Rosetta—a really powerful and important post you’ve written here, especially the point that tying up all kinds of “diversity” into a single package makes it easier to avoid the real issue—the racial disparities—and that there are still problems with seeing people of color as the recipients, rather than as the makers of change. What do you think needs to be done to move things forward in this area? Are there specific steps we could be taking?
Thanks for the comment, Michele. You point out that this post is actually more questions than answers! It’s hard to answer the “what do we do” question without first defining the ‘we’. I don’t have high hopes that boardrooms are just going to have “aha moments” at nonprofits all over the country. The ‘we’ that cares about issues of race have been saying this for awhile now….however I think the problem is that the ‘we’ who know this is a problem have not been saying it loud enough. The voice of the few has been relatively quiet and I think it’s largely because we don’t like to talk about race in general in this country. If the ‘we’ that knows race is an issue were to raise our voices when we see things that don’t look right, things may not move forward at lightning speed, but it would force these conversations within our organizations that we are not currently having. I know people who have quit jobs because of the lack of cultural competency or they just got plain tired or being the only, “token” person of color on staff. I say, make some noise about it before you quit. Step 1 for the ‘we’ may be to simply start talking about these issues more and more loudly, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us.
Lots of easy questions, but certainly not easy answers. It’s ironic that nonprofits suffer from a lack of diversity when many are in existence to combat social ills like discrimination. However, I don’t think we should be isolating race from the bigger discussion about diversity and inclusion. It leads to divisiveness and does nothing to further a collective progression towards equity.
(It’s funny that you use a picture from blackpeopleloveus to accompany this article. I think the creators behind it addressed the issue of diversity and tokenism in a humorous, yet head-on kind of way.)
I’m glad you shared your thoughts here, MarilynJean. I used the photo from blackpeopleloveus for those very reasons. It’s in your face the way it needs to be in the nonprofit sector. The irony you mention is something that does unfortunately gets lost on nonprofits, and I’m really not sure why. One theory I keep thinking of is that as a sector, we think ourselves to be oh so perfect and just and fair compared to the big bad business sector and corrupt government. While that may be true to an extent, the fact that we are “do-gooders” often seems to overshadow the fact that we can always get better at how we go about doing our good.
I think you make a good point about the need or desire for a collective progression towards unity, but quite frankly I feel that there will always be some form of divisiveness when you are working for any kind of social justice. Just look at the feminist movement vs. the Civil Rights movement. Both were important at the same time in history, but it was very hard to get those groups to work together toward common goals. Just to be real, people are really only interested in their interests, meaning that if you are a woman, you’re probably more likely to be motivated to take action on women’s issues than a man would be. Since I am Black, I care more about issues of race being resolved than the “larger” inclusiveness conversation.
I am struggling horribly with this issue in my organization. I am a white ED and we provide free legal services for immigrant women. I am desperately trying to recruit immigrant lawyers, so that we better reflect our clients. We are failing miserably. People I try to recruit graciously tell me that they need to make $ and cannot afford a non-profit salary. They are sometimes sending money to their home countries or paying off huge student loans. We pay very competitively within the non-profit sector, but that compares poorly to the law firms. We get a lot of ivy-league white women who are fluent in multiple languages, lived as peace corps volunteers in other countries, are smart, culturally-competent, and dedicated. I am proud of the staff we have, but we still need greater diversity in perspective. I really don’t know what to do, so long as we pay 4 times less than law firms (and if we did pay what the law firms pay, it would be considered a misuse of funds). We have done many things internally - diversity training, cultural competency training, specific recruitments, etc. - and, in fact, won an award, in part, for our efforts around diversity. But, in my view, we are still failing on this front. Any ideas are extremely welcome!
Rosetta,
Thanks so much for this post and this important dialogue. I too was dismayed by these stats. :( Do you have a relationship with/know anything about the National Center on Black Philanthropy? I wonder if they can be helpful.
Also, while racial diversity is important, I think diversity along the lines of class is also critical. In my experience, foundations and nonprofits are willing to promote middle and upper class black folks through the ranks. But this doesn’t necessarily change the culture of an org because many of these folks - including myself - don’t have the experiences you mention above to draw on. I agree with you experiencing poverty, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, violence is critical to knowing how to solve it. Life is not a purely intellectual exercise.
You are bringing up an issue that I hear repeatedly from organizations seeking to hire more diverse staff. However, I would like to encourage you to examine your recruiting practices and requirements against the actual duties of the position. Generally I find that when organizations are wishing to recruit persons of color they seek the most visible, highly qualified (read usually over qualified) person for the position compared to whites being recruited. I’m sure that there are lawyers at entry level who could enter your organization and do the work but generally organizations like yours won’t hire them. In many cases, the ivy league women you speak of may not be the primary breadwinner in their families and are able to address their desire to give back because they have a second income from, most likely, an ivy league husband.
I encourage organizations to actively seek out leadership organizations that support professionals of color, affinity, social, and friendship groups founded by immigrants and people of color to help them in their recruiting goals.
At one of the recent political debates, the question was raised as to why over 48 percent of black highschool graduates were unemployed compared to 34 percent of white high school dropouts. These kind of statistics speak to recruiting practices that respond to the organization’s comfort level with persons that look like them, and the willingness to take someone with lesser skills rather than work with a qualified person of color.
I do not think that this entry advances our understanding of the complexities of diversity, that very misused word. We have spoken endlessly about race and identity theory for the past 30 years. Yes, non-profits such as mine should be more “diverse,” but the diversity i seek is not racial quotas but diversity of experience, talent and ideas. Truth is upper class blacks such as Obama are much more like upper class whites than he is low-income whites or blacks. The racial divisions prolonged by the racial diversity crowd ignores the real lack of representations in all aspects of our society-that of class differences which dominate America.
‘I recently attended a national philanthropy conference in New Mexico. All of my African-American peers remarked how much they were like other white and Latino/Latina middle class staff and how unlike they were the low-income whites, latinos and blacks they served. How sad. Race is no replacement for class representation. The hard work at hand is not to repeat the racial codes of the past but to move forward to include income and class considerations, even to isolate such considerations for preferential treatment.
As a former Peace Corps volunteer and later as a country director, I saw a lot of angst and introspection within the organization about the difficulties attracting African American volunteers and staff. Happy to say that they’ve made a bit of progress in the last 15 years, but nothing near proportional representation. This, despite a lot of hard work by the recruitment folks.
Frankly I think this is more a reflection of economic inequality in this country than of discrimination on the part of PC or other philanthropic organizations. In fact, joining Peace Corps is s great way to position yourself for work in the international and non-profit worlds. But, people who come from strained economic circumstances, who may be the first in their family to graduate from college, who feel an obligation to succeed in the more traditional sense in order to satisfy family and other social pressure, are less likely to step on the path towards philanthropic careers or to volunteer for Peace Corps, Habitat, Teach for America and other such organizations. As one of our former agency heads, Gaddi Vasquez, was fond of saying: “I would have loved to join Peace Corps. But if I’d have told my parents that I was going to Mali to help the poor, they would have said ‘why don’t you stay here and help your family? Plenty of us are poor.’” (I paraphrase Gaddi here but you get the gist.
I have not seen studies on this, but I suspect that there’s a correlation between a person pursuing philanthropic work and their family’s socio-economic status and history. Obviously there’s also the education factor. When you start looking at these factors, it becomes less surprising that African Americans are underrepresented. It’s merely another symptom of deeper inequalities and other issues.
I’ve worked in the philanthropic world for quite some time and have noticed, if anything, a predisposition to hire and promote people of color. I think that the supply of candidates is fairly small. That said, it would be interesting to see a study of hiring and promotion practices that compares opportunities and impediments for equally qualified candidates. Does anyone know where to look? If not, someone out there ought to make this their thesis project.
I’ve been running nonprofits for more that twenty-five years and I cannot count the times that I’ve made this same observation. It’s been a frustrating ride knowing that despite any education, training or expertise I might have—it simply was not good enough to move to the next level in the sector. Believe me, I’ve tried. We used to say that as a black woman you had to work twice as hard to get to the same place. The truth of the matter is you don’t get to that place because you are not wanted, not trusted. You only get there if invited and as the numbers show, those invitations are few and far between.
The state of affairs is as irrational in philanthropy as it is in politics. It is extremely difficult to understand how a group of people who have no possible means of understanding you condition and cultural context in any meaningful way can make policy that can and often does change your life and the lives of those you serve. The scariest thing is is that this goes on with impunity. Legislators and foundation board members alike continue to act paternally without compunction and are offended when it is suggested that they are doing so.
Thank you. Keep writing!
BYRenata Rafferty, Author "Don't Just Give It Away:
I don’t want to pull from your main points regarding the lack of racial diversity in organized philanthropy. But in your post you touched on another issue that deserves attention ... the fact that leadership bodies, e.g. boards, councils, etc., discount and reject the value of engaging in a governance capacity those persons with real-life knowledge of the issues . For example, why do we have to fight to get the board of a nonprofit serving the homeless to actually include people who “have been there” in order to get an insider’s perspective and input in creating solutions?
Part of the answer to both your question and mine lies in the unspoken notion that the best volunteer leaders are those with high visiblity and access to money ... two attributes not likely found among the disadvantaged or disenfranchised. First-hand experience and an informed viewpoint seems to hold little value for most boards (how is that for a sweeping generalization!?), at least when it comes to sharing the power.
