in as unpaid consultants by white people to address race issues. They’re justifiably tired of a lot more than that. And now is not the time for us to be asking them to do more unpaid labor on our behalf.
I work with a lot of white people to help them communicate for a living, and I know it’s hard enough for most of us to write an email inviting people to a fundraiser without tying ourselves up in knots. So: I understand that feeling of being stuck when it comes to talking about race.
Well-funded companies who pay thousands of communications experts like me have got out ahead on this one. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Salesforce, Slack, Uber, and Twitter have expressed their support for antiracism and criminal justice campaigns through messages to employees, on their homepages or through official social media accounts. [See The Financial Times, June 1.]
“To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter,” said Netflix. Amazon said: “The inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country must stop.”
But what if you run a smaller business, or you lead a nonprofit, and you can’t pay people like me to help you draft the perfect statement?
Coupled with the fear of saying the wrong thing, I’ve noticed, comes a modest need to be compensated for being brave, afterwards.
I’ve had black people tell me this week that when their one “woke” colleague at work got it together to bring up the subject of making a Black Lives Matter statement on the company website, they came to them later asking why more black staff hadn’t spoken up in support.
“What am I supposed to say, ‘Congratulations, have a cookie for not being a racist?’” they asked.
💡
And that’s when it dawned on me. Actually, white people, I realized that most of us are incentivized by rewards. I mean, I went to the Cub Scouts. They gave us BADGES. Then there was prize-giving at my private, all-boys high school. And the promise of getting to shake Richard Attenbrough’s hand if I graduated from University. All that lovely privilege came with lots of prizes. And now here I am expected to just do something because it’s the right thing to do?
WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME, AMERICA? 🇺🇸
Well, I suppose the answer is: A better America.
But since the onus definitely shouldn’t fall on black people to give us any medals, right now, just for not being racist, well, I’M GOING TO DO IT.
If you use the word “race” on LinkedIn this week, I will buy you a cookie. It can be a black and white cookie, if you like Seinfeld. Or it can be a huge cookie cake with the words “well done to me for not being a racist” piped across it.
If you don’t communicate on this, people will assume you have nothing to say. Take the risk. You can email me with the link at the bottom of this post and we can set it up. I’ll mail it anywhere. Alaska, even. Promise.
Here’s a good start:
“I’m unsure what to say about race, and I feel scared of writing the wrong thing, particularly because our organization isn’t perfect when it comes to working on racial justice…”
The point is, you’re filling a majority white space with a brave expression of vulnerability on this issue, and that’s a hell of a lot further than most of us are able to get, right now. Next steps? I can point you in the right direction. But you have to be willing to do the work. And the laziness of privilege is something I could write a book about…if I could, you know, be bothered.
But we’re at an important time in history, and for white people, it’s important that we face our fear and break out of our communications paralysis on race. I know that we can do it. And it’s worth being brave.
But if you’re not brave, I will buy you a cookie with no judgies.
