What Building Black Power Could Mean for Workplaces

By
Ahead of Juneteenth, we spoke with Andre M. Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the recent book, Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close it.
He told us that the goal of Black Power Scorecard was to 'find out the factors that we must address in order to create vibrant, thriving communities.' In it, he argues that Black power movements seek to 'remove privileges based on race,' a process that would 'advance democracy, benefiting all racial groups.'
We asked him about employers' role in working towards that vision, given the attacks on corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on the federal level. Here are excerpts from our conversation, edited for length and clarity:
In Black Power Scorecard, you write that 'the concepts, strategies, and objectives of Black power have never been fully encapsulated by [corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)] programs.' Where has DEI fallen short?
I wrote the book before Trump was elected, but I still feel that my position holds up in that the goal of DEI and affirmative action have never been the goals of the Civil Rights Movement. It's always been to have mainstream access to capital markets, mainstream access to higher educational institutions. And in many ways, DEI programs—not the values—are consolation prizes that have been offered in the face of not providing access.
In one of my favorite studies, we scraped all the Yelp data from businesses across the country and found that Black-, Brown-, and Asian-owned firms actually score higher on Yelp than their white counterparts. That research shows empirically what elders used to say all the time, that our ice is just as cold, meaning that our businesses and entrepreneurs are just as worthy of investment.
No one wants to be a consolation prize. No one wants to be a set aside. We don't want workarounds. Communities need investment like everyone else, and so to me, the goal is to create policy both in the public and private sectors that recognize the strength of people and that Black, Brown, and Asian folks are not a set aside. We don't want special programs. We just want mainstream access.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Thich Nhat Han, a Vietnamese philosopher, who used to say, 'When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce.' You look to see if the soil's enriched. You look to see if it's getting proper rain water or sunlight. But when things aren't growing in black communities, we constantly blame the lettuce.
I want for us to recognize that when there's a lack of growth it's because of a lack of investment, but also that we have strength in black communities, but that strength is devalued. And I don't necessarily promote the furtherance of devaluation through policies that aren't truly providing the investments that they deserve. So it's incumbent upon corporate America, upon government, upon American citizens to say, 'Hey, we want policies that work for all of us.'
What should employers be doing instead to realize the goals of Black power, or as you write, 'create environments that maximize human potential?'
When it comes to employers in particular, I do emphasize the role of income. Income is one of the top predictors [of life expectancy in Black communities]. What employers should be mindful of is that pay is a major factor in the quality of life for individuals. No surprises there. When people have adequate pay, they invest in their lives and their communities' lives. We always need to check our pay against cost of living increases because what has happened over the decades is that the cost of living in many markets has outpaced the increase in pay. And if we're not mindful, we can really make it hard on families overall to have a good quality of life.
Another avenue could be workforce housing, which may be difficult in tight housing markets but can be a viable goal to create thriving communities. Because of those tight markets, we have not seen widespread employer-housing benefits, but if firefighters and teachers and other municipal employees can get access to home ownership, it helps stabilize their lives as well as the lives of others in the community.
In the book, I talk a lot about how we must look for collective means to solve these problems. Unionization is one critical institution or practice for employees if their employers are not providing the incomes that encourage longevity. I'm also interested in employee-owned firms and other ways that employees can have a stake in the growth of a business.
Employers shouldn't interfere with employees' efforts to organize and mobilize. That may be hard to hear, but for an employer, it does come with certain tensions that are ultimately healthy in a democracy. You want employees to have some say in how resources are distributed because their work matters and in many cases, they are a primary reason why the business is seeing profits. It only makes sense that there is some kind of mechanism for employers to recognize the contributions of workers.
What are you seeing that gives you hope and keeps you engaged in this kind of work?
When I did the research, it was clear that there are lots of places that are thriving and that we see growth in a lot of areas. What happens at the national level often masks the real growth at the local level. Things are changing at a local level in spite of what's happening at the federal level. I point to the growth in Black-owned employer firms, for instance, or firms with more than one employee. Black people represent about 14% of the population. In 2017, Black-owned firms were about 2.3% of employer firms. That number has actually increased by 50% since 2017.
And that was through the first Trump administration, a pandemic, and then the Biden administration. In spite of everything, we're seeing growth on a local level, and so I'm encouraged by that. Certainly, there are threats that can thwart those advancements, but I know there's strength that has been created during these periods, and we can't lose sight of that growth because it really will mask the innovation, the dignity, the strength of the people who are doing the good work and winning.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CNBC

41 minutes ago

• CNBC

Europe and Iran to hold talks as Trump sets two-week deadline for U.S. strikes decision

