Having participating in 4 different antiracist book clubs (so far), I created the following template in response to, “what can I do?” questions that inevitably come up when people’s eyes are opened to the long history and pervasive present of racism & white supremacy. The template is intended for contacting companies that you do regular business with (e.g., bank, phone company, cable company, subscription services) in order to A. let them know customers care, B. push them to be transparent about their practices and C. push them to be better in countering racism.
Some notes about using the template:
- Update company name, account #, country/region and your name / signature (as it appears on your account) before sending. Feel free to add/update/remove other content or formatting, as desired. You can also repurpose for use with your own employer.
- Use for email, paper letter, form submission or start of chat (depending on method of contact). Can also be used as basis for phone script. If “subject” required, you can use: What is [company name] doing about racism?
- What then? Well, if they respond positively with detailed policy such that you’re satisfied, you can thank them and move on. If, instead, they respond generically with little/no detail, you can push back and ask them to check with their HR and/or marketing departements for more detail (I recommend re-including the template “notes” when you reply, if it’s by email). Finally, If they don’t respond at all, or respond negatively, you can either push back (per previous sentence) and emphasize how important this is -or -end your relationship with them (if alternate service exists) and sign up for a different company/service (may want to check policies of new company first).
——————————template—————————
Dear [company name],
As a long-term customer [Account#], I’m writing to inquire what, if any, policies you have to ensure Diversity & Inclusion within your employee base, as well as your product offerings / customer base.
Like many [Americans], I’ve become strongly attuned to the widespread problems of racism in all aspects of our society, due to the increased news coverage of racist incidents in 2020, such as the killing of George Floyd, the threatening of Christian Cooper and Covid-19-related anti-Asian sentiments and slurs.
Specifically, I’m wondering what actions you are taking to counter-act the effects of long-standing racial inequities?
Note – Racism has subtle impacts to pretty much every industry including:
- Lack of diverse recruiting (e.g., recruiting candidates only from “familiar” people/places/networks, which may be majority white / majority men)
- Biases in hiring
— implicit bias (e.g., discounting qualified candidates of a different race/ethnicity based on “gut feel” or “won’t fit our culture”)
— requiring non-specific college degree (any major – this dis-proportionally impacts minorities, many of whom may lack degrees, but who are qualified by other means such as equivalent experience or self-learning)
— discounting qualified candidates by making assumptions of future criminality based on skin color and/or past criminal record (note: the US system of mass incarceration has strong racial disparities because it is, in part, intended to create lifelong second class citizens of non-white minorities, especially in regards to the “War on Drugs”) - Bias in promotions (e.g., declining qualified diverse candidates in favor of “comfortable” candidates that match race/gender of the current manager)
- Lack of pay equity (e.g., hiring or promotions “based on previous salary” thus perpetuating prior inequities)
- Discrimination / lack of protections in product offerings, availability or pricing
Thanks for your attention and I look forward to your response,
– [your name, as it appears on your account]
p.s. If you’re interested in learning more about racism & anti-racism, I’d suggest any/all of the following books (& 1 podcast):
- “The New Jim Crow: Colorblindness in the Age of Mass Incarceration” by Michelle Alexander
- “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
- “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi
- “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin Diangelo
- “Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America” by Michael Eric Dyson
- “Seeing Whiteness” by Scene on the Radio podcast –https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/