Who does the hiring for top positions? The very same persons who populate the governing boards. If they don’t see the value in sharing governance power with life-experienced individuals, how likely is it that they will seek a qualified candidate specifically with life experience in the nonprofit’s area of service?
Thank you for focusing attention on the racism question.
I believe Carl is right about the pool of willing candidates. Many young people know very little of the nonprofit sector as a career choice. What they do know is often tinged with less than positive images and stereotypes.
Over the last twenty-five years I have mentored several students of color some of whom are making a name for themselves in their local nonprofit markets. In fact, my own personal goal is to touch as many promising young people as possible and provide opportunities for them to get the “fire in the belly” that this work takes.
The question is how do we make the case that being an nonprofit or foundation executive is a realistic goal? For much of the last twenty years we have been competing with private sector opportunities with rewards that few in our sector can duplicate. However, I very encouraged by what I’ve begun to observe among younger generations. They seem to have a need for meaning in their lives and to have a drive to incorporate that meaning into every aspect of their lives.
I believe there is hope. But there is also a need for a movement focused on this critical issue. How we address it now will have an immeasurable impact on the future of our sector.
You are my voice in the dark. My name is Darryl Penrice. I have created the first online charity portal aimed at Recipients of charity. A parent with a child anywhere in North America that is living below the poverty line will be able to go to my website… and print electronic gift certificates that they can use at local stores and service providers to get anything that they would need for their child such as health insurance policies, daycare hours, groceries, rent assistance, utility assistance, and much more.
Quite literally, my website design makes impoverished recipient’s access to social welfare and social empowerment programs as easy as checking email… all they need to do is access the internet to find immediate help with all of their needs.
The disheartening thing is that as the webmaster of my website…. I can readily track visitors and numerous organizations have given me “opinions”, ” advice”, and numerous rejections…. without even taking the time to visit my online prototype and actually ” look ” at my work.
It really frightens me to know that the image of the young black male has been so denigrated by the popular media that I can literally have a model website online that anyone can access and test the functionality of.. that can literally feed millions of children and have it be completely ignored because of something so idiotic as my skin color. I designed the website to operate without race as even a factor…. poor is poor… but when will the charity establishment ignore my race and simply help me turn my prototype into a functional reality?
I challenge any one on this blog to examine the functionality of my prototype and “break” my system. If you none of you can “break” it…. can someone please help me find folks in the charity world that can see past the color of my skin long enough to realize what I created is a “paradigm shift.”
just mouse over things to see an onscreen explanation… FOCUS ON THE RECIPIENT SIDE FIRST.
Almost forgot I have an official letter of recommendation and endorsement from the Executive Director of the Craigslist Foundation, if anyone wants to see it… just let me know…
I agree that it’s a big problem. I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for about 8 years. But I also think hiring men is a problem as well, especially in the area of fundraising. I worked for one foster care agency that employed 26 people: 23 were women. One of the men was a part-time janitor. I had a similar experience with another foster care agency.
You state the following: “Why is it that the people who have relevant experiences of struggle and challenge within communities of color are not usually the ones who emerge as nonprofit leaders to address these issues? Aren’t these the ideal leaders that would know how best to solve these social problems? And if so, why doesn’t philanthropy care enough about real social change to begin recruiting more people of color for leadership positions?”
Your arguement is seriously flawed. Based on your assumptions a surgeon without brain cancer could not really treat his or her patients and someone who has never been traumatized could never counsel
a victim of a traumatic expereince. Effective leadership has nothing to do with color. HOwever I do agree that non-profit leadership should be diverse.
In the community that I work in we do get the perspective of the community by holding on-going focus groups. Color alone in leadershiop does not guarentee anything let alone that the leader will implement change based upon their race.
Your assumption also assumes that people of color want to help in bringing about change. I am a white executive director and I work for an inner city non-profit. I have tried over and over again to partner with leaders from the black community. In five years I have not gotten a single positive response.
You write: Who will be tasked to educate the 86 percent of White nonprofit board members so they see racial diversity as a critical issue for them to address? How do you know that Board are ot already raising this issue. It makes an assumption that cannot be justified. How do you know that white Board do not see this as an issue. Number alone prove nothing as case in point below demonstrates.
As a white ED I have taken it upon myself to rasie the issue but thankfully my Board has always been aware of the need to have a racially diverse Board. Sad reality is that despite our best efforts to recruit for a diverse Board we have had little success. The black community is not responding.
You cite Pablo understanding of leadership as if his model and understanding are truth. A truly good leader can lead whether they have faced the challenge or not. Just to aslo be clear that while I may have never had to face racism I have had to face discrimination based on economic status-not every white personn comes from the silver spoon side of the track. We all have had to struggle with something and that serves a common ground to unite and come together.
You write: If we are, in fact, buying into the idea that a White leadership pool is more desirable than one that is racially diverse, are we really getting anywhere with our goals of solving the kinds of problems that could benefit from leaders with first-hand knowledge of the issues?
Can you cite for me a single article on leadership that states an effective leaders ability to lead is based on color? Please also cite for me your research that supprots your idea that in the non-profit sector white leadership is prefered to black leadership. You make all sorts of unfounded assumptions.
Of course you can’t cite anything ecause nothing exists. You seem to lack real understanding of what leadership really is. It comes from the person and not their color. Period.
Again you write: The nonprofit sector needs to recognize that people of color are often still seen as takers of handouts and charity instead of as empowered and valuable citizens, and having White leaders of philanthropic organizations only reinforces this notion and does more harm than good.
Can you cite some article to support your arguement? At my agency people are not seen as takers but as individuals who need access to the basic necessities of life if they are to preserve their dignity. I take offense at the fact that you can state that white leaders only serve to reinforce the notion that people of color are just users of the system. That statment is very derogatory and you can bet that if a white person made it they would be called a racist.
To conclude I am deeply disturbed by the post and along with the flawed logic that it contains. It would have been a better post if some unsubstantiated assumptions had not been made.
You’ve clearly struck a nerve and sparked a passionate conversation.
Let me offer a few suggestions to add to the usefulness of your questions:
Instead of asking “why leadership hasn’t kept pace with demographics,” ask if we’re moving in the right direction and what contributes to success;
Rather than put the work of ‘meaningful conversations about the importance of racial diversity’ on the 86%, please include everyone in that conversation.
Thanks.
Rosetta,
One challenge with your piece is the title. Perhaps you were attempting to generate shock value? I would imagine that plenty of foundation and non-profit program officers would be appalled by the assertion that “philanthropy doesn’t care about black people” considering they’re not only dedicating their professional lives but also significant portions of their operating budgets to the promotion of social justice through programs offering educational opportunities, workforce development training, child care, etc. to African-American clients. Call me crazy, but I think they “care.” Whether or not whites are the most appropriate and effective leaders can and should be debated, but to claim they don’t care is short-sighted.
I agree with your point that the composition of staff and non-profit boards should ideally reflect that of the population served. I just take issue with the title of your piece. It did, however, prompt my post - which perhaps was the point of such an offensive statement after all. Either way, I applaud the fact that you took a stand to promote dialogue.
Alicia
Thank you to all who have commented so far on this blog. Much of my own thinking has been greatly enriched by the discussion happening here. The most helpful pieces for me in this discussion have been the comments about the intersection of race and class within nonprofit leadership. I also appreciate comments from White leaders like Layli and Ron who feel strongly about this and are taking steps within their own organizations to promote racial diversity. Much of the piece does contain “unfounded assumptions”, but I think that’s always a catalyst to how we get to figuring out where the “meat” of the problem really lies - with input from a wide range of perspectives.
Trying to answer many questions raised here about my perspective on the issues…I did in fact put the post together with the deliberate purpose of putting issues of race out there in a more forceful way than we have been doing. For instance, the title and photo were very deliberate and my hope was that at least it would get some people to think a little deeper about diversity whether they agree with me or not. I was actually unsure that SSIR would even post it, but I’m glad the Opinion Blog is committed to providing an important and relevant forum for discussion on topics that matter to the nonprofit sector.
To be able to spur widespread change and collective effort, I think it takes many smart people thinking and writing and speaking out and taking action on a particular issue, and I think diversity is one of them.
Disclosure. I’m a white woman. Life-long city resident. Saw *white-flight* and *Gold Stars* as a young girl in the 1960’s. Second generation European-American.
Let’s call diversity diversity.
Let’s talk about race and racism.
I’ve volunteered in nonprofits since I was a teenager, worked for local governments and sit on a nonprofit board. In my opinion racism is prevalent. No one talks about it.
I’m looking to move away from working with nonprofits and put my energy into my block. Why? We talk about race. We don’t want handouts. I’m not sure we feel good about *hand-ups*. We want our phone calls returned. We want folks to listen to us. We want ideas not *pat answers* and *jargon phrases* trotted out in response to what nonprofit leaders think we are saying.
On my block we have succesfully pressured drug dealers, petty and trying to *move up the corporate ladder* to move away from our block. We have porch furniture and nice flower pots. We do not worrry about stuf fgetting stolen. We want someplace to send our young kids. We want some men to step up and talk to the drug dealer *wanna-be’s*. We want to learn how to do better at keeping our block strong.
We argree these are not white or black values. In a flash of insight at this moment I’m calling our values *human values* like human rights from now on.
If you feel uncomfortable about this comment. Good. It’s not nice what I’m talking about. I’m uncomfortable and working hard to stay the right side of mean and angry. Talk about what makes you uncomfortable. We all have a lot to learn.
