Two years ago today, George Floyd died at the hands of a police officer during an arrest in Minneapolis, and while unlawful police killings of Black people in the US are sadly not all that rare, this particular case triggered a worldwide consciousness and conversation around racial justice on a scale we hadn’t seen before. In this new climate, businesses in the US and the rest of the world rushed to state their support to worldwide Black communities, change internal policy, and communicate their commitment to tackling Black issues, and racial inequality generally.
As a young Black person who has seen corporate reactions concerning racial issues like this before, I initially met a lot of this with cynicism and a feeling of being patronised to, a side-eyeing distrust in hearing how important my life was to courier services and soft drink manufacturers. But despite the many, many missteps I’ve seen over the last few years, it’s ultimately a net good that businesses are trying to find a voice in this way.
In How do we talk about Ukraine?, a blog post for her corporate comms company Falcon Windsor, founder Claire Bodanis writes that it truly matters that corporations do “the very best we can with the circumstances in which we find ourselves, in pursuit of a noble purpose… We may not always get it right, but, by pursuing that purpose, we will certainly get it a whole lot less wrong”. The stats support the idea that people want to see companies stand for something, and from purely a personal standpoint, many company efforts do feel more genuine than when similar BLM protests erupted a few years ago, and the effort has been more sustained than it was back then, too. There may be some real change stirring in the average person, and them seeing so many institutions move in one direction may have had some real effect in spurring that on.
But that alone won’t reassure businesses to comment – many companies are very apprehensive about getting their messaging about race wrong. And this fear is justified – messing up is very easy to do and can have grave reputational consequences. If a company’s practical values already weren’t lining up with racial equity, announcing pledges or making statements can be poked at and exposed as hypocritical.
Take Amazon, whose 2020 pledge of $10 million to Black American education funds was highly criticised because of their Ring doorbell product, which collaborates with local law enforcement and allows for police surveillance without a warrant, a policy that of course disproportionately affected Black and Latino Americans.
As important as intention is, tone, too, is vital. For example – ironically, perhaps, as this goes out on the anniversary of Floyd’s death – it seems to me personally that statements and actions that centre around Floyd specifically have tended to be more likely to veer into bad taste.
They often either turn him into a symbol and deify him to an uncomfortable degree – George was after all, not an activist or radical or anyone who wanted any notoriety, but simply a man who shouldn’t have been killed when he was – or use him as a springboard to clumsily group all global Black issues together into one homogenous blob (think of DJ David Guetta’s well-meaning but hilariously muddled tribute, offering a “shout out to his family” leading into an EDM remix of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech).
Homogenising the issues is something we especially want to avoid. If you’re a UK based company – UK company policy and speech around Black issues connects better when it centres around Black British People.
While there is much cultural and political overlap with African Americans, both African and West Indian communities here have vast and rich histories of our own, with a completely distinct set of icons and issues.
Names like David Oluwale, Rashan Charles, or the recent controversial school policing case of Child Q, are maybe the names British companies should reach for if they want to advocate for or educate on specific injustices.
If a company’s mission is wider consciousness, beyond the current climate, then perhaps where there is a George Floyd mural in an office, it may be better placed to have one honouring current or past UK Black activists, like the Mangrove Nine.
Add blurbs and biographies, and this becomes a constant, permanent learning experience for employees and visitors, and shows a long-term commitment to change.
Look into more long-term community investments and projects rather than one-time donations – take Converse’s Create Next Film Project, in conjunction with actor John Boyega, funding the first projects for a selection of Black British filmmakers.
Ultimately a huge cause for thought is, obviously, not treating Black employees – or anyone who’ll see company communications or marketing – as one homogenous group. I am only one Black person – young, straight, cis and male – and my thoughts on how I’d personally like to be communicated to of course do not represent all Black people in the UK.
What I may see as diluted and not advocating clearly enough, others may see as perfect for shifting the window of discussion.
Constant communication with Black employees or investors is important, not in a way that feels like delegating “the Black stuff” to them but as a constant, evolving conversation.
