Do Black Lives Really Matter to Businesses?
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Companies large and small are proclaiming Black Lives Matter as widespread demonstrations sweep the country to demand an end to police violence and investment in Black life. But is real change on the way, or is this just empty rhetoric? For years, businesses have been promising to diversify, even spending billions of dollars on diversity programs, yet they remain overwhelmingly and disproportionately white. Pamela Newkirk, author of Diversity Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business, points out that the diversity industry has flourished while diversity has not. She talks to Laura about the consequences and how these billions could be reinvested to much better effect in education and tech training programs in communities of color.
