Racism & Colorism in the Black Community

The University of Pennsylvania held a “hair-itage” symposium on the challenging politics of Black hair, led by Associate Professor of Religious Studies Anthea Butler, to demystify the versatility of Black hair and encourage Black women to embrace the beauty of their natural Blackness and appearance.

The issue of whether mostly white corporate America allows Black women—and others from underrepresented groups—to be their “whole selves” while succeeding is relevant to the recent debate over R&B singer India.Arie, who is defending the cover art for her new single, “Cocoa Butter.”

While various news outlets say that the singer’s drastically lightened skin color—and rumors of skin bleaching—are “absolutely ridiculous” and simply an effect of intense lighting, Twitter users were quick to slam Arie for her creative choice to not color-correct the photo.

“It’s not the lights, even if it’s make up! Why India Arie!? This isn’t You! Please tweet her and ask her why…” said hip-hop artist Rhymefest.

Arie has been a vocal advocate for Black beauty with songs like “I Am Not My Hair” and “Brown Skin” and also spoke out regarding the controversial casting of Zoe Saldana, a biracial actress, as the lead in the upcoming Nina Simone biopic, which many in the Black community consider “whitewashing.”

Watch this Huffington Post Panel discuss “The Color Complex.”

Corporate America: Racism, Biases Toward Black Hair & Skin Color

The larger issue—rather, #skinversation, as Arie calls it—is racism and colorism in the Black community, which ultimately carries over into the workplace.

In his popular Ask the White Guy column “Do Blacks Need to Relax Their Natural Hair to Get Promoted?” DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti writes:

There’s no doubt in my mind that Black people have been overlooked for promotions because of natural hair or darker skin color. Psychological tests show that people most trust people who look like them. Since white men run most corporations in this country, straightened hair and/or lighter skin is going to be an advantage (disturbing, but let’s keep it real).

Visconti also notes that these types of biases and stereotypes, if left unchecked, can negatively affect your business by reducing a company’s competitive advantage, ability to recruit/retain top talent and its potential for innovation. Allowing employees to bring their whole selves to work (whether that means your appearance, your orientation or your background), and not fear that they will be judged by stereotypes and biases, is key to driving an inclusive corporate culture.

How do you get that? It starts at the top with clearly stated values of inclusion from the CEO and senior executives and is supported by cultural-competence education, which occurs through having active resource groups spreading the word, role models from underrepresented groups in your succession plan, and formal, cross-cultural mentoring relationships that teach high-potentials how to succeed in corporate environments without sacrificing their identities.

The post Should Black Women Straighten Their Hair or Lighten Their Skin? appeared first on DiversityInc.

During a recent interview with KRBD radio, Young “accidentally” used a racial slur when referring to the Latinos who used to work on his family’s farm.

“My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 or 60 wetbacks … to pick tomatoes. You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine,” said Young.

Young immediately was slammed by both the media and his fellow GOP members for the racist comment, but it wasn’t until Speaker of the House John A. Boehner demanded that Young apologize that any sign of remorse was issued. A full three days later, Young finally said: “I apologize for the insensitive term I used. …There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words.” Young noted it was a term used back when he was growing up and, as such, he did not consider the term’s present-day connotations.

It’s an excuse—not a heartfelt apology that conveys a sense of sincerity or mindfulness, which the GOP needs to convey.

Diversity and cultural competence have become key differentiators in political success. During the 2012 presidential race, 71 percent of Latinos voted for President Obama, and Latinos comprised 10 percent of the total electorate for the first time.

Is the GOP for Whites Only? Young’s gaffe is a classic example of yet another “we don’t get it moment,” says Mike Allen, Chief White House Correspondent for Politico. Last year, gaffes by Republican candidates such as Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, along with racist voter laws, negatively impacted voter opinions. And Young’s slur “gives critics and people who are skeptical of the party a new reason to say it hasn’t changed.”

