- David Plazas is the ideas and engagement director for USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee.
In 2020, Americans posted black squares on social media to reflect their protests against racism and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day.
Corporations made bold statements promising to do better on commitments to fully embrace diversity, equity and inclusion — hiring more people of color, investing in organizations led by underrepresented groups and holding more training over the summer in what’s known as “racial reckoning.” The aim was to grow business while investing in people.
Diversity initiatives were nothing new, but the increase in rhetoric and action was surprising and impressive.
However, some observers wondered if this was too good to be true.
For the July 3, 2020 episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast series that I host, I interviewed Nashville-area community, business, and diversity leader Jackie Akbari and wrote: “Jackie Akbari was paying close attention to what she was saying and how she was saying it. Would this turn out to be a socially conscious fad or was it a sign of fundamental and transformational change?”
Tennessee employers remain committedDespite the push for diversity, equity, and inclusion
Recent news that Brentwood, Tennessee-based Tractor Supply has pulled back its initiative following an aggressive social media campaign against DEI suggests, at least in this case, that a fad is more important than any real change.
Critics of ‘cancel culture’ are now using this tactic to attack ‘conscious’ people
In 2021, Tractor Supply’s CEO, Hal Lawton, described his company as a leader in DEI and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies and urged other companies to follow.
He talked about the benefits and culture of “Stronger Together” and concluded his guest column in The Tennessean by writing: “Tractor Supply can and will do more. We appreciate others who have stepped up and we encourage others to do the same.”
A lot has happened in these three years:
- Tennessee and other states passed laws limiting curriculum, based on fears that critical race theory – a law school academic theory – would influence students in K-12 schools and colleges. Thus, students do not learn about inconvenient truths of the past that are considered “divisive concepts” by the state.
- Book bans and censorship became normalized in state legislatures, as did accusations of so-called “wokeness” in academia. The net effect was to erase stories about or written by people who identified as black or LGBTQ, even those about Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruby Bridges, a 6-year-old girl who ended discrimination at her school.
- The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending affirmative action in college admissions encouraged officials to implement the justices’ ruling across all aspects of life. Later that year, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scrimetti sent a letter to Fortune 100 CEOs, warning them to be cautious about diversity policies and “race-based preferences in employment and contracting” in light of the high court’s decision.
Definition of “awareness” in Google Dictionary Such as: “the quality of being alert and concerned about social Injustice and discrimination.” However, it has been made a synonym to describe those who pay excessive attention to these topics to the detriment of others’ free thought or free speech. Ironically, the remedy of critics has been to shut down “awareness” in the court of public opinion and/or law.
The backlash isn’t just from social media influencers and conservative activists who use the “cancel culture” tactics they once accused liberals of using to “expose,” harass, or boycott businesses. It’s also from state-sponsored policies and laws that are demanding major reforms in the 2020 promises.
The effect is to reverse the progress made in opening up opportunities for marginalized groups who previously could not get certain jobs, attend certain schools or accumulate wealth to the same extent as their white neighbors. This is an incredibly uncomfortable truth when one explores why this was the case and who perpetuated and benefited from these policies.
The beneficiaries of the Civil Rights Act wanted the same rights, not more
The swing of the pendulum is nothing new. The 1796 Tennessee state constitution allowed free black men to vote, but the 1834 version abolished that right. After the Civil War, Reconstruction promised a more egalitarian society, but then came legalized segregation, public lynchings, and poll taxes that disproportionately affected black citizens.
Sixty years ago in July, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which was all about making things equal and righting the wrongs of the past.
The disadvantages of slavery, restricted voting for women and people of color, and Jim Crow segregation laws have all had a generational impact on people’s ability to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” according to the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The newly protected citizens weren’t asking for special rights; they were asking for equal rights. Now, apparently, for pushing the boundaries and asking questions, they were being put in their place.
Critics of DEI argue that its success is unfair, unjust, or undeserving to other citizens.
Many companies continue to invest in their DEI initiatives, even as they try to downplay or rebrand them. The result is that these company policies and programs become unimportant, or at least, less important.
So, while Tractor Supply’s decision to retreat from DEI and ESG is disappointing, it’s not surprising given today’s political climate in the US.
As other companies look to move forward, instead of abandoning their commitment to DEI and ESG, they should have some tough discussions internally and externally about what has worked from 2020, what hasn’t, and how to move forward without pretending that none of this work ever mattered.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is a member of the editorial board of The Tennessean. He hosts and curates the Tennessee Voices videocast Tennessee Voices And Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call her at (615) 259-8063, email her at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet them @davidsquares,
Disclaimer : The content in this article is for educational and informational purposes only.
