Last week we had a popular story about a stupid diversity trick done at a Hyatt* event that involved Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
A Hyatt diversity “expert” poured chocolate syrup into a glass of milk and as a demonstration that diversity is at the bottom, stirred the milk and chocolate together and said it’s much more delicious mixed together.The governor “played along” by drinking the chocolate milk. He (and Hyatt) were playing at respecting Black History Month.
It is a stupid diversity trick because the chocolate syrup is heavier than milk, which is why it’s at the bottom of the glass. Black people are at the bottom of most organizations due toracism. Women are not fairly represented because ofsexism. It has nothing to do with gravity. Racism and sexism are purposeful human failures.
More insulting than the childish milk demonstration, the guest of honor was inappropriate for Black History Month Gov. Rauner has been very critical of NFL players taking a knee. He said the players are “disrespecting the foundations of our country.”
He’s either a racist or profoundly ignorant (or both).
The foundations of our country are white men killing soldiers for the rights of white men, including the right to enslave Black people. In 1775, in Lexington, Mass., white men picked up rifles and shot to death soldiers of their country (we were a British colony) in protest.
The soldiers were marching to seize armories that had elected rebel colonels. At the time, a “well-regulated militia” included all men under 55 weapons of war, gunpowder and bullets were stored in local armories, not at home. The reason for the armories was attacks by Indians who wanted their land back.
The Battle of Lexington was the start of the American Revolution. It was so important at the time that the Second Amendment to our Constitution is, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (Well-regulated, as in troubled children should not be able to buy assault rifles and nobody should have high capacity magazines.)
Black NFL players took a knee to protest injustice in law enforcement and our criminal justice system, which is (and always has been) predatory on Black Americans by any measurement.
The movement was started by Colin Kaepernick after he viewed this video of Patrick Harmon being shot three times in the back after being harassed for not having a tail light on his bicycle. Please take a moment and watch the last 31 seconds of Patrick’s life. Think about the last words on Earth that he heard: “I’m going to fucking shoot you.” The video inspired Kaepernick to take a knee. If you read up on him, he is a very thoughtful man; his philanthropy since the obvious collusion of NFL owners ended his career is inspiring.
So, who is more “respectful of American heritage” the Black players risking their careers to bring awareness of the racial injustice in our legal system, or Gov. Rauner drinking a glass of stupid chocolate milkAnd how frightfully ignorant and/or racist are most white Americans, including Gov. Rauner, for thinking that this nonviolent protest is somehow disrespectful
What could possibly be more in keeping with the best ideals embodied in our Constitution than bringing attention to something so un-American, so disgraceful as our racist criminal justice system.
Having a man like Rauner at a Black History Month event is just clueless. Performing chocolate milk stunts in 2018 is foolishness. People in authority going along with stunts is insulting. I’ll bet Patrick Harmon would agree.
Finally, the senior executives at Hyatt have proven that chocolate milk diversity stunts don’t work; here’s their executive team: 73 percent white men. No women, Blacks or Latinos in P&L positions, women segregated to the traditional roles of corporations that have failed at diversity, the lawyer, marketing andHR positions (the one Black person out of 11 people pictured).I can imagine the CEO paternalistically saying, “Here are our gals.” How 1973 of them. Have some chocolate milk little lady.
So, another Black History Month ends, and we’ve made insufficient progress.
*Hyatt does not participate in the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 competition.