Yes, Rosetta’s ideas are poorly conceived and hackneyed. She claims that people cannot discuss race. Yet, race has been endlessly discussed the past 30 years. The big issue of the 21st century is class, not race. Race is an element in class determination but a diminishing one. We cannot allow reverse racialized thinking to replace the hard work we need to do developing leaders, from whatever race, to better serve our communities. Upper income blacks have little in common with lower-income blacks. Bill Cosby stumbled into that when we he criticized low-income blacks for their dysfunctional families, culture and behavior as contributing factors in their problems. Obama is called “not black enough” because he has more in common with upper-income blacks and Latinos, etc. Race as the key item of social anaysis is gone. Class has replaced it, Rosetta. You need to move on and catch up with where the field is today.
I greatly appreciate your thoughts on the need to focus our attention equally, if not more, on class instead of race. It’s not a piece that I’ve thought about as deeply, so thank you for sharing an opposing viewpoint for others to learn from. Your sentiment that “Upper income blacks have little in common with lower-income blacks” really strikes a chord with me because I do realize that my experience is not the same as the experience of every Black person in America. Just to get a little too personal, I come from a low-income, single-parent family where I was the first person to graduate from college. I grew up in public housing projects watching drug dealers on my block as a young girl and knew something wasn’t right. I also understand that many people of lower-class backgrounds (of color or otherwise) don’t often have the opportunities (as I did) to attend college and make a good living for themselves. What I don’t agree with, however, is that an upper-class person of color doesn’t face some of the same challenges as a lower-income person of color. Racism is felt across class lines, but your point is very well made.
No matter what direction the “field” is going into now, I feel it’s important to keep discussions of race at the table as well as ones of class and other diversity issues the nonprofit sector faces.
I am an upper class black woman, 23 years old, and a Columbia University graduate. My parents were both surgeons. Did we face racism and challenges. Not that I was aware of at any point in my life. No doubt, Rosetta, you did. But class, for the most part, trumps race. OJ Simpson will tell you that.
I so deplore ad hominem evaluations of people’s race and ethnicity as a qualifying factor in what they say. I prefer Aristotle’s faith that the quality of the argument, its empirical content and its logical rigor, that justifies acceptance or rejection of a proposition. Racialized thinking perpetuates victimology and delays facing the real problem of income and class in America. I respect you rosetta and your struggle to rise in life. I am black, faced no racism and did not have to struggle to get ahead while my low-income white friends, to the extent that i had any, struggled and many failed. Race plays a role in class determination but a greatly diminished role.
A good white leader can understand the needs of blacks as well as any black man or woman can. I think the assumptions of race identity theory are dysfunctional. An upper income black such as myself does not possess superior understanding of the needs of black communtiies at all. I share little in common with the low income communities I serve and rely heavily on voices from those communities to survive in my work. I resonate with Bill Gates, not “my people.” My set of learned behaviors in Exeter and Columbia had little to so with race and everything to do with behavior sets that allowed me to assume and retain my social and economic superiority to poor white, latinos and blacks. Am I black…yes, I am. But one who thinks like my social class.
Sadly enough your education and upbringing has unfortunately blinded you to the true struggle of other people in this country that look like you. You can believe this class distinction garbage for as long you are in
academia, but when you get into the real world of money, employment, and housing I am sure you will eventually join the ‘Rosetta Club.’
Travel to any all white areas of this country such as Wisconsin, Maine, Kentucky, even parts of New York… and something that you will quickly realize is that the people who intend to do you physical harm really do not care about your “class.” If I remember correctly there was noose hung on Columbia’s campus as well… my best advice for you is never forget.
They kill “rich niggers” too.
I am sure your select group of friends have been very politically correct and nice to you. But when the whites that you don’t know personally… turn you down for jobs, pull your car over to search drugs, or even do you physical/mental harm…. I am sure that you will go running to the Black Community for help… just like OJ.
I can honestly say that my best friends at this point in my life are White, but they can see past my skin and understand my logic. We do not agree on all issues and I do not have to change my cultural norms of speaking, the music I listen to, or my opinions given my upbringing to be friends with them… the key to our friendship is that we know and acknowledge the difference between…
Unity and Assimilation.
While you had no choice as to where and how your parents raised you, for you to deny the continuous issue of race in this country is to do millions of people who look like you and will one day come to your aid, a tremendous disservice.
Your single point of view, from a unique life experience while valuable as any life is valuable should not be held as a norm of American equality in living standards for Blacks.
I have another challenge for any of you reading this blog…. turn off your tv and read a book. Not just any book… but the U.S. Statistical Abstract available at any public library.
look at the numbers in that book about the different racial experiences in America and honestly tell me that racism doesn’t exist anymore. Do any of you know that the standard of living for 95% of Black America has gone DOWN not UP since the inception of Affirmative Action 50+ years ago? White women have been the overwhelming benefactors of Affirmative Action…so why are only cases of Black & White issues of Affirmative Action in our courts? Yes, the the top 5% of Black America got richer as we can see from Alice’s existence…. but what happens to everyone else?
I know your tv’s project a different image of America, but whatever happened to the value of statistical analysis? Its really frightening to see how propaganda can effectively cover statistical fact within human logic.
Look at the disproportionate way in which poverty affects the Black Community…. Alice should you one day marry and have a male child…. you should remember the statistics in that book and calculate the probability of him actually living long enough to reach college.
I do not hold you responsible for your lack of knowledge of the plight of those that look like you. Your blindness was given to intentionally. I simply challenge you to read all the statistical facts on the topic before you ever repeat that class is more important.
The website I have created operates independently of race. No one can search for a poor child based on race at all, because yes… white, black, brown, or asian… being hungry sucks. However, at the same time denying the existence of racism in the modern world as many whites do only serves to marginalize minority communities. The 20 year old’s in the black & white video of the Civil Rights Movements screaming “Nigger this, Nigger that” didn’t evaporate because tv became colorized. They are in their 60’s and 70’s now, running companies and have more power now.
As a declared pacifist, it truly frightens and astonishes me to see how close this country is to race riots and how the majority of white community does even realize it. Protests and marches are forming all over the country, yet the majority of the white community seems to think that there is no need to directly address the issues at hand.
In the development of my anti poverty program.. I call for outright unity… again the scary part is that no one is listening…. on any side.
I have the only viable solution to ease tensions… Its called subsistence aka social welfare. We live in an imperfect world, marginalization and discrimination, while bad enough should never be allowed to result in the death of a community as it currently is for Blacks.
Your rhetoric vis a vis race issues is as confusing as your site. I’m sure both are well meant, but neither serve you or the public well. If people don’t like your site, it’s not because of your skin color. It’s because it doesn’t work well or explain itself well. Want a good example of a site that is set up well? Go to Kiva.org.
Hope you succeed with your site and your dream. You’ll get there better faster if you get over the “people hate black people” thing. I’ve seen racism in the US, Europe, Asia and in Africa. White on black, black on arab, asian on white, german on turk, french on bulgarian… just to name a few. And I’ve seen members of the ‘hated’ rise above it and do great things. Complaining and blaming isn’t what get’s them on top. It’s the work.
before I begin another day, I will make things simple for you to understand…
With regards to race, if you treat or anyone else treats me fairly black, white, asian, brown, or -green-... I will treat you fairly…
However, if you are treating me in a prejudicial way or unfairly, I do have the right to tell you… hiding or ignoring prejudicial treatment does no one any good… that is how tensions rise and boil over.
Man throws dog off balcony during a heated argument he is sentenced to jail for 3 years.
5 policemen beat a restrained black teenager to death on video and no one is held responsible.
There’s simply a problem there.
With regards to my site… I welcome any detailed feedback from a user view that you can provide, “worker harder” and “explain itself well”.... don’t really provide much to go on in terms of constructive criticism.
Rosetta
I think you made a very relevant post. However I have a few comments. This thing called diversity is an issue in the nonprofit, for profit, and governmental leadership roles. It is our comfort level. I have worked for the state, the military, corporate America and I may have a somewhat jaded perspective. I have sat in many meetings when an artificial of diversity success, such as a percent makes people feel comfortable. The dialoge is really a briefing a push down of information not an actual working group comfortable with making change. I know because often times I have been one of a few at that meeting. Funders feel comfortable when they look around the room and see people like them at the decision making table. They do not seem willing to go outside of their comfort zone unless they percieve that there is a problem. The nonprofit sector is exploding in Organizing Black America an Encyclopedia of African American Associtions there are over 700 pages of information that shows that African Americans have been involved in philantropy for a long period of time. If we study history we can look at the origins in Africa and the West Indies. The problem is society acts like we are new to this process and just like they erroneously have the audacity to say often that Africans are “not ready” or “articulate” and African Americans sometimes buy into this way of thinking and describing it is really just holding back achievement.
One person stated that there is a distinct difference between low income African Americans and wealthy African Americans. After travelling amongs some circles I watn to say that there is not much of a difference except one has and has not. I think people have the basic same survival instincts.
That means that we need to really understand what challenges are in the community from both aspects. How do we educate everyone on the importance about being in the game as players and teammates. Would foundations be better grantmakers if they understood the challenges that nonprofit organizations face. Especially in communities of color where the founder may see the need but also has to work their full time job. Can funders provide better support services that help grow new organizations.
People make things happen. People have to look around the table, whichever table they have and say something is not right here. Once they make that realization then they have to act. The rhetoric has been going on for years. Let’s do something now.