What will it take for a turnaround in the Republican Party? Jason Johnson, who debated the issue on a CNN panel, had this to say in his column on Politic365.com:

One of the problems that the Republican Party has about race issues is that the party is full of non-repentant bigots who want to treat racism like it’s an outlier and exceptional instead of the basic thought process of many, many (all too many) Americans. Earlier today I was on CNN with Amy Holmes from the Blaze (Glenn Beck TV) and she responded with the typical talking points of the GOP: “Joe Biden says racist things too,” “Other Democrats have said racist things,” etc., etc. Trying to place blame on all sides does not solve the GOP’s major electoral and reputational problem. All Republicans, white people, conservatives and Southerners are not racists. In fact, the majority of these groups are not necessarily racist. However, the GOP refuses to take responsibility for its own bad press and would rather say that the media is blowing things out of proportion, unfairly targeting its members (instead of Democrats) or that Blacks and Latinos are too sensitive. All of these outfits and fashion flips rather than cleaning up their act.

The biggest issue for Johnson? The level of comfort with which Young said “wetback,” he writes, is representative of the “casual simple ‘it’s a fact’ bigotry that is churned out every day in the halls of power, where denying someone a job, acceptance into a college or a promotion is not the result of some large diabolical plot, it’s just how large portions of white people have done things in America for years and continue to do.”

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The debut of the President’s doppelganger as “Satan” on HISTORY channel’s hit miniseries The Bible went viral this week (@bibleseries, #TheBible) once fans, including conservative radio host Glenn Beck, began tweeting their reactions to the uncanny resemblance between the actor (Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni) cast to play Christianity’s fallen angel and Obama.

You can read some of The Bible fans’ tweets here.

But wait, there’s more: Ouazanni is Moroccan! Without makeup to darken his skin and accentuate his features, he looks nothing like Obama. The actor, who has starred in several biblical TV films, has light skin; long, graying hair; and facial hair. Scroll down to see the image below.

Satan Looks Like Obama? Coincidence?

It’s a casting—and costuming—gaffe that has the public slamming The Bible producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (both white) with accusations of racism. The controversy that according to this married Hollywood couple is “utter nonsense.” Burnett says, “Mehdi Ouzaani is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several biblical epics—including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President.”

The stereotype of the devil having a dark-skinned appearance has existed since the early third and fourth centuries. How many films  actually feature a Black actor or someone with darkened skin in that role?

As it turns out, the majority of movies since the early 1940s personify Satan as a white, middle-aged man—The Devil and Daniel Webster (Walter Huston, 1941), Angel Heart (Robert DeNiro, 1987), The Witches of Eastwick (Jack Nicholson, 1987), The Devil’s Advocate (Al Pacino, 1997), The Reaping (David Morrissey, 2007); as a large red monster—Legend (Tim Curry, 1985) and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (voice of Trey Parker, 1999); or as a seemingly innocent, possessed white child—The Exorcist (Linda Blair, 1973) and The Omen (Harvey Stephens, 1976, and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, 2006). You can click here to see more examples.

Research shows the damaging effects that stereotypes can have on individuals’ sense of self. For example, Dr. Claude Steele’s study on stereotypes in the workplace and schools (detailed in the video below) shows a direct correlation between negative slurs and low performance.

What The Bible Producers, HISTORY Channel Have to Say

So why did Burnett and Downey think this was a good idea? In a statement, they denied any intended connection between Blacks and Obama and the Satan character.

Downey added that both she and Burnett, her husband, love and respect Obama. She says that “false statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction.”

HISTORY channel, owned by A+E Networks, also released a statement that similarly expressed its approval and respect for the President. “The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It’s unfortunate that anyone made this false connection,” the statement read.

But are their responses enough? Will The Bible lose its status as Sunday’s No. 1–watched show? As Lisa Suhay writes on The Christian Science Monitor’s website: “The problem with ‘utter nonsense’ is that people just can’t seem to stop uttering it all over the Twitterverse and other social-media sites.”

–Stacy Straczynski

The post HISTORY Channel Racist? Why Satan Looks Like Obama appeared first on DiversityInc.

Greenlining is also asking the magazine for demographic data on its staff and management, a more thorough and heartfelt apology, and a follow-up story on the true causes of the housing crisis (bank greed) rather than blaming the collapse on Blacks and Latinos.

The cover showed a caricature of Black and Latino people literally rolling in cash because of the improved housing market.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW

So far, neither the mayor nor the magazine have responded. If there is no response, Greenlining plans to contact the magazine’s regular advertisers and event sponsors—including several DiversityInc Top 50 companies, such as AT&T, IBM, Verizon, Toyota and Dell—and ask them to pressure the publication. Other advertisers in the 84-page issue with the inflammatory cover included Xerox, Bank of America, State Street Corporation, Netsuite, T. Rowe Price, Microsoft, UPS, Hampton Inn (owned by Hilton) and Capital One.

