The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is calling on corporate America to recommit to diversity, equity and inclusion promises, including $50 billion in investments, made after the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
In a corporate accountability letter, previewed by The Hill, the CBC asks corporations for an update on their racial equity investments and to work with the caucus to create legislative solutions that will help close the racial wealth gap.
“For years advocates have taken a front-row seat in this fight, working tirelessly to ensure the Black community prospers against these odds,” the CBC said in the letter. “It is past time to concentrate our efforts and equip our community with the necessary resources to close the racial wealth gap in America. The journey in front of us requires Corporate America to help drive an agenda that will power Black economic mobility.”
Following the murder of Floyd, who was killed when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes in the summer of 2020, racial justice protests spread throughout the nation, and the corporate field was not spared. Diversity, equity and inclusion roles increased by 55 percent, according to a report from the Society for Human Resource Management. But those roles are now seeing cutbacks and workers fired.
The CBC’s letter also points to reports around corporations participating in performative actions such as hosting fake interviews for diverse candidates to give the appearance that they have increased diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Now, the caucus is giving corporate America until Jan. 31 to share its improvements before it releases a report card, which will detail where corporations stand in their commitments to invest in, hire and promote Black workers.
In an exclusive interview with The Hill, Democratic Reps. Steven Horsford (Nev.), chair of the caucus; Joyce Beatty (Ohio), first chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion; and Glenn Ivey (Md.) explained that the letter is about ending the assault on diversity, equity and inclusion.
“This is about the CBC, collectively, and the 120 million Americans that we represent, 20 million Black Americans, who are literally under assault and under attack when it comes to economic opportunity,” Horsford said. “We talk a lot about democracy and we will always fight for and uphold the provisions around democracy, including the right to vote, and one of those most fundamental rights is the right for economic justice.”
Black Americans are significantly underrepresented in high-wage industries and face low probabilities of advancement. Black employees make up only 12 percent of the private-sector and only 7 percent of high-ranking positions like senior manager, vice president and senior vice president.
As such, Black households hold only 4 percent of wealth — but white households hold 84 percent wealth, according to the Brookings Institution.
“If we’re really going to be about changing the economics, if we’re going to be about creating wealth, we have to do it in a variety of areas,” Beatty said. “If we are not in the arena where major decisions are made about economics, then we’re not going to be able to be a part of having generational wealth.”
The CBC’s letter comes at a time when diversity, equity and inclusion practices are being challenged nationwide.
In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, signed a bill into law banning the state’s public colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court declared race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions unconstitutional.
Then, in July, 13 Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to Fortune 100 companies threatening legal action if they don’t stop diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, calling such actions “racially discriminatory quotas and preferences.”
In Tennessee, the Small Business Administration has temporarily suspended new applications to the 8(a) Business Development Program, which has provided tools and resources for small businesses to help owners compete in the public and private sectors.
Ivey said the CBC is there to support not only 8(a) applicants but minority business owners across the board.
“As these attacks are going to continue to come in courts across the country, we want to make sure we’re standing with them and those efforts,” Ivey said. “We want to make sure that the 8(a) program and federal procurement is one way that these businesses are allowed to thrive and grow. We want to make sure that minority businesses aren’t just relying on the federal government or state governments to build businesses, but they get to do work in the private sector as well.”
But Horsford added that the issue of diversity, equity and inclusion affects more than just Black workers — it’s about ensuring all Americans regardless of gender, learning abilities and color “have ample opportunity and access.”
“This is about measuring within the company the approaches that they are taking around governance and leadership, of course their HR policies, how they empower the worker voice and representation,” Horsford said. “This is also about what companies are doing within the community where they are operating, the trust and relationships that are forming the corporate philanthropy, the local policy and the environmental justice impacts that they may be having.”
It’s also about what corporations are doing to help advance national policy around the racial wealth gap and investments they are making outside their communities, he added.
Corporations should care about these issues just as much as the caucus does, the members added.
Studies have found that diverse workforces are 19 percent more productive and that gender and ethnic diversity increase a company’s financial performance above the national industry median by an average of 25 percent.
And despite the attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, a majority of Americans support such practices.
A poll commissioned by the Black Economic Alliance Foundation found that 78 percent of Americans “support businesses taking steps to make sure companies reflect the diversity of the American population.”
“When you put us in the room, it puts more diversity on not just race and ethnicity, but diversity of thought, diversity of background, diversity of experience, and it makes it better for the company,” Beatty said.