Corporate America, You’re Unforgiven
By: Samantha Divine
Tags: Dave Chappelle, Racial Justice, Corporate America, Systemic Racism, Gender Pay Gap

Comedian Dave Chappelle’s Unforgiven is a Corporate America must-see. When Dave Chappelle was a 28-year-old expectant father, he signed a contract with ViacomCBS for the “Chappelle’s Show.” ViacomCBS recently licensed the show to Netflix and HBO Max, with no intent to pay the Comedian. (Chappelle doesn’t dispute that such actions are consistent with their agreement’s terms). After discovering the show was being streamed on Netflix and HBO Max, Chappelle reached out to Netflix and explained he felt bad about not receiving compensation from the streaming of the show named after him, the show he co-created, executive produced, and starred in. Netflix responded by promptly removing the show from its streaming platform.

I have never been an entertainer, but Chappelle’s story is piercingly familiar to me as a Black woman working in Corporate America. I’m ashamed to admit how many times I agreed to employment terms that were legal, but unfair, like they were clothing on clearance racks. I desperately accepted jobs that paid me 60 cents for each dollar my White male counterpart was paid. Remembering the many closed doors before that job offer was one of many painful realities that paralyzed me from negotiating. I would tell myself to be content, make it work, and appreciate that something was better than nothing.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)’s The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap

Once in a role, I would work hard, listen to praises, and wait for promises to be fulfilled. Sometimes they were, I guess, like when the annual merit raise became the promotion raise (more times than I want to admit). Other times, after waiting longer than I could afford to, I would realize the promises made were just empty, at best, or manipulative, at worst. After witnessing companies treat minority employees and contractors like ViacomCBS treated Chappelle — because they can — the rare experience of a Netflix in Corporate America is eerie and refreshing.

In Unforgiven, Chappelle explained he does business with Netflix “because they paid me my money, they do what they say they’re going to do, and they went above and beyond what you could expect from a businessman.”

In one sentence, Chappelle explains all my reasons for quitting jobs over the last two decades. I quit because my employers didn’t pay me my money. I quit because my employers didn’t do what they said they would do. I quit because my employers failed to go above and beyond my low expectations of Corporate America. And, I’m not alone.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)’s The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap

I wonder how much of the pain from 2020 inspired Chappelle to do Unforgiven, to step up as a David against the Goliath of an industry? I wonder if he’s exhausted like the rest of us Black folks, many of whom have been burdened with inconvenient truths that span past pains, present problems, and future feats while continuing to contribute to the success of our Corporate employers. I wonder if he’s sick of seeing remorseless people profit from our work, without paying us proper compensation. Maybe the burden of letting yet another injustice slide was more than he could bear. Maybe something about Netflix’s support (which was right and made business sense for the company) encouraged him to speak up and fight back. Whatever his reasons, I hope it inspires us to speak up and fight too. Let’s fight for fair pay by educating ourselves and each other (I recommend checking out AAUW’s Salary Negotiation resources).

Corporate America has long marked down the immense value of our time, talent, and contributions with clearance job offers and salaries that we must negotiate. For far too long, we have accepted their practices with gratitude and finality, valuing ourselves more cheaply than we’re worth and undermining our children’s future. This must end. We simply cannot continue to be the cheaper Black Barbie doll. We must fight for fair pay by calling out the legal-but-unfair status quo that limits our financial ability to support our children’s dreams. We can no longer afford to work 19 months to make what our White male counterparts make in 12 months. The truth is we never could afford such costly generationally compounded oppression.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)’s The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap

To our Corporate America employers, who say they are committed to diversity, skip the consultants and take notes on why Chappelle does business with Netflix. Show us you value our talents and contributions to your financial success, not with words, but with fair compensation! Our families cannot eat your words anymore than we can pay student loan debts or fund college tuitions with them.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)’s The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap

And after you show us the money, reciprocate our stardom by exceeding our expectations. At the end of the day, if you proactively address the reasons we leave, you’ll have a chance of retaining us. It will be the right thing to do and it will also make business sense for you. According to Gallup, the cost of replacing an employee can range from one-half to two times an employee’s annual salary. (i.e., it’s cheaper to retain us — with raises — than replace us). Moreover, we will stay because you pay us well, keep your word, and exceed our expectations. We will stay because, like Chappelle, we know how rare it is to find a Netflix in a ViacomCBS world.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)’s The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap

But Unforgiven is a cautionary tale too, a reminder that there’s no statute of limitation on public flogging companies may experience for myopically employing legal-but-unfair practices. The times are a-changin’. Stop playing like you’ve bribed the referee — play fair. Stop taking food off our tables and suffocating our children’s future — pay fair. If not, get ready to pay the financial and reputational costs that result from your systemic injustice, we’re not going down in silence anymore than we’re forgiving you for past and present harms.