“I don’t think these companies want to be associated with a company that can do something so despicable and backward. We will ask them to send Bloomberg Businessweeka note and speak up that diversity does count and Bloomberg should comply with our information request. They owe the community a better policy and it needs to be written in their magazine,” said Greenlining Executive Director Orson Aguilar.

A look at the top management of both the magazine and its parent company, Bloomberg LP, shows its senior management is mostly white and male. That includes Editor Josh Tyrangiel, Creative Director Richard Turley and Publisher Hugh Wiley at the magazine, and President Daniel Doctoroff, Chairman Peter Grauer, Chief Content Officer Norm Pearlstine and Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler at Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg does not participate in the DiversityInc Top 50, so we do not have actual management demographics. By comparison, 18 percent of the senior level (CEOs and direct reports) of the DiversityInc Top 50 are Black, Latino or Asian, 80 percent more than the average of the Fortune 500. And 24 percent of the senior level of the DiversityInc Top 50 are women, 20 percent more than the Fortune 500 average.

The Greenlining Institute—which is supported by the Greenlining Coalition, comprised of 37 business and community groups—wrote in a letter to Bloomberg and the editors:

<blockquote>It may well be that you would have done it “differently” if you had known the cover illustration would garner so much public outcry. Nonetheless, your magazine is only reacting to negative feedback from its readers and the nation. The vast majority of America’s Latinos, Asian-Pacific Islanders and African-Americans may still be hard-pressed to understand why a serious magazine with excellent writers and substantial literary acclaim believed that insulting America’s diverse citizens was the best way to portray “The Great American Housing Rebound.”</blockquote>

The letter was signed by Aguilar and Economic Equity Senior Program Manager Sasha Werblin.

Referencing the advertisers/sponsors, the letter stated: “After all, what company would want to make enemies with the fastest-growing consumer segment in America?”  The letter also questioned whether the “tone deafness” of the cover and the staff that approved it is a reflection of the lack of diversity among the management and the staff.

The cover was designed by Andres Guzman, a freelancer who was born in Peru and now lives in Minneapolis.

The image and the cover lines are particularly offensive because Blacks and Latinos were disproportionately impacted by the subprime crisis from 2007–2009, which has been demonstrated by the billions of dollars of fines levied against the likes of Bank of America and Citigroup.

Pew Research Center noted that the bursting of the housing bubble caused far greater damage to these two communities, mostly because of the subprime loans given to people who didn’t have enough money or credit to qualify.

According to Pew, from 2005–2009, Latino wealth fell by 66 percent and Black wealth fell by 53 percent, compared with 16 percent for whites.

One study found that during the subprime years, banks were twice as likely to approve whites for prime mortgages with the best interest rates, while Blacks and Latinos received two to four times more subprime loans, most of which had such high rates they put the borrowers “under water” quickly. Another study found that the major banks made 70 percent of their high-cost loans in neighborhoods that were predominantly Black and/or Latino.

After the cover came out, Tyrangiel issued this “apology”: “Our cover illustration last week got strong reactions, which we regret. Our intention was not to incite or offend. If we had to do it over again we’d do it differently.”

The post Advertisers Asked to Pressure Bloomberg Businessweek Over Racist Cover appeared first on DiversityInc.

It’s titled “The Great American Housing Rebound” and the cover line reads: “Flips. No-look bids. 300 percent returns. What could possibly go wrong?”

The image and the cover lines are particularly offensive because Blacks and Latinos were disproportionately impacted by the subprime crisis from 2007–2009, which has been demonstrated by the billions of dollars of fines levied against the likes of Bank of America and Citigroup.

Pew Research Center noted that the bursting of the housing bubble caused far greater damage to these two communities, mostly because of the subprime loans given to people who didn’t have enough money or credit to qualify.

According to Pew, from 2005–2009, Latino wealth fell by 66 percent and Black wealth fell by 53 percent, compared with 16 percent for whites.