Rosetta
Thank you for your much need post. I definitely think you made a very relevant post. However I have a few comments. This thing called diversity is an issue in the nonprofit, for profit, and governmental leadership roles. It is our comfort level. I have worked for the state, the military, corporate America and I may have a somewhat jaded perspective. I have sat in many meetings when an artificial measure of diversity equates to levels of success, such as a percent i.e. 6% of Air Force officer are African American makes people feel comfortable. My question is why is 6% acceptable? What is the percentage of African Americans/Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans in philanthropy an acceptable number? The dialogue is really a briefing a push down of information not an actual working group comfortable with making change. I know because often times I have been one of a few at that meeting. Funders feel comfortable when they look around the room and see people like them at the decision making table. I think that organizations of color feel the same after being neglected for some time. They do not seem willing to go outside of their comfort zone unless they perceive that there is a problem. The nonprofit sector is exploding> In Organizing Black America an Encyclopedia of African American Associations there are over 700 pages of information that shows that African Americans have been involved in philanthropy for a long period of time. If we study history we can look at the origins of philanthropy in Africa and the West Indies. The problem is society acts like we are new to this process and just like they erroneously have the audacity to say often that African-Americans are “not ready” or “articulate” and African Americans sometimes buy into this way of thinking and describing it is really just holding back achievement.
One person stated that there is a distinct difference between low income African Americans and wealthy African Americans. After traveling amongst some circles I want to say that there is not much of a difference except one has and has not. I think people have the basic same survival instincts. The challenges in the African-American community is part of a negative conditioning that I wish would not be heaped upon us.
That means that we need to really understand what challenges are in the community from both aspects. How do we educate everyone on the importance about being in the game as players and teammates? Would foundations be better grant makers if they understood the challenges that nonprofit organizations face? Do funders consider the additional issues especially in communities of color where the founder of the nonprofit may see the need but also has to work their full time job. Can funders provide better support services that help grow new organizations?
People make things happen. People have to look around the table, whichever table they have and say something is not right here. Once they make that realization then they have to act. The rhetoric has been going on for years. Let’s do something now.
Rado is very perceptive. And as for the problematic and antiquated Daryl, let me tell you that I never claimed race was not a viable way to analyse communties. I said it was a diminishing factor in explaining and predicting social outcomes. And, yes I do work for a community-based non-profit serving the homeless. No, I do not run to black organizations to save me from the mythical noose. The event at Columbia University was a joke and at least one black was involved with the bad joke. He meant it as a post-modern ironic comment on “the noose.”
I clearly indicated my parents wealth in New Canaan, CT was not common for blacks-or for whites. My first memories of white people was that they were yardmen and house servants. Many upper class blacks had the same experience and found low-income whites as dysfunctional with respect to education, hard work and advance as poor Latinos or blacks.
But apart from my circumstances, the fact is that blacks are enjoying unprecedented levels of emergence in the middle class. Foundations are swelling with their number and, as i said, many of them worry they have little in common with the poor whites and blacks they serve. Good white leaders can “understand” low income Americans as poorly or as well as the average middle or upper income black.
I deplore victimolgy and find Rosetta’s points badly dated. Her approach would be novel in 1975 or 1985. Not today. Most blacks I know want to move beyond race-based affirmitive action and favor massive investment and action to assist the poor, no matter their race. Daryl..your pandering to the past is frightening and dysfunctional. We need to attack the roots of poverty and do it in a comprehensive and thoughtful way. Nothing diminishes racism faster than the end of poverty.
Many low-income blacks are slowly relaizing their complicty in their circumstances. But not enough as they are repeaddly told someone “did it” to them. I choose to empower low-income people of whatever race to work in their own communtiies to change the sets of assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors which retard economic advance. No one can hand justice to low-income groups. They must take it.
I do agree that upper class blacks often sound like their upper class peers in the latino and white communities. Poor Obama. He is blamed for being too white just because he shares many of these beliefs, assumptions and behaviors.
“Just to be real, people are really only interested in their interests, meaning that if you are a woman, you’re probably more likely to be motivated to take action on women’s issues than a man would be. Since I am Black, I care more about issues of race being resolved than the “larger” inclusiveness conversation. “
But aren’t you a woman as well?
This is a great discussion and everyone brings up some excellent points. Part of this discussion does need to involve class and how it has become the great divider. And yes, Alice is right that being a person of color doesn’t necessarily mean that you understand the plight of disadvantaged people. But yes, Daryl is right because race will always matter and disparities still exist because of it.
Overall, I think we can all agree that nonprofits have some work to do in addressing it’s leadership. I applaud Rosetta for keeping the dialogue going.
Thanks Marilyn..you are a consensus builder. Race will always matter but never as much as class. That is the challenge of the 21st century and we still lack an adequate vocabulary and set of methods to deal with that. Affirmative action in its old guise served to advance white women and the black middle class. But it has done nothing for the growing number of poor of whatever race. In fact, affimative action was always a sham to divide races along lines of who got what. It was a clever trick…dividing the races and focing them to battle for crumbs while the rich walked off with the real spoils. I am afraid darryl got duped. And being duped is painful.
As an entrepreneur, I will say that a core ability to spot trends in the behavior of markets and individuals is essential.
As a leader, the ability to spot trends can some time be used as a teaching tool.
I have watched this blog since my last entry to see if anyone else could spot the pattern of this debate on race.
After reviewing the entries on this blog, there is something very simple that you will all notice that I have already pointed out…
While Rosetta and I have broached this topic of race in philanthropy and society on a statistical basis of analysis, no one has provided a single refuting statistical fact to justify their position or provided a viable solution to overcoming issues of race beyond common clichés found in the popular white majority media.
In this blog we have witnessed Alice move from Rado to Marilyn in attempt to build support for views and evidence of her emotional attachment to this debate is reflected in her illogical attacks on me and conflicting rebuttals.
This exactly the behavior that constitutes and is meant by the phrase, “the marginalization of minority issues…”
Rosetta and I are not attacking whites or saying anyone is evil… we are merely repeating statistical facts that reflect a problem that need to be openly discussed.
The challenge that faces modern day White America is developing the ability and collective willingness to admit that there is actually still a problem of race in this country. Then having the willingness to listen to issues, formulate a plan, and act upon resolving the problem. Racism is America’s alcohol and denial of the problem is counterproductive in establishing a united and just society.
The fact that this blog could be considered a valid debate is actually disheartening. A valid debate occurs when competing entities compare, contrast, and interpret bodies of data.
Would any of us participate in a blog on astrophysical theory, if we hadn’t the training, reading, evidence, or legitimate platform from which to make our observational points?
So, why is this behavior readily accepted when discussions of race take place?
Alice… ‘sister’ as I should call you because we do share a common heritage, history, and culture that you should learn more about… Sorry to be the one to hold a mirror up for you to see yourself… but when you, Rado, or anyone else enters any intellectual debate, especially one as sensitive as race, and you choose to make blanket comments devoid of statistical evidence, then you should always prepare yourself to be met with a strong response from those that more informed on the topic than you are.
To quote my sister Alice,
“I do agree that upper class blacks often sound like their upper class peers in the latino and white communities.”
Now to quote dictionary.com sociology definition of ‘assimilation:’
“ the merging of cultural traits from previously distinct cultural groups, not involving biological amalgamation. ” sound familiar?
Again does anybody get that there is a difference between true diversity (mutual respect for each other’s cultural differences) and assimilation / marginalization?
I bring up this point because all too often the defense commonly held by whites is that I have a Black friend. Do you really have black friend? Or do you have someone that by birth and circumstance has spent a lifetime attempting to fit in and be accepted by a racial group that is not their own?
We can not excuse incidents such as the various noose (plural) that have been hung in different areas of this country simply because an assimilated person of color was involved. That undermines the seriousness of the tragic events that are taking place across this country.
So Darryl flees the debate and hides behind his selective data? Very sad but all too predictable really. Again, I never said race and racism were not relevant tools of analysis. I simply said that class trumps race in most instances and will do so more and more as the century proceeds.
I am not an assimilated black woman. I am a product of an upper class education. Most whites are not upper class. Most whites are poor or middle class. I assimilated, if that is what i did, to my class..not to a race. This is where Darryl is stubbornly blind.
Also, I never excused any noose incident at Columbia University or anywhere. I simply noted that the Columbia incident was a horribly inept post-modern attempt to be humorous about the iconic noose. At least one middle class black was behind it.
Darryl needs to mature intellectually and emotionally and stop holding on to the errors of his ways. Affirmitive action has done little or nothing for poor blacks, whites or latinos but a great deal for darryl. I want, and many blacks i work with want, a much more comprehensive program to attack poverty regardless of race. Racism will nto be eroded unless we attack poverty in our society. That is the challenge of our new century. Race is still a factor…just less of one than ever before.
We need new vision and risk taking programs and thought. BNot the same old hackneyed and flawed reliance on racis,m to explain everything. Part of the problem is thta there is ltitle honesty in non-profits where race and class are involved. Lets break the barrier!
Thanks for the long post Darryl. I am at the Ford Foundation and volunteer for an interracial homeless shelter. Please call me about PDO. I think you are more on my side than I thought.
Lets all end poverty and wave goodbye to racism and phony affirmative action.
My take on devising some semblance of an action plan to mitigate the disparity racially diverse leadership in nonprofit organizations is to take a holistic approach and address other challenges that exist disproportionately in low-income and underserved communities (i.e. schools, healthcare, affordable housing, etc.) Because as soon as these families and individuals can empower their personal situations, they will have the time and resources to volunteer their skills, time and expertise and finally enter into leadership positions.
