On the third Monday of every January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we hear and see many of the inspiring quotes from Dr. King. He is, without a doubt, America’s most admired civil rights leader of the 20th century and is equally well-known for his activism in opposition to racial segregation and economic injustice.
Dr. King knew it would take more than inspiration to affect change; it would take dedication, hard work and unbridled courage. He was vocal, visible and indefatigable. Aware that he was risking his life, Dr. King was out front, participating in and leading marches for Blacks’ right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and basic civil rights.
King led the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott that lasted 365 days and led to his house being bombed. In 1958, King was signing copies of his book “Stride Toward Freedom” when he was stabbed in the chest with a letter opener. As president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, in 1963, he helped organize widely publicized nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, and the famous March on Washington, where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In 1965, he helped lead two of the three Selma-to-Montgomery marches.
In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People’s Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. In those times of upheaval, Dr. King and all the leaders of the civil rights movement demonstrated courage in the face of threats and personal harm.
Today, we need a different, but no less important, form of courage.
It takes courage to step up and demand equity and inclusion in our society — in government, in our workplaces and throughout the fabric of society. Unequal access results in poor education that translates into low-paying employment or unemployment. According to the United States Census Bureau, the national African American poverty rate is 21%. In Delaware, the African American poverty rate is nearly 30%. And while less than 15% of White households in New Castle County have zero net worth, 31% of Latino households in the county have no net worth, and nearly 1-in-3 African American households have no assets and no stake in building generational wealth. No matter how we slice the data, one thing is clear: If Delaware is to compete effectively and offer a better quality of life to all of its citizens, we must step up and do more to address diversity and equity, particularly in our workplaces.
Many Delaware corporations are diversifying their workforces more intentionally, working purposefully to ensure greater equity and inclusion, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity or other factors. But there remain formal and informal policies and practices, and a range of social barriers that can make it difficult for people of color to succeed in Delaware.
To address these systemic issues, in 2020, United Way of Delaware relaunched the Delaware Racial Justice Collaborative (DRJC) and stepped up as DRJC’s backbone operational platform. With new energy and a strategic vision, the DRJC grew quickly and now includes a diverse group of some 300 people representing more than 150 community-based organizations from across Delaware. The DRJC recently launched the Fusion Alliance, an initiative which aims to help small and midsize businesses develop and implement diversity, equity and inclusion.
These initiatives cannot succeed unless leaders from throughout the community — from for-profit business large and small to nonprofit businesses and government — all take an active role in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within their own organizations and only if these leaders reach out to help the entire business community implement equity-based policies and procedures.
Striving for equity means changing policies and practices. If the goal is to have an equitable staff, the old policies of posting job openings and choosing from a generic pile of applications won’t likely yield the desired results. Sometimes, leaders need courage to hire or promote based on the company and/or departmental equity goals. Sometimes, companies need to begin recruiting far earlier, setting up potential candidates for success as far back as high school. Growing your own diverse workforce will mean hosting mentoring, job shadowing, internships in the workplace, and reaching out with dollars to fund youth advocacy programs, sponsorships and scholarships.
If we achieve equity in hiring, are we done? Hardly. Achieving equity doesn’t end with hiring practices. Workplace equity requires the will and dedicated resources to implement professional development for current staff. Businesses must invest in training and coaching, which can be costly and time-consuming, taking people away from their daily responsibilities and impacting productivity.
Erasing the impact of decades of lack of equal access will not be achieved without cost and determination. Achieving equity won’t be achieved without sacrifice and constant monitoring and nurturing. It will take commitment, perseverance and, most of all, courage. The kind of commitment, perseverance and courage that Dr. King so ably demonstrated throughout his life.
Michelle Taylor is the president and CEO of United Way of Delaware.