One study found that during the subprime years, banks were twice as likely to approve whites for prime mortgages with the best interest rates, while Blacks and Latinos received two to four times more subprime loans, most of which had such high rates they put the borrowers “under water” quickly. Another study found that the major banks made 70 percent of their high-cost loans in neighborhoods that were predominantly Black and/or Latino.

Scathing Criticism

Reaction to the cover has not been pretty.

“The cover stands out for its cast of black and Hispanic caricatures with exaggerated features reminiscent of early 20th century race cartoons. Also, because there are only people of color in it, grabbing greedily for cash. It’s hard to imagine how this one made it through the editorial process,” Ryan Chittum wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review. “Compounding the first-glance problem with the image is the fact that race has been a key backdrop to the subprime crisis.”

“The claim that minorities are creating a housing bubble through flipping, no-look bids, and 300% returns is simply not reality,” Jacob Gaffney wrote on HousingWire.com. “Flipping is a form of fraud and not a typical transaction. No-look bids are not exclusive to Hispanic and African-American investors. No one is making a 300% return.”

“Businessweek Warns That Minorities May Be Buying Houses Again,” was the headline on Slate.com.

Editor Josh Tyrangiel issued this “apology”: “Our cover illustration last week got strong reactions, which we regret. Our intention was not to incite or offend. If we had to do it over again we’d do it differently.”

Who’s Behind This?

The cover was designed by Andres Guzman, a freelancer who was born in Peru and now lives in Minneapolis. But the more important question is who at Bloomberg is running the show and allowed this to be published.

A look at the top management of both the magazine and its parent company, Bloomberg LP (which bought the magazine in 2009), shows its senior management is mostly white and male. That includes Tyrangiel, Creative Director Richard Turley and Publisher Hugh Wiley at the magazine, and President Daniel Doctoroff, Chairman Peter Grauer, Chief Content Officer Norm Pearlstine and Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler at Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg does not participate in the DiversityInc Top 50, so we do not have actual management demographics. By comparison, 18 percent of the senior level (CEOs and direct reports) of the DiversityInc Top 50 are Black, Latino or Asian, 80 percent more than the average of the Fortune 500. And 24 percent of the senior level of the DiversityInc Top 50 are women, 20 percent more than the Fortune 500 average.

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The Super PAC, Progress Kentucky, is committed to defeating McConnell in his bid for reelection. The comments about Chao and China were posted only on Twitter. They were along the lines of this tweet: “This woman has the ear of @McConnellPress — she’s his #wife. May explain why your job moved to #China.” The tweets also said Chao’s “Chinese money” was buying the election for McConnell; her family has given more than $80,000 to her husband’s campaign.

Chao, whose family is from Taiwan, moved to the United States when she was 8. She was President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor and now is a Distinguished Fellow at the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.

McConnell’s team said the tweets were “race-baiting.” Specifically, Campaign Manager Jesse Benton said: “We just think this kind of race-baiting has absolutely no place in American politics. We think Progress Kentucky should really be ashamed of what’s been going out under their name. People should be fired and a public apology should be issued. I think everybody of good conscience in Kentucky should agree that these sort of attacks should be pushed to the side.”

Progress Kentucky Executive Director Shawn Reilly said: “Progress Kentucky strongly denies that the organization has engaged in any such thing. Benton’s statements are an attempt to divert attention from the fact that Mitch McConnell has engaged in the selling of the American middle class overseas for decades.”

However, both the Kentucky Democratic Party and actress Ashley Judd, a Democrat who is expected to challenge McConnell, denounced Progress Kentucky for the tweets.

Whatever the intention, whatever the venue, whomever the person, attacks or comments on anyone’s ethnicity are wrong & patently unacceptable

— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) February 26, 2013

Reilly later issued an apology, saying: “We apologize to the secretary for that unnecessary comment and have deleted the tweets in question. In addition, we have put a review process in place to ensure tweets and other social media communications from Progress Kentucky are reviewed and approved prior to posting.”

Stereotypes and broad assumptions based on racial/ethnic generalities aren’t acceptable, no matter what issues a group stands for or who says them. See Stereotypes: Embrace or Deny Them? and Challenges in Diversity Management: How Do Stereotypes Affect Us?

The post Liberal Group Under Fire for Anti-Asian Racist Tweet appeared first on DiversityInc.

Question:

Why is it whenever white people defend their racism, the first thing they default to is “I’m not a bigot” and the second thing is “I have friends who are black”? I could scream.

