Equity at Work: What Will It Take to End White Silence?
As a kid I always wanted to work at a nonprofit. I’d spend summers going to work with my mom, watching her convince foundations and corporations about how they could do some good for the community. I wanted to be part of that, this quasi-movement to give back to the less fortunate.
When I snagged my first job working in a nonprofit, I realized quickly how disparate my vision was from reality. The organization I worked for, and the organizations I became familiar with from various partnerships, were always led by white executive directors and presidents, an observation I found most unsettling during a closed door meeting where these head honchos talked about the bodies and reproductive health of Black and brown womxn. I thought it odd that white people could sit around a table and discuss people of color without people of color at the table, but apparently this was the norm. And the research confirmed it — a large majority (87% in 2018, in fact) of all nonprofit executive directors are white.
Of course as we know, being a progressive organization or leading a progressive organization, does not preclude one from white violence, as Doris and I have learned quite intimately. But to say one is committed to ending inequities vis a vis their organization — or to, no less, claim to be an expert on said inequities — but stay silent as white violence floods our country just feels wrong. The fabric of our society’s status quo shakes underneath the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd (and others), and the unwillingness of white leaders to call racism and white violence out is even more egregious.
So, we wanted to know — What responsibilities do white leaders and funders of social justice nonprofits have to speak out against racism and white violence? Our community speaks.
ALEJANDRA S.
White leaders and white-led progressive nonprofits have the responsibility, now more than ever, to speak out against racism and white violence. It’s not an option and their silence speaks louder. I’ve consistently seen white leaders point the finger and blame “others” for racism and white violence, while avoiding and confronting their own racism, or fail to see how their actions and decisions reinforce white supremacy. White leaders must do their own internal work, without putting the burden on people of color to educate them, and actively do this work every day, not just from 9am - 5pm. People of color do not have the privilege of taking off their racial justice and equity hat when they leave work — Black and brown folks face racism and violence 24/7.
White leaders are responsible for creating anti-racist organizations and movements. I understand that white leaders will not have all the answers, nor should they. Therefore, white leaders need to hire individuals who are experts in anti-racism work, instead of looking to just any person of color to do the work simply because they are a person of color. Equally important, white leaders are responsible for ensuring that organizations have leadership that is racially diverse. People of color need to be at the table in leadership positions with decision making power.
MONICA W.
After having worked in and with several progressive organizations, I have determined the only way for leaders to guard against racism is to empower their workers to form a union. We have a saying in Spanish: “La ropa sucia se lava en casa.” The equivalent in English, is almost identically, “Don’t air your dirty laundry.” This pervasive idea was soaked into my DNA from a young child and carried with me into adulthood. I never spoke about issues concerning me in the organizations I have been proud to have worked in because of fear of dividing the movement and if I am being honest with myself, I didn’t want to burn bridges in fear of doors being closed in my face later on. Even after a demoralizing run for Vice President of the National Organization for Women in 2017 where I ran with a black woman on the first all intersectional and intergenerational ticket, I kept my mouth shut. I was exhausted and broken and had faced a level of racism I was not prepared for having had the privilege of growing up in South Florida among lots of other Cuban Americans. But I was also acutely aware Donald Trump had just been elected and was not ready to contribute to the growing criticism increasingly plaguing the progressive movement.
My career has spanned international development to electoral politics and there is one unifying factor everywhere I go: white, progressives who run these organizations and don’t believe they have any need for improvement. I saw this at the Latin American business and trade association where the Vice President who often met with leaders all over Central and South America never learned Spanish. I saw this at the international environmental think tank where, consecutively, white British cis-gendered men would lead the gender working group. At one point one of these men told me that implementing gender with an intersectional lens into program plans would be difficult because first and foremost, he was an environmentalist. Yea, but who are you saving the trees for? I see this now in the National Organization for Women where I once sat on the board but left because of dysfunctional organizational practices and multiple racial discriminization charges brought against the current President. The last straw, and why I will not be running for a second term of President of the local DC chapter, happened last fall when the national organization went above our heads and decided to take a stand against the decriminalizing sex worker bill in DC. Never had the national organization taken a stance on a DC bill before, but this time, white, older women decided to tell the organizers of the bill, black and brown trans women, what was best for them in only the most patronizing and patriarchal way.
All of the previously mentioned organizations had diversity statements and lofty mission goals, but no unions. I now happily work at a labor union where yea, I work with a lot of white dudes. But I am appreciated, valued, and most importantly, unionized. I have read and discussed with friends and professionals various ways that progressive organizations can improve the racist and oftentimes, classist, ageist, able-bodied, and homophobic ways organizations isolate and hurt people in the movement. I have seen restructuring frameworks, pay scale charts, mission statements with “intersectional” and “dismantling white supremacy” thrown in but there is only one way I think workplaces can change: organizing then unionizing. My contract outlines my payscale along with everyone else in our bargaining unit, provides an attorney for lawsuits, and delineates a clear process if there is ever any trouble or discrimination with access to a steward who will help solve the problem. Salaries are higher for unionized workers and unions provide a pension and full healthcare to their workers. I know some unions have bad reputations, but at the end of the day, a union provides a collective voice for workers to negotiate salaries, benefits, paid time off, and more. I think the best thing for a board and organization to do is encourage their staff to unionize. A good board and good managers will support unionization because they should understand. Good board members and bosses can come and go but your union contract stays with you.