DEI Rollbacks and Corporate Hypocrisy: Dr. Nsenga Burton Weighs In

BEP Narrator: 00:00:02

A Black Executive Perspective now presents Need to Know

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with the award winning hyphenated Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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Dr.

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Burton.

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What do we need to know?

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Dr. Nsenga Burton: Today we're going to

talk about these, um, DEI rollbacks that

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people, speaking of rollbacks, ha ha

ha, Walmart, you see what I did there?

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Um, these DEI rollbacks that have been

happening and people, uh, are really

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up in arms about them and, um, you

know, are doing all kinds of things,

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which I agree with, you know, sometimes

when you voted the polls, you don't

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feel like it matters, but when you

vote with your dollars, sometimes you

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can get a little bit further, faster.

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So, the most recent, um, victim,

I'll call Walmart the victim,

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because we are not, is Walmart.

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Walmart has had a long history of, um,

I'm having, uh, at best problematic

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relationships with the communities.

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They serve a large population.

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They are the nation's largest employer,

but they also have the largest number

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of employees on public assistance.

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So, while they tout conservative politics,

their business practices don't align

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with, you know, what conservatives.

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Pretend to pretend happens when

you, um, cut off, um, people from

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resources that will help them live.

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Right?

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So, you know, they don't

corporations don't pay more.

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They don't, uh, elevate their employees.

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They don't give them more stock options,

all the things that they say will happen.

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If you stop giving people free lunch,

if you stop giving people wic, and if

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you make people get jobs, Um, and if

you give the corporations tax cuts,

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they pass them on to, uh, the consumers.

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That is all hogwash.

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It's been proven hogwash.

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I am not an economist.

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I will say that, but I will say that

Walmart is the greatest example of

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the hypocrisy of this democracy.

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And so now after they pretended that they

gave a damn after George Floyd, like a

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lot of other companies, it was really

pretending like it was performative.

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Right, they're performing because,

you know, they could have done

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it all along and they've done,

you know, scholarships and funded

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different types of cultural things.

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That's what corporations

like to do, right?

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That's why they have their community

affairs, external affairs, you know,

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ways in which people figure out

how you can use the corporations

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resources to help the community.

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So, you know, those things exist, but when

you have a company that goes on record to

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say, I'm going to roll back all of these

things, I'm not going to have these, um.

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Things in place when they align themselves

with people who call any person of color,

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especially a black personDEI Hire, knowing

nothing about them, not even understanding

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how accomplished like a Westmore is,

um, you know, just blatant racism.

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Like, you know, Tony is black thus

and so he had to be a DEI hire

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he couldn't have been accomplished,

but what we know people of color.

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Um, I would probably in general

black people specifically.

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I'm black.

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I know I keep getting, uh, you

know, little text messages emails.

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DMS.

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I'm a black girl from Virginia

many, many generations.

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So I'm an American and

we're not going anywhere.

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Yeah, landowner too.

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So, um, my point is, um, black

people already understood, like, you

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know, it says, oh, you have to be

twice as good to get half as far.

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It's actually higher than that.

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You gotta be perfect to get the

interview to be passed over.

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So.

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You know, we don't go in

there like, Oh, I'm black.

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I am going to get hooked up today.

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I'm no, I'm gonna get

this job cause I'm black.

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I'm a woman.

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Listen, this is it.

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I'm a kill it.

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And they don't give it to me.

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Uh, no, that doesn't happen.

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I'm not, I'm be, Horrible.

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I'm not gonna happen.

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What happens is we have like these resumes

like black women most educated people in

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the country Yeah, we have these like like

resumes like pages of stuff experience

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leadership all the things whatever and

what typically happens is people go

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through that and they look for that one

thing that they're looking for in the

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duties and Responsibilities that you

don't have and they ignore all the other

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things that you do have and they say oh,

I'm so sorry Nsenga, I'm so sorry Tony

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We need somebody who really does this

well, and you don't have this experience.

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So we're just not going

to let you do that.

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And see, they don't really understand

that, you know, as they hire their

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friends who have no qualifications,

they might have only 1 thing that they

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have where they're like, well, you know.

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You know, Biff he can

learn all the other stuff.