Answer:
It’s disorienting for white people who think they really aren’t biased to be confronted with a reality they have not considered. You’ll also hear things such as “Oh, I guess we have to be politically correct” as opposed to something more accurate like “I guess I can’t manhandle your self-esteem anymore.”

Considering most interracial conversations happen at the workplace (Americans are socially very segregated), these common phrases of denial demonstrate how diversity training is crucial to productivity and engagement.

Luke Visconti’s Ask the White Guy column is a top draw on DiversityInc.com. Visconti, the founder and CEO of DiversityInc, is a nationally recognized leader in diversity management. In his popular column, readers who ask Visconti tough questions about race/culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age can expect smart, direct and disarmingly frank answers.

The post ‘I Have Black Friends’ Doesn’t Mean You Aren’t Racist appeared first on DiversityInc.

Race Discrimination

Diversity and inclusion in the corporate culture could mean preemptive hiring is discrimination. A Black employee alleged that she was denied a promotion to a higher IT position, and a less-qualified Asian employee was selected instead. The employer’s defense was that she never applied for the position and, therefore, could not contest the decision. However, the evidence showed that the manager: knew there were only two eligible employees; knew the Black employee intended to apply; did not wait for the application deadline to expire; and directed the selection of the Asian employee and stopped the hiring process, while the application period was still open. The evidence further showed that the plaintiff rated far higher on performance factors than the person selected, and other key managers considered her “superior by a wide margin.” The court found that the employer’s defense seemed to be a pretext for racial discrimination. Calhoun v. Johnson (D.C. Cir., 2011). For best practices in recruitment, watch Diversity Recruitment Web Seminar: How to Find 1,800 Black & Latino Employees.

Race discrimination claim ruled “nonsense.” A white police applicant filed a race-discrimination case alleging that he was bumped from a hiring list, passed over, so that lower-scoring “minority” applicants could be hired. He identified two “minority” officers who were hired. The court upheld summary judgment, dismissing the case as frivolous and “nonsense.” The plaintiff’s complaint relied on hearsay and stray comments he had heard from people who were not involved in the hiring (loose rumors, conjecture and pure speculation). The actual evidence showed that: the plaintiff was not “passed over,” he was eliminated due to failing the background check; the two identified “minority” officers had been hired in a process that was long over before he even applied, and neither of them had “passed over” anyone; and finally, the bottom half of the roster that the plaintiff was on were all white (some of whom were hired), so he could not have been bumped by a “minority.” His entire case was based on conjecture, unfounded rumors and stereotypes about “affirmative action” hiring instead of evidence. Thompson v. Lansing Mich. (6th Cir., 2011). For more on stereotypes, read ‘Blacks Should Not Be Satisfied With Food Stamps’: The Danger of Stereotypes and NBA Star John Amaechi: Hate Speech Goes Beyond N- and F-Words

Sex Discrimination

HR manager files class-action suit against Toshiba. A former HR manager has filed suit requesting certification of a class of “all females who are or have been employed by Toshiba in the United States.” The suit alleges systemic gender discrimination in compensation, promotion and terms and conditions of employment under Title VII and the Equal Pay Act. The suit seeks to cover all Toshiba subsidiaries. The plaintiff had been an HR manager for the Toshiba Nuclear Energy Corp. subsidiary Cyphers v. Toshiba American, Inc. (S.D., NY, 2011). (Whether such a large class will be certified may rest on the outcome of the pending Walmart decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.)

Trashing harassment complaint creates case. After-the-fact action does not cure the problem. A clerical employee gave a written complaint of sexual harassment to her supervisor after several verbal complaints received no action. The supervisor wadded up the complaint, threw it in the trash, pointed at the door and said, “This is total [BS]! I want you out of here and never want to see you again!” She left, assuming she was fired. However, two days later the company’s HR director learned of the incident, called the employee, informed her she was not fired and asked her to come back. She refused, claiming that she could not reasonably reenter the environment after what occurred. She sued for Title VII retaliation. The court ruled that there was a valid claim of retaliation. The supervisor’s act clearly violated Title VII. The company’s attempt to cure was too late to overcome such an overt act by the supervisor. Young-Lousee v. Graphic Packaging Int., Inc. (8th Cir., 2011).

