BLM (June Newsletter)
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Seems to me that everything that could be said about the Black Lives Matter movement, has been said. Equally, I would say that everything that could be done to remedy the situation has hardly been started. I realize that “living the coastal dream” is, indeed, a bubble. I suspect most of us support the BLM efforts. I suspect that most of us feel that we are progressive in our thinking and fair-minded as well. I also suspect that many of us feel our companies are like-minded, and essentially free of the racism that seems abundantly obvious outside our ‘hood.
That's the danger of “feeling.” The facts are that our industries (surf, skate, cycle, Outdoor, swim…to name a few) have failed to attract diverse talent into our management teams. We have failed to create employment opportunities for young people of color. In most cases we have even failed to get school kids involved in our activities, thinking perhaps, that “they” will find their way to the beach of field or court like we did when we were kids. Not gonna happen unless you personally make it a measurable objective, and measure your performance.
I have heard the “what more can we do” argument many times. We are “just one company, etc.” 24 years ago, I had the chance to interview for the GM position at Nike Golf. Tom Clarke asked me if I knew much about Golf. My answer was “not much.” TC told me everyone in the Golf industry wanted the job. At the time golf was emerging from a cloudy past, of elitism, racism and sexism. I suggested to Tom, that if he wanted to import those traits into Nike, he could hire from the industry. But maybe it would be better to export Nike principles into Golf and make Golf look like Nike.
Golf looks like the world now… all inclusive. Businesses can make THE difference, specially in our space. It takes a commitment though, a real one. Enough has been said. Now its up to us to make changes happen.
-bob
