I'm Still Black and You're Still Racist (aka why your pro-diversity culture is hiding racist parasites)(without speaker notes)

Transcript

1. I’M STILL BLACK AND YOU’RE STILL RACIST AKA WHY YOUR

   PRO-DIVERSITY CULTURE IS HIDING RACIST PARASITES

2. PREREQUISITE: WHY YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME SLIDE BRANDY FOSTER

   ▸ Black Woman ▸ Mother of Black Boys ▸ Progeny of Enslaved and Enslaver ▸ Employee of Detroit Labs ▸ Android App Developer ▸ Diversity and Inclusion Coach ▸ TEALS Volunteer

3. SHARED POOL OF KNOWLEDGE #ALLFACTS

4. WAIT! ENTERING POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING CONTENT ▸ Race ▸ Racism ▸

   Racial Slurs

5. FACT 1: I’M STILL BLACK AND THE TECH INDUSTRY IS

   STILL RACIST. ▸ Racism is a system of oppression based on the fallacy of the existence of human races that creates a hierarchy where people socially identified as white are at the top of the food chain.

6. FACT 2: TECH IS OVERWHELMING WHITE ▸ The percentage of

   Black folks (with any degree) working in tech as of: ▸ 2002 was only 7%
 ▸ 2006 was only 5% ▸ The percentage of Black folks in the labor force in 2006 was 11.4%

7. FACT 3: IT’S NOT A PIPELINE PROBLEM ▸ The percentage

   of Black folks (with any degree) under and unemployed in tech as of: ▸ 2006 was 25.3% ▸ And for comparison sake, for white folks in that same time frame it was only 13.7%

8. FACT 4: TECH ORGANIZATIONS ARE TRYING… THE SAME THINGS ▸

   Google, FB and Amazon all have D&I Initiatives to improve their organizational diversity ▸ Employee Resource Groups ▸ Unconscious Bias Training (Google and FB) ▸ Targeted Recruiting ▸ Engaging with youth from underrepresented communities

9. FACT 5: TIME AND INITIATIVES HAVEN’T RESULTED IN PROGRESS ▸

   The percentage of Black folks (with any degree) working in tech as of: ▸ 2015 was 5% ▸ 2017 was 7% ▸ 1 in 4 PoC reported being stereotyped and 35% say that contributed to them leaving ▸ In 2017 Google admitted attrition was highest among their black employees


10. FEELING HOPELESS WHY HAVEN’T THINGS IMPROVED?

11. FACT 6 THE WAY FORWARD IS IN THE TWEETS OF

    BLACK FOLKS ▸ @KimCrayton1 ▸ @EricaJoy ▸ @BariAWilliams ▸ @MinaMarkham ▸ @bcwf

12. Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral Album Cover

13. TEXT THE PERMEANCE OF RACISM ▸ Proposes that racism is

    integral to the United States ▸ Uses fiction stories to demonstrate how racism influences decision making in the United States ▸ Encourages folks to commit to the work for the sake of the work
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15. “IF YOU WANNA HIDE THE TRUTH, PUT IT IN THE

    MOUTH OF A BLACK PERSON.” Brandy Foster

16. YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG FAILING D&I

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20. INCLUSION BEGETS DIVERSITY IT AIN’T CHICKENS OR EGGS

21. TEXT RE-ORDER THE ORDER OF OPERATIONS ▸ Inclusion must come

    first ▸ Diversity only works in inclusive cultures

22. NO INCLUSIVE ACCIDENTS TILLING THE SOIL

23. FACT 7 INCLUSION AND ANTI-RACISM DON’T JUST HAPPEN ▸ Inclusion

    is not a by-product of diversity ▸ It takes intentional work to create an inclusive culture ▸ Every person in an organization is responsible for contributing to - or negating from - the inclusiveness of the culture
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25. THE WORK ALL PRAISE RI-RI

26. FACT 8: ANTI-BLACK RACISM HAS INFECTED YOU ▸ You hold

    anti-Black beliefs ▸ Most of those ideas are not conscious to you ▸ Possessing anti-Black ideas is not an indictment on your morality ▸ What you do with them - ARE
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30. THERE’S LEVELS

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32. HARVARD IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TEST ▸ Measures strength of associations between

    concepts and evaluations ▸ Available for the FREE online ▸ Takes minutes to complete ▸ Widely enough used and studied that it’s deemed pretty accurate

33. TAKE THE RACE IAT ▸ This will test how you

    subconsciously associate black and white folk (concepts) to good and bad (evaluations) ▸ Put it away overnight ▸ Review the results the following day ▸ Accept the results as current truth
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35. KIRWAN INSTITUTE ▸ Learning modules on Unconscious Bias ▸ Module

    4 is about Bias Mitigation
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37. STEP 1 START AN UNDOING DIARY ▸ On the first

    page, record your Race IAT results and: ▸ The date you took it ▸ Your feelings about the results ▸ Are you shocked? Uncomfortable? Guilty? ▸ Why do you have these feelings?