Disability Discrimination

Is an essential function essential to the job? A shoulder injury made a UPS driver unable to do his job. He applied for several other positions he believed he could do. The company rejected him, due to essential job functions in the job descriptions requiring lifting and mobility beyond his medical limitations. However, the employee produced evidence that these functions were not actually performed in the real job. The court allowed the case to go to trial. The courts give great weight to an employer’s determination of what duties should make up a job, and the position description’s list of essential functions are a powerful defense in an ADA case. The court, though, ruled that there must be more than a hollow defense. “The employer will have to show that it actually imposes such requirements on its employees in fact and not simply on paper.” Supinski v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (3rd Cir., 2011).

Messing up president’s schedule was valid reason for discharge. A communication director had cancer. He incorrectly scheduled the organization’s president, resulting in the president missing a major, important public-relations event. The communication director was fired. He sued, claiming that he was replaced by a person without a medical condition and therefore the discharge was a prima facie case of disability discrimination. The court disagreed. It found no connection between the cancer and the discharge. A major job blunder is a valid non-discriminatory reason for discharge. McCermott v. New York City Housing Development Corp. (S.D. NY, 2011).

Bob Gregg, partner in Boardman Law Firm, shares his roundup of diversity-related legal issues. He can be reached at rgregg@boardmanlawfirm.com.

The post ‘I Didn’t Get the Job Because I’m Black’ appeared first on DiversityInc.

New York attorney James H. Freeman submitted a formal letter to the EEOC last week requesting permission to sue both American Idol and Fox on behalf of nine Black men: Corey Clark (Season 2), Jaered Andrews (Season 2), Donnie Williams (Season 3), Terrell Brittenum (Season 5), Derrell Brittenum (Season 5), Thomas Daniels (Season 6), Akron Watson (Season 6), Ju’Not Joyner (Season 8) and Chris Golightly (Season 9). Jones’ name—and elimination—was included in that letter without his permission or involvement in the discrimination lawsuit.

“I am offended they tried to paint me as a victim of discrimination. I appreciate the experience from Idol and embraced the good and bad from it,” says Jones. “I have moved on with my life … and have not authorized them to include me in the accusations.”

American Idol Racist?

The nine Black complainants all had been contestants on American Idol at some point throughout the show’s previous 11 seasons—and all were booted from the competition because of background checks, arrest records, information obtained by American Idol’s private investigators, etc. For example, Clark was disqualified in 2003 after Idol producers uncovered a previous arrest for allegedly assaulting his sister; or Jones, who was tossed in 2012 because he had multiple outstanding warrants.

The unusually high number of Black men disqualified from the show, Freeman claims, serves to continue a trend of “destructive stereotypes” against Blacks. He also says that the show made his clients appear to be “violent criminals, liars and sexual deviants.”

A Black woman, Frenchie Davis (Season 2), also was removed from the show, when producers learned that she had posed for nude photos four years earlier. Idol has disqualified one white woman: Season 8’s Joanna Pacitti, when it was revealed that she had close ties with two executives at the company that produces Idol.

American Idol: About Talent … Or Race?

Are contestants really being booted off American Idol because of their race?

“We treat everybody the same,” Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe says, “no matter the race, religion or sex. I think we’ve always had a fantastic share of talent from contestants both Black and white. … I don’t think I’ve ever seen racism at the show.”

The American Idol judges panel features a diverse representation—including Mary J. Blige (Black, guest judge), Lionel Richie (Black, guest judge), Jennifer Lopez (Latina), Paula Abdul (Syrian and Jewish) in previous years, along with 2013 judges Randy Jackson (Black), Mariah Carey (biracial), Nicki Minaj (Black and Asian Indian descent)—Black contestants have won the show. These include Ruben Studdard (winner, Season 2), Fantasia Barrino (winner, Season 3) and Jordin Sparks (winner, Season 6).

American Idol finalists and winners wholeheartedly disagree with the Idol Nine. “It is shocking to see such allegations. In my experience on the show, the Idol team strives to champion everyone, regardless of race. However, each contestant is explicitly told that the withholding of information that may compromise the show or artist can and will result in immediate disqualification,” says Melinda Doolittle, a Season 6 finalist.

