representation – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

Fashion leaders are committed to tackling racism in their businesses. To see if anything is improving, the New York Times reporters felt they needed concrete data on the current state of representation of blacks in the industry.

Reporters asked well-known brands, stores, and publications to provide information about the number of black employees and executives in their ranks – including those who design, manufacture, and sell products; Walk runways; appear in advertising campaigns and magazine covers; and sit on company boards. However, of the 64 companies contacted, only four fully answered a short series of questions.

In a recent article, a team of reporters published the companies’ responses, as well as personal comments from black stylists, editors, and publicists. Below is an edited conversation with these journalists: Vanessa Friedman, Salamishah Tillet, Elizabeth Paton, Jessica Testa, and Evan Nicole Brown.

What was the biggest challenge in telling this story?

VANESSA FRIEDMAN The absolute lack of consistency. You are dealing with global organizations speaking to a wide variety of markets and opening up a whole range of different types of cultures. They are headquartered in different countries with different demographics, different histories, different issues with racism and different laws. We had a series of very simple questions, less than 10, that felt like the most basic and obvious things that anyone could answer. But only four out of 64 companies answered completely.

When did you realize that the inability to answer the questions was history?

FRIEDMAN You write what you find, and we felt it was important to get that across, if you have this mess in basic information until you can get a clearer picture of it, you really can’t know when it’s progressing .

Why couldn’t the companies answer these questions?

ELIZABETH PATON Each company had their own reservations and problems and reasons. I think to some extent it had to do with culture. For example, the perception of the Italian brands we tried was different from that of the Americans. I mean, legal reasons were part of it, but American companies in particular provided more information than European companies. I actually think America is in a slightly different place right now in their talk about race.

JESSICA TESTA It was almost surprising how reluctant some of the magazines were to participate because their numbers were the ones that would actually reflect them well. I feel like we’re getting opposition from all sides, but one thing we heard was, “I’ll be interested in going next time.”

How was the response to the story?

PATON Most brands understand the work we are doing, even if they found the questions very uncomfortable. Some brands were disappointed that their efforts were no longer recognized, even if they hadn’t given us full answers. I haven’t heard a brand tell us we made a mistake trying to carry out this project. They realize that they need this test to change.

They also interviewed people about their experience in the industry. What did you take away from it?

EVAN NICOLE BROWN It was important to me to find the crossbreeds, but also the differences that the black pros felt in this area. Sometimes in the past people have been asked to speak up about things and there has been a fear that might work against them or their concern would be misunderstood, but I think this project did a really good job of making people feel comfortable , to speak . I think this platform was appreciated and there didn’t seem to be any fear just to share these really honest experiences which definitely helped the piece and helped confirm the dates or lack thereof.

Which questions are you really interested in?

SALAMISHAH TILLET How do you further diversify the leadership at the top for me? And then what are the structures and what assumptions are made in those rooms that prevent this leadership from becoming ever more diverse? Because we want to continue to change all aspects of the industry and all levers in the industry, but if the top remains monolithic, then it is really those who determine how the other aspects of the industry change alongside it.

BROWN I was really interested in the tension where classicism is popping up in this conversation in terms of representation. Even if representation in the fashion industry on the racing front improves, much remains to be done on the socio-economic front. Through this coverage, I became more aware of the communities being reached and what the ideal consumer is for so many of these places that we are discussing.

What should the readers take away?

FRIEDMAN I think we’ve learned a lot about where the sticking points are and the importance of getting a clear picture of what’s going on. You can’t go forward until you know where you are. And it’s just time for all of us to know where we are in this industry.

Robert Johnson, founder of BET, told CNBC on Monday that he believes that once it doesn’t affect their share price, companies will be more serious about addressing racial inequality within their workforce.

“Companies understand return on capital. They understand return on equity. They understand total return on shareholders,” Johnson told Closing Bell. “Link all of these factors to achieving employment opportunities for Black Americans at all levels. I think then you will see results because companies understand that. They respond to financial factors and market conditions.”

Johnson’s comments follow the release of a new report on the employment of blacks in the US private sector by consulting giant McKinsey & Company. The McKinsey report, based on data from 24 companies, which together have 3.7 million employees, found remarkable differences in the representation of blacks in management positions.

Black Americans make up 12% of the total private sector workforce, but for the companies that participated in the McKinsey report, it was only 7% of executive employees. According to the report, black representation at the senior manager, vice president, and senior VP level drops to 4% to 5%.

“It will take approximately 95 years, as we go now, for black workers to achieve talent parity (or 12 percent representation) at all levels of the private sector,” the report said.

Johnson said, in his opinion, the only way for companies to work seriously to fill the employment gaps, especially in senior positions, is to “hold companies accountable for not making a commitment to address the gaps” .

“I think there are ways to do this,” said Johnson, who founded Black Entertainment Television in 1980. A little over two decades later, in 2001, he became America’s first black billionaire when Viacom acquired BET’s holding company. He now sits on the board of Discovery and is the founder and chairman of RLJ Companies.

Johnson said one way to be accountable in eliminating racial differences in employment is to set it as a target in corporate deeds.

“Shareholders should hold them accountable as soon as they are in their articles of association,” said Johnson, adding that proxy advisory firms like Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis “could explore the whole concept of no to companies that do not commit this kind of racial parity or basically closing the employment gap. ”

Johnson said companies of all sizes should also commit to something similar to the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which the league expanded last year to add diversity to their coaching ranks.

Teams are now required to interview at least two outside minority candidates for head coaching jobs, up from at least one since its inception in 2003. Also, the rule has been expanded to require teams to interview at least one outside minority candidate for an open coordinator positions; So far there has been no diversity mandate for these roles.

NFL franchises could be fined for not complying with the Rooney Rule, Johnson noted. “I’m not sure we want to punish companies because they can easily pay the fine,” he warned. “I think there should be some kind of moral equivalent that if you don’t, you will be singled out and your inventory will be reported as a failure, causing certain people to become involved in this form of racial justice and equality believe their take investments in other places. ”

Last year, Nasdaq made a proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission to improve diversity among company boards. The exchange operator’s proposal would require the majority of companies to have at least two different board members: a woman and a person who is LGBTQ or an under-represented minority.

According to the proposal, companies could ultimately be removed from the stock market if they do not publish board data. In December, when the proposal was published, over 75% of the roughly 3,200 companies listed on the Nasdaq failed to meet the requirement, according to the New York Times.

Johnson previously made proposals on how to close the racial wealth gap in the US. In a CNBC interview earlier this month, Johnson stressed the need to nurture black entrepreneurship in America through capital allocation programs.

“Black companies tend to hire black people as a whole, so if you create more black companies, more black jobs will be created,” Johnson said. “More black jobs mean more black people are paying to buy their homes, black people … are saving for retirement, black people are investing. In the end, we’re taking a big step towards closing the huge wealth gap.”

A Citigroup report last year found that racial inequality has cost the US economy $ 16 trillion over the past two decades.