Racial Equity in America — Where do we stand in 2020?
By: Michelle London-Bell
Tags: Randal Pinkett, Racial Equity, Diversity And Inclusion, Donald Trump, Diversity

When Dr. Randal D. Pinkett speaks, business leaders around the world listen. As CEO of BCT Partners, and one of the few African-Americans to have worked closely with President Donald Trump in a business context, he is uniquely qualified to lead a national discourse on racial equity in America. On the heels of the 2020 presidential election, in the midst of divisive party politics, and as economic hardships impact so many, particularly African-Americans — there has never been a more important time than now to address racial equity.

Dr. Randal D. Pinkett, CEO of BCT Partners

“2020 is a moment of tragedy, and it’s also a moment of opportunity — a pivotal moment in a pivotal year, Dr. Pinkett explains. “The confluence of George Floyd’s murder against the backdrop of COVID-19 produced a different outcome than if either event was in isolation from each other.”

Dr. Pinkett is committed to transforming this moment into a movement. Over the past few months, he has led open and transparent discussions with members of the business and political community about racial inequities, racial myths and stereotypes, as well as the four dimensions of racism. It’s clear that many people truly don’t understand these dimensions, as he was forced to dissect the different levels of racism. Dr. Pinkett explains, “personal as reflected in our beliefs; interpersonal as reflected in our behaviors; institutional as reflected in the culture of organizations, and systemic representing barriers that exist across institutions.”

Photo by Daniel Faro for DTS

Racism has spurred redlining in communities across America. Racism prevents highly educated and qualified African-Americans and Hispanics from accessing C-level and executive positions in Fortune 500 companies. Racism prohibits African-American business owners from accessing capital and loans to invest in and grow their businesses. Dr. Pinkett’s forthcoming book, Black Faces in High Places was written as a narrative to address these negative forces and more as he pulls back the curtain on “the power structures that exist and the isms that are alive today.”

Dr. Pinkett even explores the nuances of White privilege, and unpacks President Trump’s lack of racial understanding due to “the lack of substantive interaction with people different than him, and a [lack of] fundamental understanding of the issues that affect people different than him.” His book gives readers a deep, introspective look into these conversations and the outcome produced from this moment in time.

New local and federal policing reforms have been instituted due to the civil unrest backlash to police brutality. Voters took to the polls to elect officials that champion health care equality due to the disproportionate amount of minorities affected by COVID-19. These are important and impactful responses, but the outcome Dr. Pinkett is more interested in is Corporate America’s response. He’s focused on how companies are “embracing, acknowledging, and taking action.” For example, Forbes asserts that CEOs from American Express, AT&T, Bank of America, Delta Airlines, Nike, and more pledge to hire and train one million Black workers over the next ten years, as their response to this moment.

Accountability is the key. When the proverbial question of “where do we go from here” arose in these conversations, Dr. Pinkett uncovered the need to not only dismantle the power structures that permeate all aspects of society and make these structures more inclusive, but also to tie CEO compensation to tangible numbers on inclusivity. That sort of lasting change demands a certain type of leadership. “We need leadership that’s able to see American citizens and all of the diversity that is represented. Many [of our leaders] have no life experiences that have given [them] the ability to do that. As someone who is more embracing and more understanding and quite frankly, more humbled about what he does not know — [this] is the leadership we need to move our country in the right direction.”