The HBR Diversity and Inclusion Collection (5 Books)

 

6

HOW TO BE A BETTER ALLY TO YOUR BLACK COLLEAGUES

by Stephanie Creary

The late singer and songwriter Sam Cooke appropriately summed up the desires of many Black Americans in 1963 when he penned the song, “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Well, it’s been a long time coming, but corporate America—and the world—has finally woken up to the idea that systemic racism still surrounds us.

As I write this in July 2020, we are in the midst of two interrelated public health crises that have magnified the disparities that Black Americans continue to experience in the United States. More than 130,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and the mortality rate for Black Americans has been more than twice as high as that of other U.S. racial groups.¹ Further, ...