What a fabulous way to add some spice to a delicious day on one of my favorite Mexican beaches. Many thanks for all who have helped prepare what I can only compare to a good Mole. Tambien tengo que decir a todos que es posible que no puedo seguir con la conversacion por no tener aceso reguar al internet, pero voy a tratar hacerlo.
Some have referenced wanting to learn more from where things are working when it comes to race and class. I can think of many organizations in the US that would be a good place to start and I’m sure there is a good model in any major US city if we look around, perhaps in small cities too. I like focusing on what’s working as a way to move forward, while not ignoring the ugly realities of what’s not working. I’ve spent the past week with a team of Cuban psychologists and sociologists that I’ve been working with for the past 5 years. As Michael Moore did so well in his movie Sicko, we can also turn to more macro models like Cuba for learnings around race and class advancements (though things are not perfect there either).
My main addition to this Mole, is to ask again for examples (small or big) of what’s working well that we can learn something from. Maybe it is a non-profit in Atlanta, maybe it’s a health system in another country.
The book Silent Racism, How Well-Meaning White People Perpetuate the Racial Divide, by Barbara Trepagnier, describes how institutional racism is supported by liberal white people (like me) who believe they are non-racist. Passivity, she says, allows racist attitudes to continue. Being anti-racist means speaking up and pointing out racism in others and ourselves. She says forming cross-racial friendships where race can be and is discussed, not ignored, and reading works by Black authors, help in the process. I believe nonprofits should embrace this anti-racist practice and attitude. We nonprofit leaders have a responsibility, I think, to work to end racism, as an issue of justice and equity. Two ways to assist the process have been mentioned. Several comments have reflected the need to look hard at our hiring practices - are we demanding more from non-white applicants? And others have pointed out the need to expand our boards with members of non-white communities we serve; this will help us form friendships across racial lines.
Catherine is right. I do think it wise for foundation and other non-profit boards to include people of diverse views, opinions, experiences and class. Too many organizations choose middle or upper class “minorites” to represent their race and that is counter-productive.
Yes, Africans like me have been involved with philanthropy for centuries. But we are, for a host of reasons, relatively new to the world of organized, institutionalized philanthropy. That is changing as we are flooding in as new staff at foundations across the country.
I just hope that our field can move beyond race, end the phony fingerpointing and self-deprecation, and move to ameliorate and eventually cure economic inequality. It is remarkable how fast racism disappears when equality increases.
And yes, African-Americans and all of us need to take more responsibility for our actions. Blacks who dwell on past racism are too quick to blame others and too slow to make the necessary changes to move up the social latter. Those who dwell on past racism are slowing the necessary change. I find that immoral frankly.
Let us get on with the 21st century agenda: end class differences, ensure class representation, make affirmative action race-blind, and blame ourselves when that is where the blame lies. Mainly, let us dump the racism crutch and move on.
By the way, so-called affirmative action was a joke. It allowed the rich to run off with the real riches while middle classes were left battling for the crumbs off the table. Great trick!
I just found this post today and I felt that I had to write to say thank you. Thank you for your brilliant mind but more importantly, thank you for your courage. There is no one more viscously attacked than a successful black person who is not on board with the “race message”. I offer Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby, Condolesa Rice, and Janice Rogers Brown as just a few examples. They were viciously attacked personally by white liberals as well black “leaders”. Three of them are conservatives (although they weren’t always conservative), but they weren’t attacked for their ideology they were attacked personally because they were black and they dared to oppose affirmative action or to point out that poor blacks could have a greater impact on their own lives. Names like “Uncle Tom” and “token porch _____” (I won’t repeat that word here) were just a few of the incredibly hateful things said about them.
You give me hope in the future of our country. In my opinion, our country will not survive unless we can mobilize a greater percent of our population to believe in the power of hard work, education, community, and the inherent goodness of our country. Dependency will be the death of us. Self-reliance can be our salvation. Voices like yours will lead us toward self-reliance.
Thanks Charlie. Yes, you are so right. When I call for a need-based, race-blind affirmative action I am cursed by middle class blacks (sisters and brothers0 who think thta I am advocating for them to get less in a rigged game they have come to depend on.
Rosetta is a cliche but our field is still victimized by her insistence in the face of growing evidence that blacks are victims and are helpless to change their ciccumstances. I especially deplore her vapid insistence that one has to be black to relate to the black lower class. One’s ideas should never be race-bound but allowed to float free of race and allowed to stand or fall on the strength and integrity of the idea itself.
Yes, i realize being upper class has freed me from the black middle class insistence that they need race-based afiirmative action to correct past wrongs. There are many past wrongs but affirmative action as we know it today is not the way to deal with it. Truth is, too many middle class black foundation staff do not udnerstand the lower class backs they purport to help, In fact, they are deeply resented by the lower class, whatever their race. Let us end racialized reasoning and move beyond and cure the ills of our increasingly polarized country. Darryl has now admitted he was wrong. I hope others will do so and allow our field to better serve all races.
I am late to this discussion, however, I found it very stimulating and hopeful. Philanthropy is such a tough field in and of its self. I recently read Narcissism and Philanthropy: Ideas and Talent Denied by Gerald Freund. Self-Examination is hard personally let alone a field which has formal and informal habits. Now race, equity and inclusion, Whew ! Recently, I watched an episode of Bill Moyers Journal discussing the Cross and the Hanging Noose(http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/profile.html) with Professor James Cone. A conversation around Race must start with the acknowledgement from America that we are not innocent. Self Examination is fraught with pitfalls but a necessary step to begin healing, discuss remedies, and chart new courses of action. This would bode well in all civic life which of course, includes Philanthropy.
Guess who…. thanks to those of you that have reached out me via email. Fan mail is definitely a cool thing. I’ve been a busy boy, but have no worries… I will write another post in coming days…
i cannot help but think that your article should have read “why are blacks not interested in philanthropy.” perhaps the comment on socio-economic background of blacks is correct, that is, traditionally, we do not have it and to entertain a job where you do not make that much money is quite silly.
but i have found that poor whites are very much engaged in philanthrophy and non-profit work.
i am of african descent and started a non-profit, the liwalo na liwe fdn, with the purpose of not only bringing attention to the problems of street children in iringa, tanzania but to have blacks participate in the organization and contribute to africa in a more qualitative way.
in my travels to africa, i have found that africans idealize white folk and i could not understand why until my recent trip to tanzania where it hit me: all africans see are white folk helping them. i make a commentary on this in my film, “watoto wa mitaani” which i solicited “my people” to produce but that sense of urgency was not there. so one of my former students, a white guy, jumped on board and we did the damn thing.
i am a garveyite; people in tanzania knew me as the black guy from america who does not talk to wazungu (white people). if i were to return to tanzania at this moment, the people would be shocked as all of my board members are white and indian. they seem to understand the sense of urgency. believe you me i try as hard as i possible can to engage black people in what i am doing. one colleague, non-black, has told me to give up trying to get black folks interested in africa, “black americans do not care about africa,” she explained.
i am not saying blacks do not assist, but it is not in the numbers like whites. i am convinced that we seem to be more concerned about money than providing human service which is interesting in light of how we have been educated to be socially responsible.
i know that the powers that be are cunning and they can furtively avoid dealing with race, but there comes a time when we have to question the implications of our materialism. we have to start forming and supporting our own organizations and save our communities ourselves. the reason why we are in the same mess is because those in charge do not appreciate our experiences….
Thanks darryl..how do I email you? Michael…that is a very sensitive remark and you are brave to make it. I am an upper-class Columbia University African-American in philanthropy. There are many reasons blacks have been slow to embrace philanthropic positions. Yes, race may have once played a role. I do not think it does today. Black women and men are flooding into foundations and other non-profit work. We are everywhere.
As an upper class black female, I have a difficult time udnerstanding the behavior and even language of the underclass. I have no special insights that white upper class officers do not have. Obama speaks my language and I will vote for him. I also do not udnerstand the behavior or the white underclass. They are far more numerous than members of the black underclass of course. I find middle class whites odd as well. We need to be wary of the identity theory that claims all blacks, desoite social class, all act and see the world in the same way. It just is not so.
Anyway, all of my people need to take responsibility for their behavior and their fmailies. Whites may be to blame for much of our malaise but not for most of it. Not anymore anyway.
Thanks for the emails. I appreciate the letters and thoughts folks have shared. Also, to show my appreciation I will let all of you on this blog know first: I am starting a video blog to answer everyone’s questions about PDO. I have already embedded videos in my website (also available on youtube).
Now, for the slaughter… ;- )
American Heritage Dictionary
sta•tis•tic (stə-tĭs’tĭk) Pronunciation Key
n.
1. A numerical datum.
2. A numerical value, such as standard deviation or mean, that characterizes the sample or population from which it was derived.
Charlie / Sis Alice
The above is the definition of a “statistic.” I highly recommend that both of you turn-off he Fox News channel and well read a book containing “statistics.”
Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby, Condolesa Rice, Janice Rogers Brown, and Sister Alice are all included in the top 5% of African American population, previously I mentioned that since the institution of Affirmative Action that the standard of living of African Americans has gone down, not up over the past 50+ years. Therefore there should be no surprise in the reaction of the African-American middle & lower classes to the aforementioned persons being held up as aggregate examples false progress in American race relations.
Statistics do help predict behaviors & trends…
Remember my prior warnings about the current state racial stratification being so bad that this country is on the verge of race riots? This article was posted on MSNBC.com following my posting to this blog.
