By Tawanna A. Black / Founder & CEO
“Be not weary in well doing, for in due season, you shall reap, if you faint not.”
I cling to these words from Apostle Paul, not only today, but often in times when the fight for justice and freedom leaves my heart aching, knowing that the relentless pursuit of racial and economic justice is, at its root, about America’s willingness to value Black people, as people.
This week, as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin goes on trial for killing George Floyd, Jr. in south Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, many of us are weary. Not only from 10 months of fighting for justice, or 12 months of working to mitigate the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on Black and Brown workers, families, students, and business owners. We are weary from lifetimes of reckoning with systemic racism, generation after generation, battling to overcome racism often masked to hide the oppression hidden in the systems we are forced to operate within, yet just as real as the overt racism Derek Chauvin forced George Floyd to suffer on May 25.
The murder of George Floyd and the casual devaluation of Black life by the officers who held him and stood guard, ignited a global uprising and reckoning with racism and accountability in communities, board rooms, and living rooms across the world. Our hope — moreover, our expectation — is that this reckoning also leads to accountability for greater valuation of Black life, Black leadership, Black entrepreneurship, and Black neighborhoods by leaders in all sectors who for far too long have made daily decisions rooted in racism. This has been demonstrated by our region’s failure to move the needle in any measurable way on systemic racial disparities in almost every major facet of our economy, despite having one of the strongest economies. This promise of a great quality of life is experienced most completely by white residents and families.
Until Black and Brown lives are valued as human beings, America can expect the symptoms of racism to continue to escalate. We label those symptoms as disparities, and watch them climb in sectors as diverse as health, criminal justice, education, housing, business ownership, employment, wages, and prosperity. But, the root of the problem is racism, and while we have begun to reckon with its consequences, we have yet to count the full cost.
Minnesota has an opportunity to lead the nation in becoming uprooting racism for shared prosperity. We can use this moment of deep pain to perform cutting edge surgery on the cancer that left unchecked, will continue to metastasize to every positive element of the state.
Last May, I called on CEOs in the business community to take meaningful action to right the wrongs of racism and move forward in solidarity, investing in Black leadership, changing course, and establishing measurable goals and actions in shared accountability to close racial wealth gaps. We urged leaders to pause, to listen, and learn from Black leaders before issuing reactive proclamations and investments, and to reflect the learnings upon taking action.
Over the course of the last year, many have heeded this call. Yet, there is still work to be done, after all one cannot undo over 400 years of racism and undercapitalization in one year.
As the spotlight shines again on our region during Derek Chauvin’s trial and proceedings over the coming weeks, each of us have an opportunity to reflect, deepen our solidarity, and take even more meaningful action. We urge you to continue the journey from awareness to action and accountability and take these actions for anti-racism and economic justice with us.
To increase your awareness, reflect on these questions and reckon with them with your peers in the interest of healing, racial equity and justice: What have I learned from Black people as a result of the exposure I have positioned myself to gain over the last year? What have I awakened to, taken action on, and taken accountability for to advance antiracism in my family, organization, and spheres of influence? What has changed as a result?
To deepen your anti-racist action: We also offer three ways you can take action to close racial employment, income and wealth gaps in solidarity with the Center and our partners:
Join the Anti-Racism & Economic Justice Trust: Private and Public Sector Employers have joined forces to align and scale internal anti-racist goal setting, actions, and investments in talent, procurement, public policy, philanthropy, and/or sales and marketing in order to build a region where all Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian people experience intergenerational prosperity, and feel a sense of belonging and agency.
Support HF 2297 for Racial Equity Impact Notes: The State of Minnesota could be the next state to adopt legislation requiring that all bills be evaluated for their ability to close racial disparities if new legislation created by the Center for Economic Inclusion and sponsored by Rep. Samantha Vang is passed. House Bill 2297 would create Racial Equity Impact Notes.
Invest in Black healing. Reckon with the unique pains experienced by Black people in this moment. The pain of this moment is difficult to put into words. We watch with fear, and pray with hope because justice has escaped the grip of Black people far too many times for us to do anything less. Invest your time. Invest with listening ears and open hearts. Invest your voice. Invest your dollars. Invest in solidarity.
Together, in solidarity and with sustained action, we can move from addressing the symptoms of racism to uprooting it at its core and creating a just, equitable and inclusive community and nation.