Season 4 finalist Vonzell Solomon similarly stated that there was no sense of discrimination and attested to the conditions of the background-check results. “I was clearly informed of all grounds for disqualifications in our contracts. Idol has changed my life for the better. I didn’t feel like there was special attention given to someone because of race. I cannot see where this is coming from,” he says.

Racism Lawsuit: Will American Idol Go to Court?

If the lawsuit does make it to a courtroom, do Freeman and the nine Black men have a chance to win?

It’s unlikely, according to California attorney Anahita Sedaghatfar: “As we saw in the court’s ruling in the infamous race-discrimination lawsuit filed against the show The Bachelor, which was not brought under employment-discrimination laws but under civil-rights statutes, casting decisions by television shows and their producers are protected by the First Amendment. So even if this case is brought under civil-rights laws, it will still be highly unlikely they would prevail.”

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Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother writing about Super Bowl ads, but there’s one coming up this Sunday from Volkswagen that is a good “teachable moment.” The Volkswagen ad in question features a white guy (we learn in the ad that he is from Minnesota) who speaks in what sounds to me like a mashup Rastafarian/Jamaican accent and who is inanely happy.

The controversy over this ad is not a small matter: In the CNN roundtable discussion below, Jamaican-born Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher John Farley objects strongly to the commercial, and New York Times columnist Charles Blow calls it “Blackface with voices.”

The Internet is replete with white people opining that this ad isn’t racist, but there’s another Volkswagon ad that I find more troubling. It features a Pied Piper-singing guy who is the only featured Black person in the ad—and he’s dressed like a street person. It backs up my sense of the chief marketing officer and the ad agency being completely out of touch.

In my opinion, Volkswagen’s Super Bowl commercial is more creepy than racist in the sense that it’s troubling that a big car company can do something which appears to me to be so 20 years ago. This isn’t a mistake by a local business putting an ad in the Pennysaver; a 30-second ad in this year’s Super Bowl costs an average of $3.8 million.

When I first saw the ad, I thought it must have come from the minds of middle-aged white people who don’t get out much—and sure enough, the interview with Tim Mahoney, Volkswagen’s CMO, shows him to be a roughly 50-year-old, goatee-wearing white (American) man. The ad agency is Deutsch; here’s an article that has interviews with the agency people who did this. Not a nonwhite face in sight. No women in any position of authority were interviewed on the set of the commercial shoot (see the video). Here’s the agency’s leadership—all apparently white. I could not find a nonwhite face on the company’s website. Deutsch is owned by IPG. Here’s IPG’s senior management—five apparently white men and one white woman.

Deutsch and IPG are headquartered in New York City, which is 33.3% non-Hispanic white. There are almost 700,000 descendants of Caribbean immigrants. There’s simply no excuse for being out of touch—or having that little diversity.

The bottom line is that I don’t think the publicity is a “win” for Volkswagen. Our country is rapidly becoming more diverse, with more nonwhite births than white births for the first time in our history. The diversity of our country increases as age decreases, and that’s producing more new family units that are diverse. The end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the growing number of states with legalized same-gender marriage rights increase that here-and-now diversity. And let’s include the millions of veterans returning from combat zones of the past decade in that mix; they are accelerating the issue of inclusion for people with disabilities.

How this plays out for corporate communications can be seen in the last presidential election: Despite spending more than $1 billion, Governor Romney’s largest demographic was people over 65 years old, and 88 percent of the people who voted for him were white. President Obama’s largest demographic was 18-to-26-year-olds, and 56 percent of the people who voted for the president were white. If you were selling cars, which demographic would you prefer? If you were on Volkswagen’s board of directors, how could you be pleased with this foolish, out-of-touch ad that is clearly upsetting many people? What does it say about your marketing department? Or your ad agency?

Other articles I think are worth reading include “Volkswagen teases Super Bowl ad, explains why it doesn’t star Jar Jar Binks” from Entertainment Weekly and ‘It’s like blackface with voices’ from London’s Daily Mail that uses Charles Blow’s “Blackface with voices” line.

I think it’s always been true that you are more likely to make a bad decision with a homogeneous group. In our multicultural country—in our hyperconnected world—your bad decision will reach millions far more quickly. Further, nonmajority people feel more empowered than ever, and more white families have taken on diversity internally through marriage, adoption and awareness of LGBT relatives.

Volkswagen, you can do better than this.

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