Racial equity is not the same as equality: how to get it right 

Systemic racism represents a distinct form of discrimination that goes beyond individual prejudices and isolated incidents of bias. It is deeply embedded in the structures, systems, and institutions that govern our society, leading to consistently favorable outcomes for some and consistently unfavorable outcomes for others.  

Most executive leaders recognize that their culture, the way they do things, seems to work for a particular ethnic group – and that ethnic group is very rarely Black employees. But, at the same time, it can feel like a personal attack to start from a place that assumes there is a problem – racism – and then to take the necessary steps to address it. This is not because leaders hire bad people or because they’ve deliberately set out to oppress certain groups, but because racism isn’t the result of explicit and conscious intent. It manifests in policies, practices, and exceptional decision-making – as part of a social system developed over…