38. STEP 2 COMMITMENT TO IMPROVE ▸ Decide if you want

    to improve ▸ If you do want to improve, investigate why you do ▸ Record a commitment to improve ▸ If you don’t want to improve, investigate why you do not ▸ Record your decision to not improve at this time

39. STEP 3 CREATE AN IMPROVEMENT PLAN ▸ Use some of

    the suggestions from Kirwan ▸ Self Interrogate ▸ Get out of your comfort zone ▸ Question everything ▸ Enrich your entertainment ▸ Research cultures ▸ Find your tribe ▸ Get good at apologies

40. STEP 4 WORK, RECORD, REVIEW, REPEAT ▸ Set a regular

    schedule for checking in with yourself ▸ Ask: ▸ What did/didn’t you do? ▸ What was really challenging? ▸ How do you feel now? ▸ Keep iterating

41. ZOOM IN ON IMPROVEMENT TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE

42. INTERROGATE THY SELF ▸ You need to ask and record

    your answer to the following: ▸ Do you have any Black people in your immediate family? ▸ If not, would the introduction of a Black person cause issues? ▸ Do you have any Black people in your close circle of friends? ▸ If yes, have you talked to them about race and racism? ▸ Do you have any Black people in your community? ▸ If not, would a Black family next door cause issues?

43. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE ▸ Seek out majority

    black spaces ▸ Take up only the space you physically need ▸ Listen intently and openly ▸ Backseat your ego ▸ Reflect on the experience in your Undoing Diary ▸ How was the experience? ▸ If it was hard, why do you think that is?

44. ENRICH YOUR ENTERTAINMENT ▸ Think about the kinds of entertainment

    you consume? ▸ How much of that entertainment is by and featuring Black folks? ▸ Consciously choose entertainment created by Black folks, featuring the lives of Black folks ▸ Do this for multiple genres - not just drama or comedy or rap music ▸ Ask yourself why these portrayals seem so unusual to you?

45. STEP UP YOUR CULTURAL HISTORICAL EDUCATION ▸ Read about Black

    culture ▸ Seek out materials written by Black folk ▸ Read about the history of African dynasties ▸ Read about race and racism ▸ White Rage by Carol Anderson, PhD ▸ Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi

46. FIND YOUR TRIBE ▸ Seek out and join a community

    of like-minded folks who share your identities ▸ Share your frustration in this space ▸ Seek and give support to others in this work ▸ Be open to learning

47. GET GOOD AT APOLOGIZING ▸ Be prepared to make mistakes

    ▸ Be humble when someone calls you out ▸ Remember your intentions < your impact ▸ Own your mistake ▸ Apologize for your IMPACT ▸ Express your gratitude ▸ Take it as a lesson - Do better next time

48. RIPPLE YOUR EFFECTS SPREAD THE LEARNING

49. BYSTANDER INTERVENTION ▸ Pay attention ▸ Be aware of the

    power dynamics in your office ▸ Play offense ▸ Strategize how to minimize the dynamics ▸ Leverage your privilege to advocate for others

50. BYSTANDER INTERVENTIONS (CONT) ▸ Play defense ▸ Call Foul ▸

    When you hear someone using biases to support a decision, call it out ▸ Block ▸ When you witness someone being targeted, get in the way

51. DEMAND NEW PLAYS ▸ Use your privilege to address organizational

    inequalities and push for changes ▸ For Teams ▸ Suggest the use to inclusion building activities ▸ Suggest the creation of team agreements

52. DEMAND NEW PLAYS (CONT) ▸ For Organization ▸ Request an

    investigation into pay and promotion disparities ▸ Urge the formation of an ERG ▸ Request annual unconscious bias mitigation training ▸ Starting with the Senior Leadership ▸ Request an Inclusion and Diversity policy ▸ Ask that it has language of expected behaviors and consequences ▸ If there are any team members who are outwardly hostile to Black folks - Demand they be fired
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54. FIN ▸ Join #still_back ▸ Follow folks on twitter ▸

    I’m @bcwf ▸ GET THAT WORK!