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He's like a bright guy.

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He can learn it.

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So I'm just, let's just give him a chance.

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You know, it's a probationary period.

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What's the worst that can happen?

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Um, so we don't get the

probationary periods.

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What's the worst that can happen?

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We don't get that.

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Um, so.

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You can, like, just go ahead and

calm down about the, you know, the

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was so that you would legally give

us an opportunity to compete now.

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There isn't that.

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So we will just go back to business

as normal being outstanding and

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being discriminated against because

that is what you signed up for with

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this particular administration.

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Thus and so, corporations

are now following suit.

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Like, whoo!

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I don't have to interview black people.

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Thank the Lord.

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Oh, I'm so sick of seeing them.

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I don't know who's gonna work in

these Walmarts, but let me see.

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Whoo, I don't have to give

interviews to Latinos.

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Yes, I can't wait for my white

brethren to come and take these

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jobs that they want so much.

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Um, yeah, so they can just go back to

doing what they have historically done

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and with the, the data even showed they

continue to do as they worked, found what

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we call workarounds, uh, DEI policies.

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Um, that they had in place, so you all

can, if you can show me some data, which

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you can't of where affirmative action

or policies have completely changed

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the look and feel of a corporation,

like, I mean, Ford getting rid of the

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DEI like, seriously, Jack Daniels.

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We have Uncle Nearest and you

can thank Uncle Nearest for

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your recipe, Jack Daniels.

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Like, Jack Daniels was like

working with Uncle Nearest.

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Like, you all can't even look

at your story and see how you

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can use it to support diversity.

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There would be no Jack

Daniels without Nearest Green.

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Whatever I can't do all the thinking

all the time for all the people.

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So I just say this don't fret just

take note vote with your dollars.

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You know, if you were shopping at

Walmart, um, you know, you don't

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have to you can if you want to.

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Nobody's going to judge you.

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Nothing is going to change.

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You know, changes is slow, but it

is sure so it'll come back around.

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Um, and, you know, when it does, it will,

and, you know, for 5 minutes, people

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will act like they give a damn about the

most marginalized groups in the country.

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And then when it is no longer

beneficial, or they find a.

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Or, uh, uh, someone who will say the

things that they've been thinking in and

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wanting to say, but haven't because they

want to keep their little, uh, job or keep

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their status in the church or do whatever,

then they can be emboldened to say that.

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So, just take notes, like the companies.

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All right, we can do that.

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We don't have to spend

our money at those places.

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Also take notes about what people are

saying and doing and who they are.

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And as my Angelou, Dr Maya,

Angelou told us, uh, as Dr

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Maya, Angelou told us, uh, uh,

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I'm getting 2 of them confused.

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Hold on.

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As my Dr.

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Maya, Angelou told us, um.

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In so many words, people will show you

who they are and remember who they are.

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Right?

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They remember who they are.

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The 1st time is something like that.

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You will correct me in the comments.

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I'm sure.

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But remember who they are.

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Remember who they are.

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And then the last thing with this too.

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This period of time is going

to be very interesting.

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They're going to be lots

of, uh, people breaking up.

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It'd be couples.

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They're going to be, um,

people leaving churches.

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There's going to be a

lot of stuff happening.

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Um, but there's always an opportunity

for new and amazing things.

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So I just want you to

just keep hope alive.

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You know, when one door

closes, another door opens.

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Windows open and it gives you the

opportunity to really create and to

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think differently about what you want

your life to look like um, so that's it

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and I just wanted to put to rest that

little Pesky rumor that people of color

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in general black people specifically

were relying on those dei policies for

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jobs Yeah, we're just relying on them for

interviews that you would then just use

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to collect data and do nothing with Um,

and then choosing who you really wanted

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anyway, um and pretending that we weren't

here Cause you know, you didn't see us.

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Uh, you don't see us, but we see us

and, uh, we know we're capable of and

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we'll continue to thrive with or without

policies or laws that, uh, are in place.

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So without further ado, tune in next week

to a black executive perspective podcast.

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I will see you then.

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This is me to know with Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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Toodles!

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BEP Narrator: A

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Black Executive Perspective.