Shante Bacon on Advertising's Diversity Industrial Complex

If we had more debates about the role impact and results of DampampI diversity and inclusion we would be further along For 15 years I39ve been hearing the same feedback from young African Americans who want a way in who want some upward mobility who want a seat at the table who want signing power on a budget who want a csuite title that nothing has changed unless your dream is to be a chief diversity officer There is one of those at every company but it39s just oneWe have to figure out a way for Black people to stop being pacified with diversity jobs I39m not saying get rid of them but I39m saying that there39s a little Black girl out there dreaming about being the head of marketing for the entire organization Is she ever going to come close to that There39s a little Black girl somewhere that wants to be your chief legal counsel There39s a little Black girl who wants to be your chief creative officer and she39s dreamed about doing creative for the entire organization Is she going to have that chance Or when it39s time for her to go up the ladder will the only thing available to her be to just wait until the last chief diversity officer retiresThe bottom line is we have to stop celebrating the pacification of the real goal We39re celebrating mediocrity in terms of what we39re getting out of it As a people we have to hold each other accountable Diversity executives owe it to every Black person who wants to be in advertising that if you were empowered with a csuite title there needs to be some radical change And I know that gives them hives and they39re like quotOh my God they39re trying to put my job in jeopardyquot But it39s not always about selfpreservation The blind spot becomes the person who39s been in the gig too long because they are frustrating the person on the bottom and they39re pacifying the people on the top and they become the actual obstacle that they39re there to get rid ofIt cannot just be the job of the diversity person to fix the problem because they39re already on a wing and a prayer every day if they get out of their role And in my opinion as someone who is very actionbased and actionoriented the only role I see is a professional panelist They make panels internally They39ll sit on panels at every conference And there39s nothing wrong with keeping the conversation going but when is the action coming forth So that 20 or 30 years from now young firedup hungry ambitious Black women don39t have to be having this conversation We owe it to them that this is one battle they won39t haveI39ve always wondered why with a diversity and inclusion person it seems like the very last thing on their list of deliverables is to force the company to spend money with African American owners I39m always about the owner If we never force these corporations that have billions of dollars to spend a percentage of it with African American owners then what is the point of your job Then you39re just an extension of HR and your only function is to worry about hiring and never to say how much money are we allocating to African American owners And I39m not just talking about people who make Tshirts and pencils and who lay carpeting Is there really diversity if you don39t have vendors that you can point to that are valued and get a significant portion of the budgetThe average chief marketing officer gets 18 months to produce some serious results What is it about the DampampI department that it can go on for 40 years with Black people saying there39s no senior level Black executives Ask yourself why would that be What is this company getting from the DampampI department that it39s okay for us to keep on keeping on with the status quo That must mean that the status quo is serving someone in here Who is that someoneClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Shante Bacon on Advertising's Diversity Industrial Complex

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Christopher Boulton

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Shante Bacon on Advertising's Diversity Industrial Complex

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Christopher Boulton

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