Top U.K., France and Germany diplomats are pushing for eleventh-hour diplomacy with Iran in Geneva on Friday, as Washington weighs the possibility of joining Israel's military campaign against Tehran over the next two weeks. Iran and Israel have been trading fire for the past week, in the latest climax of tensions that have been simmering since the Tehran-backed Hamas' terrorist attack against the Jewish state in October 2023. Israel has since been fighting a war on multiple battles against the Palestinian militant group and other Iranian proxies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi — which Tehran says are acting independently. The conflict has risked further escalation since the start of the week, amid signals that the U.S. — historically a close ally and weapons supplier of Israel — could intervene militarily against Tehran. "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," U.S. President Donald Trump said, according to a statement read out on Thursday by White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. Following a Thursday meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy said the three "discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict" and that "a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution." "There is no room for negotiations with the U.S. until Israeli aggression stops," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is expected to attend talks in Geneva, was quoted as saying on Iranian state TV on Friday, according to Reuters. Trump's aversion to Iran's nuclear program has been a central point of his statesmanship across both mandates. The White House leader pulled the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during his first presidency, tightening the noose on Iran's coffers through a string of stringent financial and oil-linked sanctions. Self-proclaimed 'peacemaker' Trump has so far fruitlessly pursued a second nuclear program deal since the start of his second term, initially expressing a preference for a diplomatic breakthrough — the likes of which European officials are now hoping to strike. "In the United States, [there are] many political officials who are convinced that we must not once more make the errors of the past. What we saw in Libya, what we saw in Afghanistan, what we saw in Iraq, we do not want to see reproduced," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a TV interview with French media, according to a CNBC translation. Notably, the U.K., France and Germany — alongside Iran's allies Russia and China — were previously involved in the JCPOA with Washington and Tehran. Markets have been rattled by the possibility of the conflict destabilizing the wider oil-rich Middle East and potentially drawing in the world's largest economy, spurring investors on a flight to safe-haven assets and broader focus on defense companies and initiatives.

UPI

an hour ago

• UPI

EU; U.K. hold talks with Iran as clock ticks down on Trump deadline

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (C-R) arrives for the Europe-Iran summit in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday morning. Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA-EFE June 20 (UPI) -- The European Union and Britain met for crisis talks with Iran on Friday to try to determine a way out of the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel over Tehran's nuclear development program. The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Britain and the EU's foreign policy chief sat down with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva with the clock ticking, after President Donald Trump set a 14-day deadline Thursday to him to decide on direct U.S. involvement. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were "aimed at obtaining from Iran a lasting rollback of its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs." British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who flew in overnight from consultations in Washington on Thursday with U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio, said that despite the perilousness of the situation, "we are determined Iran should never have a nuclear weapon." However, he called for all sides to seize the window of opportunity that had opened up. "Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one," Lammy wrote in a post on X. Trump is considering a plan to join Israeli strikes, which have been underway for seven days, by deploying U.S. bombers to attack underground nuclear facilities using massive bunker-busting guided bombs -- but put the final decision to give diplomacy a chance. "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," Trump said in a statement. The Geneva summit got underway after another night of back-and-forth attacks between Israel and Iran. Israel Defense Forces said in a update on X that more than 60 of its fighter-jets struck dozens of military targets with more than 100 pieces of ordnance, including missile production facilities in the Tehran area that it described as a "key industrial" hub serving the Iranian Defense Ministry. The IDF also claimed it carried out airstrikes on the Tehran headquarters of defense ministry's research and development program, the SPND agency, which works on leveraging emerging technologies for military applications. Iranian forces struck the southern Israeli city of Beersheeba the second day in a row, injuring seven people and severely damaging buildings after a missile struck a road near high-rise residential blocks, leaving a large crater and setting cars ablaze. The injured were taken to the city's Soroka Hospital, which itself was struck by an Iranian missile on Thursday, injuring 80 people and causing significant damage. The BBC reported blazes near the Microsoft building in Beersheba's Gav-Yam technology park, which Tehran had claimed was the intended target of Thursday's missile strike. An IDF spokesman claimed Iranian forces had planned for Friday's airborne assault on Beersheba to be much larger, but were thwarted after Israeli forces destroyed three missile launchers on the ground in Iran as they were being prepared for use in the attack. Four attack drones launched from Iran were also intercepted overnight, the IDF said. No information was provided on where they were downed or their intended targets.

Associated Press

an hour ago

• Associated Press

Live updates: Trump can keep the National Guard deployed in LA, appeals court rules

An appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids. The decision halts a ruling from a lower court judge who found Trump acted illegally when he activated the soldiers over opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously concluded it was likely Trump lawfully exercised his authority in federalizing control of the Guard. It said that while presidents don't have unfettered power to seize control of a state's Guard, the Trump administration had presented enough evidence to show it had a defensible rationale for doing so and that Newsom had no power to veto the president's order.