Study: Black pessimism worst since 1980s
Blacks increasingly less certain about racial progress in America http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21775438/
Next, the true reason this blog exist and the reason I am on it is to relate my own experiences in the charity world and bring a real life illustration to problems still plaguing not only the charity world, but also American society as a whole.
Poverty’s Demise .Org is a quite a literally a way to feed millions of children living below the poverty line. I know this and now many well trained and experienced field professionals know this as well because since my original posting I have attained 4 more letters of recommendation (bringing the total to 5 letters). When I am ready I will post all of their logos on my website homepage, but you all already know that Craigslist Foundation has already endorse PDO’s design.
Why is this important? It relates to this blog because when I designed PDO I imagined many scenarios that would take place once my website became public knowledge. The one scenario that I never imagined, but ran into here in NY is as I mentioned… I never imagined that I could show anyone of any race way to feed millions of children and be ignored. I did not imagine the level of racial discrimination involved is simply being granted time introduce PDO to nonprofit experts and authorities that claim to want to help children.
My flatmate a 60+ yrs old white man from Iowa, can not believe the discrimination and ignorance that people are showing and would never have believed this scenario was possible had he not been witness to my adventures first hand. He is MIT alum, Harvard B-school alum… who knows a “little” about technology and business.
Quite literally Dr. Joanna Rubinstein writes an email praising my work to Jeffrey Sachs (one of the best economist on Earth), Jeff Flug, and the rest of Millennium Promise staff, then when I am put through to an unqualified and unprepared staff member, I am labeled “shady black man” and thrown out onto street because my proposal included a request for funding. I am a social entrepreneur trying to build a charity to feed people, I obviously need funding. I have learned from my experiences in the philanthropy world, that very very, few people consider African American males capable of being social entrepreneurs…
Could it be because we live in a country where the racial slur “Token” is openly accepted and used on national tv? Did anyone even notice that I am blogging about a world changing charity, PDO, on the Stanford “Social Innovation” Review?
With another organization that will go unnamed for the time being, I literally sent in a professional introduction of PDO through their submission processes and directly to their supervisor of poverty issues and not unsurprisingly I was ignored. I had my Asian Canadian friend contact the -same exact person- using the same method and he received a friendly response within 30 minutes and was even able to schedule a meeting/presentation.
In the last six months the progress I have made in developing PDO has resulted from me basically ignoring “professional protocol” of meeting requests and preliminary communications that whites in philanthropy use to actively/passively discriminate against me, to me resorting to just walking into offices and demanding someone actually –looks- at my work. Sad, but true.
Even though things have been tough, in recent weeks good people white and black now, have shown themselves and I have been able to continue developing PDO. Sis Alice, this does not include you.
The behavior you have displayed on this blog, the insults you have hurled at good people, your general lack of common statistical knowledge, the pinned up anger you have shown, your lack of tack & professionalism, and general sociopathic identity crisis… as evident in your own writings disturb not only me but the many others that are marveling in this public display of your ignorance.
If you are an example of what I can expect from the Ford Foundation, this is a very easy decision as the Creator, Founder, Executive Director, and leader of PDO…
Sis Alice keep your money, I work with better people.
Oh dear, if my truth and honesty about class trumping race as the key factor in poverty and social pathology offended you Darryl, I am not sorry. Depending on hand outs from government is not healthy. Undertsanding the middle class black is as difficult as the middle class white for me.
I do not speak for the Ford Foundation or any foundation. I am relating the truth which your statistics hide. Many fear truth and have reason to so so.
“I am relating the truth which your statistics hide. Many fear truth and have reason to so so.”
This is what I mean by those scary sociopathic tendencies you are displaying. Re-read every posting you have made in this blog. You speak of truth yet you haven’t offered one statistical fact or reference source to justify any position that you have taken.
You speak of truth, so who’s truth is good enough to meet the requirements of someone with your wealthy position in our society?
In this blog I have cited:
UNICEF
Amnesty International
The National Urban League
MSNBC.com
NEWSWEEK
Do you believe all of these sources are conspiring against you? Sis, honest suggestion, maybe you should consider spending some of your wealth on consulting a mental health professional.
But if you won’t do that, prove us all to be liars and plotters against you by flying to Bagdad and finding those “weapons of mass destruction” for us.
Don’t be mean. Nothing is true because it is mentioned by newsweek. Truth is independent of who vouches for it..or not. That is basic logic. I have stated the truth..boldly and dramatically. That is all this upper class attractive girl can do. Let us build toward a more equitable future and attend to the needs of all in need regardless of race.
I apologize for not putting my name on this post, but I’ve noticed that nobody seems to really disagree with each other on here (a bigger area of exclusion in non-profits - people who don’t think like you). And, I’m afraid that my views would not be welcomed in my office.
I notice that the stats are for people in control of non-profits/philanthropic organizations - not for people working in the field total. There is an educational discrepancy that can head towards explaining that. Just a quick check of National Education Statistics, shows that only 79% of students who achieved a post-graduate degree between 1990 and 2000 were white. At least in the job descriptions I have read, post-secondary education is a strong recommendation for any CEO, Executive Director or other position. Clearly there is a statistical bias in the applicant pool to begin with.
Also, the premise of the article seems to suggest that since the CEO’s are predominantly white, the organization and staff reflect this statistic. I would guess this incorrect. That is a false conclusion. Just a quick sample of my office is over 60% African American, even though we have *gasp* caucasians in every director position!
It’s also a mistake to assume that a white board member can’t grasp the concept of racial diversity. Most board members would have a deep understanding of the organizations service mission and clientèle before joining.
This article could contain an interesting discussion, but makes incorrect assumption from unrelated stats.
thanks for the emails. Glad to know folks still read these days. Anyway getting ready for my first major launch of the website… so I will be slightly delayed in answering communications.
Will make another post after my launch is fully complete.
There’s a great story in Boston activist Mel King’s biography of a late-60s United Way Banquet. King and a number of other black leather jacketed Black men filed into the event toward the end and took up stations along the side of the room. Then, midway through dessert, they swept through the room tossing people’s plates of pie into garbage backs, which they emptied onto the stage saying “We don’t want your crumbs.” It’s of an era, but I miss that sort of militancy and still find the story inspiring.
Anyone notice that a certain presidential candidate on Tuesday, just repeated my exact same call for an open discussions on race and other things that I said in this blog months ago…before things get our of control
While he said it in a nice politically acceptable way… he did just repeat a lot of what I have said here…
So maybe, I’m not just another “belligerent black man”... perhaps there are real problems that need to be addressed….
I didn’t design Poverty’s Demise .Org because the world is such a perfect place.
To solve real problems… first the problem has to be acknowledged…
And solutions to those problems… should be allowed to come from anywhere….
Social entrepreneurs of all backgrounds…
Almost ready for launch then you all get to see my speech… via video…
I am working on a Diversity Project by developing a training workshop to assist a couple of non-profit boards to expand their recruitment practices to include cultural minorities. I am doing this pro bono. I also want them to think about how inclusion skills will assist in maintaining the new board members. These comments have been most helpful in preparing thoughts prior to creating the workshop. Does anyone have other related articles that will assist in this endeavor? Please send guidance or referrals asap to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Thanks.
Sounds like a good project. The first thing I can think of is that the board members must understand the benefits of having a diverse board. The idea of just getting a person on the board does not actually add real diversity. When board members are added regardless of if it is for diversity there tends to be a tension as the new person is being checked out to see if they can play with the other board members. It is imperative that group really welcomes the new member, make them part of the team, help bring them up to speed and give them equal responsibility. The members should not be micromanaged or why were they placed on the board. I would also suggest talking with national professional organizations to see what concerns they have. Additionally perhaps have an online focus group/web conference you would probably find some very interesting feedback. You have probably seen a few of these already, but just in case here are some links that may help.
You say people are “buying into” an idea of a white leadership pool. Well you tell us what are the other options? You assume there is another option. Where are our black leaders who volunteer time and money?
You wouldn’t need all of this philanthropic hand outs if you were to instill a sense of individual responsibility in the black community. Black conservative are labeled Uncle Toms and when they or whites talk about family values, it falls on deaf ears in the black and Latino communities. Take a look at Detroit, MI. It has not had a conservative mayor since 1954 and the place is akin to Mogadishu. Who want would want to be there.
You lament that too any white people are in charge of non-profits. If the person or people who created the non-profit are predominately white, do you expect them to just hand over the money to those of color? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you should work to get people of color together and create your own non-profit organization? If I had 50 million dollar pool of money and decided to give it way, I would not put it towards any cause that doesn’t support some type of individual responsibility. We are too dependent on government and hand outs as a country and sooner or later, you will suffer the same fate that all of socialism does, you will run out of other people’s money. You are using good energy to seek a worthless goal. Don’t be jealous and don’t blame anyone for the numbers. It’s the free market that is at work here.
T0 me it makes sense why there are more whites in those positions than blacks. African Americans make up 13% of the United States population. Black males make up around 48% of the African American population. No wonder you don’t see many organizations with over half African American staff. Do you blame this on racism or do you blame it on simple arithmetic? 18 percent black CEOs? That’s a pretty high number considering the low population of blacks generally. 14% African American board members? That sounds about right…Put that into perspective.
COMMENTS
BY Michele Martin
ON October 23, 2007 01:53 PM
Rosetta—a really powerful and important post you’ve written here, especially the point that tying up all kinds of “diversity” into a single package makes it easier to avoid the real issue—the racial disparities—and that there are still problems with seeing people of color as the recipients, rather than as the makers of change. What do you think needs to be done to move things forward in this area? Are there specific steps we could be taking?
BY Rosetta Thurman
ON October 24, 2007 05:14 AM
Thanks for the comment, Michele. You point out that this post is actually more questions than answers! It’s hard to answer the “what do we do” question without first defining the ‘we’. I don’t have high hopes that boardrooms are just going to have “aha moments” at nonprofits all over the country. The ‘we’ that cares about issues of race have been saying this for awhile now….however I think the problem is that the ‘we’ who know this is a problem have not been saying it loud enough. The voice of the few has been relatively quiet and I think it’s largely because we don’t like to talk about race in general in this country. If the ‘we’ that knows race is an issue were to raise our voices when we see things that don’t look right, things may not move forward at lightning speed, but it would force these conversations within our organizations that we are not currently having. I know people who have quit jobs because of the lack of cultural competency or they just got plain tired or being the only, “token” person of color on staff. I say, make some noise about it before you quit. Step 1 for the ‘we’ may be to simply start talking about these issues more and more loudly, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us.
BY MarilynJean
ON October 24, 2007 03:46 PM
Lots of easy questions, but certainly not easy answers. It’s ironic that nonprofits suffer from a lack of diversity when many are in existence to combat social ills like discrimination. However, I don’t think we should be isolating race from the bigger discussion about diversity and inclusion. It leads to divisiveness and does nothing to further a collective progression towards equity.
(It’s funny that you use a picture from blackpeopleloveus to accompany this article. I think the creators behind it addressed the issue of diversity and tokenism in a humorous, yet head-on kind of way.)
BY Rosetta Thurman
ON October 24, 2007 11:03 PM
I’m glad you shared your thoughts here, MarilynJean. I used the photo from blackpeopleloveus for those very reasons. It’s in your face the way it needs to be in the nonprofit sector. The irony you mention is something that does unfortunately gets lost on nonprofits, and I’m really not sure why. One theory I keep thinking of is that as a sector, we think ourselves to be oh so perfect and just and fair compared to the big bad business sector and corrupt government. While that may be true to an extent, the fact that we are “do-gooders” often seems to overshadow the fact that we can always get better at how we go about doing our good.
I think you make a good point about the need or desire for a collective progression towards unity, but quite frankly I feel that there will always be some form of divisiveness when you are working for any kind of social justice. Just look at the feminist movement vs. the Civil Rights movement. Both were important at the same time in history, but it was very hard to get those groups to work together toward common goals. Just to be real, people are really only interested in their interests, meaning that if you are a woman, you’re probably more likely to be motivated to take action on women’s issues than a man would be. Since I am Black, I care more about issues of race being resolved than the “larger” inclusiveness conversation.
BY Jerri
ON October 25, 2007 02:11 PM
Great post. I also like the sense of humor you show in using a photo from the BlackPeopleLoveUs website.
BY Layli Miller-Muro
ON October 25, 2007 02:25 PM
I am struggling horribly with this issue in my organization. I am a white ED and we provide free legal services for immigrant women. I am desperately trying to recruit immigrant lawyers, so that we better reflect our clients. We are failing miserably. People I try to recruit graciously tell me that they need to make $ and cannot afford a non-profit salary. They are sometimes sending money to their home countries or paying off huge student loans. We pay very competitively within the non-profit sector, but that compares poorly to the law firms. We get a lot of ivy-league white women who are fluent in multiple languages, lived as peace corps volunteers in other countries, are smart, culturally-competent, and dedicated. I am proud of the staff we have, but we still need greater diversity in perspective. I really don’t know what to do, so long as we pay 4 times less than law firms (and if we did pay what the law firms pay, it would be considered a misuse of funds). We have done many things internally - diversity training, cultural competency training, specific recruitments, etc. - and, in fact, won an award, in part, for our efforts around diversity. But, in my view, we are still failing on this front. Any ideas are extremely welcome!
BY Jocelyn Harmon
ON October 25, 2007 02:51 PM
Rosetta,
Thanks so much for this post and this important dialogue. I too was dismayed by these stats. :( Do you have a relationship with/know anything about the National Center on Black Philanthropy? I wonder if they can be helpful.
Also, while racial diversity is important, I think diversity along the lines of class is also critical. In my experience, foundations and nonprofits are willing to promote middle and upper class black folks through the ranks. But this doesn’t necessarily change the culture of an org because many of these folks - including myself - don’t have the experiences you mention above to draw on. I agree with you experiencing poverty, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, violence is critical to knowing how to solve it. Life is not a purely intellectual exercise.
Warm regards,
Jocelyn
BY Sandi Smith
ON October 25, 2007 02:55 PM
You are bringing up an issue that I hear repeatedly from organizations seeking to hire more diverse staff. However, I would like to encourage you to examine your recruiting practices and requirements against the actual duties of the position. Generally I find that when organizations are wishing to recruit persons of color they seek the most visible, highly qualified (read usually over qualified) person for the position compared to whites being recruited. I’m sure that there are lawyers at entry level who could enter your organization and do the work but generally organizations like yours won’t hire them. In many cases, the ivy league women you speak of may not be the primary breadwinner in their families and are able to address their desire to give back because they have a second income from, most likely, an ivy league husband.
I encourage organizations to actively seek out leadership organizations that support professionals of color, affinity, social, and friendship groups founded by immigrants and people of color to help them in their recruiting goals.
At one of the recent political debates, the question was raised as to why over 48 percent of black highschool graduates were unemployed compared to 34 percent of white high school dropouts. These kind of statistics speak to recruiting practices that respond to the organization’s comfort level with persons that look like them, and the willingness to take someone with lesser skills rather than work with a qualified person of color.
BY Alice
ON October 25, 2007 03:05 PM
I do not think that this entry advances our understanding of the complexities of diversity, that very misused word. We have spoken endlessly about race and identity theory for the past 30 years. Yes, non-profits such as mine should be more “diverse,” but the diversity i seek is not racial quotas but diversity of experience, talent and ideas. Truth is upper class blacks such as Obama are much more like upper class whites than he is low-income whites or blacks. The racial divisions prolonged by the racial diversity crowd ignores the real lack of representations in all aspects of our society-that of class differences which dominate America.
‘I recently attended a national philanthropy conference in New Mexico. All of my African-American peers remarked how much they were like other white and Latino/Latina middle class staff and how unlike they were the low-income whites, latinos and blacks they served. How sad. Race is no replacement for class representation. The hard work at hand is not to repeat the racial codes of the past but to move forward to include income and class considerations, even to isolate such considerations for preferential treatment.
BY Carl Hammerdorfer
ON October 25, 2007 03:17 PM
As a former Peace Corps volunteer and later as a country director, I saw a lot of angst and introspection within the organization about the difficulties attracting African American volunteers and staff. Happy to say that they’ve made a bit of progress in the last 15 years, but nothing near proportional representation. This, despite a lot of hard work by the recruitment folks.
Frankly I think this is more a reflection of economic inequality in this country than of discrimination on the part of PC or other philanthropic organizations. In fact, joining Peace Corps is s great way to position yourself for work in the international and non-profit worlds. But, people who come from strained economic circumstances, who may be the first in their family to graduate from college, who feel an obligation to succeed in the more traditional sense in order to satisfy family and other social pressure, are less likely to step on the path towards philanthropic careers or to volunteer for Peace Corps, Habitat, Teach for America and other such organizations. As one of our former agency heads, Gaddi Vasquez, was fond of saying: “I would have loved to join Peace Corps. But if I’d have told my parents that I was going to Mali to help the poor, they would have said ‘why don’t you stay here and help your family? Plenty of us are poor.’” (I paraphrase Gaddi here but you get the gist.
I have not seen studies on this, but I suspect that there’s a correlation between a person pursuing philanthropic work and their family’s socio-economic status and history. Obviously there’s also the education factor. When you start looking at these factors, it becomes less surprising that African Americans are underrepresented. It’s merely another symptom of deeper inequalities and other issues.
I’ve worked in the philanthropic world for quite some time and have noticed, if anything, a predisposition to hire and promote people of color. I think that the supply of candidates is fairly small. That said, it would be interesting to see a study of hiring and promotion practices that compares opportunities and impediments for equally qualified candidates. Does anyone know where to look? If not, someone out there ought to make this their thesis project.
Thanks for raising the issue.
BY Yvonne S. Sparks
ON October 25, 2007 03:19 PM
It’s about time!
I’ve been running nonprofits for more that twenty-five years and I cannot count the times that I’ve made this same observation. It’s been a frustrating ride knowing that despite any education, training or expertise I might have—it simply was not good enough to move to the next level in the sector. Believe me, I’ve tried. We used to say that as a black woman you had to work twice as hard to get to the same place. The truth of the matter is you don’t get to that place because you are not wanted, not trusted. You only get there if invited and as the numbers show, those invitations are few and far between.
The state of affairs is as irrational in philanthropy as it is in politics. It is extremely difficult to understand how a group of people who have no possible means of understanding you condition and cultural context in any meaningful way can make policy that can and often does change your life and the lives of those you serve. The scariest thing is is that this goes on with impunity. Legislators and foundation board members alike continue to act paternally without compunction and are offended when it is suggested that they are doing so.
Thank you. Keep writing!
BY Renata Rafferty, Author "Don't Just Give It Away:
ON October 25, 2007 03:54 PM
Rosetta—
I don’t want to pull from your main points regarding the lack of racial diversity in organized philanthropy. But in your post you touched on another issue that deserves attention ... the fact that leadership bodies, e.g. boards, councils, etc., discount and reject the value of engaging in a governance capacity those persons with real-life knowledge of the issues . For example, why do we have to fight to get the board of a nonprofit serving the homeless to actually include people who “have been there” in order to get an insider’s perspective and input in creating solutions?
Part of the answer to both your question and mine lies in the unspoken notion that the best volunteer leaders are those with high visiblity and access to money ... two attributes not likely found among the disadvantaged or disenfranchised. First-hand experience and an informed viewpoint seems to hold little value for most boards (how is that for a sweeping generalization!?), at least when it comes to sharing the power.
Who does the hiring for top positions? The very same persons who populate the governing boards. If they don’t see the value in sharing governance power with life-experienced individuals, how likely is it that they will seek a qualified candidate specifically with life experience in the nonprofit’s area of service?
Thank you for focusing attention on the racism question.
BY Yvonne S. Sparks
ON October 25, 2007 04:14 PM
I believe Carl is right about the pool of willing candidates. Many young people know very little of the nonprofit sector as a career choice. What they do know is often tinged with less than positive images and stereotypes.
Over the last twenty-five years I have mentored several students of color some of whom are making a name for themselves in their local nonprofit markets. In fact, my own personal goal is to touch as many promising young people as possible and provide opportunities for them to get the “fire in the belly” that this work takes.
The question is how do we make the case that being an nonprofit or foundation executive is a realistic goal? For much of the last twenty years we have been competing with private sector opportunities with rewards that few in our sector can duplicate. However, I very encouraged by what I’ve begun to observe among younger generations. They seem to have a need for meaning in their lives and to have a drive to incorporate that meaning into every aspect of their lives.
I believe there is hope. But there is also a need for a movement focused on this critical issue. How we address it now will have an immeasurable impact on the future of our sector.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 25, 2007 04:52 PM
Rosetta…
You are my voice in the dark. My name is Darryl Penrice. I have created the first online charity portal aimed at Recipients of charity. A parent with a child anywhere in North America that is living below the poverty line will be able to go to my website… and print electronic gift certificates that they can use at local stores and service providers to get anything that they would need for their child such as health insurance policies, daycare hours, groceries, rent assistance, utility assistance, and much more.
Quite literally, my website design makes impoverished recipient’s access to social welfare and social empowerment programs as easy as checking email… all they need to do is access the internet to find immediate help with all of their needs.
The disheartening thing is that as the webmaster of my website…. I can readily track visitors and numerous organizations have given me “opinions”, ” advice”, and numerous rejections…. without even taking the time to visit my online prototype and actually ” look ” at my work.
It really frightens me to know that the image of the young black male has been so denigrated by the popular media that I can literally have a model website online that anyone can access and test the functionality of.. that can literally feed millions of children and have it be completely ignored because of something so idiotic as my skin color. I designed the website to operate without race as even a factor…. poor is poor… but when will the charity establishment ignore my race and simply help me turn my prototype into a functional reality?
I challenge any one on this blog to examine the functionality of my prototype and “break” my system. If you none of you can “break” it…. can someone please help me find folks in the charity world that can see past the color of my skin long enough to realize what I created is a “paradigm shift.”
Check it out at:
http://www.povertysdemise.org
just mouse over things to see an onscreen explanation… FOCUS ON THE RECIPIENT SIDE FIRST.
Almost forgot I have an official letter of recommendation and endorsement from the Executive Director of the Craigslist Foundation, if anyone wants to see it… just let me know…
Rosetta thanks for speaking up.
Sincerely,
Darryl
BY Michael Schaefer
ON October 25, 2007 08:44 PM
I agree that it’s a big problem. I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for about 8 years. But I also think hiring men is a problem as well, especially in the area of fundraising. I worked for one foster care agency that employed 26 people: 23 were women. One of the men was a part-time janitor. I had a similar experience with another foster care agency.
BY Ron
ON October 26, 2007 06:53 AM
You state the following: “Why is it that the people who have relevant experiences of struggle and challenge within communities of color are not usually the ones who emerge as nonprofit leaders to address these issues? Aren’t these the ideal leaders that would know how best to solve these social problems? And if so, why doesn’t philanthropy care enough about real social change to begin recruiting more people of color for leadership positions?”
Your arguement is seriously flawed. Based on your assumptions a surgeon without brain cancer could not really treat his or her patients and someone who has never been traumatized could never counsel
a victim of a traumatic expereince. Effective leadership has nothing to do with color. HOwever I do agree that non-profit leadership should be diverse.
In the community that I work in we do get the perspective of the community by holding on-going focus groups. Color alone in leadershiop does not guarentee anything let alone that the leader will implement change based upon their race.
Your assumption also assumes that people of color want to help in bringing about change. I am a white executive director and I work for an inner city non-profit. I have tried over and over again to partner with leaders from the black community. In five years I have not gotten a single positive response.
You write: Who will be tasked to educate the 86 percent of White nonprofit board members so they see racial diversity as a critical issue for them to address? How do you know that Board are ot already raising this issue. It makes an assumption that cannot be justified. How do you know that white Board do not see this as an issue. Number alone prove nothing as case in point below demonstrates.
As a white ED I have taken it upon myself to rasie the issue but thankfully my Board has always been aware of the need to have a racially diverse Board. Sad reality is that despite our best efforts to recruit for a diverse Board we have had little success. The black community is not responding.
You cite Pablo understanding of leadership as if his model and understanding are truth. A truly good leader can lead whether they have faced the challenge or not. Just to aslo be clear that while I may have never had to face racism I have had to face discrimination based on economic status-not every white personn comes from the silver spoon side of the track. We all have had to struggle with something and that serves a common ground to unite and come together.
You write: If we are, in fact, buying into the idea that a White leadership pool is more desirable than one that is racially diverse, are we really getting anywhere with our goals of solving the kinds of problems that could benefit from leaders with first-hand knowledge of the issues?
Can you cite for me a single article on leadership that states an effective leaders ability to lead is based on color? Please also cite for me your research that supprots your idea that in the non-profit sector white leadership is prefered to black leadership. You make all sorts of unfounded assumptions.
Of course you can’t cite anything ecause nothing exists. You seem to lack real understanding of what leadership really is. It comes from the person and not their color. Period.
Again you write: The nonprofit sector needs to recognize that people of color are often still seen as takers of handouts and charity instead of as empowered and valuable citizens, and having White leaders of philanthropic organizations only reinforces this notion and does more harm than good.
Can you cite some article to support your arguement? At my agency people are not seen as takers but as individuals who need access to the basic necessities of life if they are to preserve their dignity. I take offense at the fact that you can state that white leaders only serve to reinforce the notion that people of color are just users of the system. That statment is very derogatory and you can bet that if a white person made it they would be called a racist.
To conclude I am deeply disturbed by the post and along with the flawed logic that it contains. It would have been a better post if some unsubstantiated assumptions had not been made.
BY Kevin Cain
ON October 26, 2007 08:29 AM
You’ve clearly struck a nerve and sparked a passionate conversation.
Let me offer a few suggestions to add to the usefulness of your questions:
Instead of asking “why leadership hasn’t kept pace with demographics,” ask if we’re moving in the right direction and what contributes to success;
Rather than put the work of ‘meaningful conversations about the importance of racial diversity’ on the 86%, please include everyone in that conversation.
Thanks.
BY Alicia Anderson
ON October 26, 2007 08:55 AM
Rosetta,
One challenge with your piece is the title. Perhaps you were attempting to generate shock value? I would imagine that plenty of foundation and non-profit program officers would be appalled by the assertion that “philanthropy doesn’t care about black people” considering they’re not only dedicating their professional lives but also significant portions of their operating budgets to the promotion of social justice through programs offering educational opportunities, workforce development training, child care, etc. to African-American clients. Call me crazy, but I think they “care.” Whether or not whites are the most appropriate and effective leaders can and should be debated, but to claim they don’t care is short-sighted.
I agree with your point that the composition of staff and non-profit boards should ideally reflect that of the population served. I just take issue with the title of your piece. It did, however, prompt my post - which perhaps was the point of such an offensive statement after all. Either way, I applaud the fact that you took a stand to promote dialogue.
Alicia
BY Rosetta Thurman
ON October 26, 2007 09:55 AM
Thank you to all who have commented so far on this blog. Much of my own thinking has been greatly enriched by the discussion happening here. The most helpful pieces for me in this discussion have been the comments about the intersection of race and class within nonprofit leadership. I also appreciate comments from White leaders like Layli and Ron who feel strongly about this and are taking steps within their own organizations to promote racial diversity. Much of the piece does contain “unfounded assumptions”, but I think that’s always a catalyst to how we get to figuring out where the “meat” of the problem really lies - with input from a wide range of perspectives.
Trying to answer many questions raised here about my perspective on the issues…I did in fact put the post together with the deliberate purpose of putting issues of race out there in a more forceful way than we have been doing. For instance, the title and photo were very deliberate and my hope was that at least it would get some people to think a little deeper about diversity whether they agree with me or not. I was actually unsure that SSIR would even post it, but I’m glad the Opinion Blog is committed to providing an important and relevant forum for discussion on topics that matter to the nonprofit sector.
To be able to spur widespread change and collective effort, I think it takes many smart people thinking and writing and speaking out and taking action on a particular issue, and I think diversity is one of them.
BY Catherine Carey
ON October 26, 2007 11:22 AM
Excellent questions and comments.
Disclosure. I’m a white woman. Life-long city resident. Saw *white-flight* and *Gold Stars* as a young girl in the 1960’s. