Why Diversity Needs to Be More Than a Slogan

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Once a year, the cable industry stops and as a community, collects in New York City to address diversity. We hold workshops and fundraisers, host speakers and event series. We do this because as an industry we know that our products and our way of doing business can only be improved when diverse teams, leaders, and boards are empowered to do so.

I was honored to be able to deliver the keynote address last Wednesday during The Walter Kaitz Foundation dinner – the crowning event of our Diversity Week. This was my speech:

In the heat of the summer, while many of us were on vacation cooling off, we peered into our screens and saw a city heating up with anger, pain and fear. On the streets of an American city, tear gas flowed, intermingled with bottles, rocks and occasional bullets. Town citizens stood across from National Guard troops. Something had gone terribly wrong.

This was Ferguson, Missouri.

The immediate source of this surreal scene was the tragic death of young black man at the hand of a white police officer. This is, perhaps, an all-too-often occurrence blurred by conflicting claims of police brutality and self-defense. This story, however, is much more complex and multi-layered than what happened in those fateful seconds. It forces our country to examine deep and difficult issues.

Among all the layers of this story, what struck me were the anemic levels of diversity of the police force and the city political leadership. Ferguson had only 3 black officers in a force of 50. The city has a white mayor and a largely white city council—all overseeing a community that is 70 percent black. If one needed evidence that the citizens of this community had little connection to or faith in their town fathers, one need only observe that barely 12 percent voted in the mayoral election.

Do we need any stronger evidence of the critical importance of diversity in our institutions, our governments and our companies?

The value of diversity can seem amorphous to many. If we are candid, diversity can feel to us like a fluffy, feel good concept to which we pledge our commitment, while wondering if it really produces any direct benefits. This is especially true in a world driven by data and returns on investment. But the pictures of Ferguson speak louder than words.

Human behavior and inter-personal connection drive societies and their progress. Healthy relationships and productive behavior hinge on trust. They depend on a sense of safety and security. They thrive when the people believe their employer, their government, their banker or baker share their interests and respect their values.

Diversity is a critical component to establishing these intangibles of trust and security. You can only find common interest, if diverse interests are seated around the table. When you fail on diversity, you sow the seeds of distrust, skepticism and discontent. And those seeds can become kindling that ignite as they did in Ferguson.

Long after the television crews depart Ferguson, the people of that community will continue to grapple with what happened and try and build better, more diverse institutions of trust and mutual respect.

For those of us who were not on the ground in Ferguson, lets digest deeply the lessons that were on display. Let’s put aside any whispering doubt about the importance or value of diversity. And with clear eyes and full hearts renew and reinvigorate our commitment to the work that Diversity Week is intended to celebrate. I am exceptionally proud of our industry’s longstanding and deep commitment to diversity—the work that Walter Kaitz challenged us to do long ago, continues with vigor and passion today and will, as it should, continue into the future.

Thank you.

You can see a full video of my speech here: