- The Reformation Brief -
- Al Scott -
Ray Smith writing in a Wall Street Journal report pointed out that "diverse groups" of Hispanic and black American workers make up large portions of low-wage workers, and that within America's c-suites (or 'executive class') diversity is lacking.
According to the report, over three-quarters of the Hispanic and black population works an hourly job handling production and customer service compared to only 58% of white workers filling similar roles. This, of course, means that America's c-sites are disproportionately filled with "white" employees.
Smith takes note of the fact that companies have devoted "no shortage of resources" designed to increase the hiring of such minorities, but these efforts have remained somewhat ineffective. According to the report, companies go as far as purposely recruiting from historically black colleges or even just handpicking a minority candidate to fill the role.
The first thing we have to take note of is the fact that we're not really talking about the racial disparity. Even this left-leaning report showed that there's only a 17% difference between the number of "White" executives and minority ones. Given that the Hispanic and black population makes up only 27% of the U.S. population, and considering the fact that many of those consist of immigrants, that "disparity" doesn't look that harsh.
But the real problem with this "report" that is supposed to be grounded in objectivity is the proposed solution. The solution is not for companies to cherry-pick candidates for executive roles based on race. In fact, if you want actually racism to return to the U.S., then keep that up.
No, instead, focus on the underlying problems behind the issue. The report failed to show that college enrollment for black and Hispanic college-age adults was 5-10% lower than for white students. Or the fact that--as the Republican caucus so repeatedly pointed out in the 2020 presidential race--the number of black and Hispanic children growing up in broken, fatherless homes is 66% and 42% respectively.
We need to stop picking candidates for executive, leadership positions based on race. In a way, we're just fudging the numbers, not solving the problem. Instead, we need to focus on creating better minority candidates for the job, and that starts all the way back at the ever-assaulted family unit.
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AL K. Scott
Editor in Chief of The Reformation Times
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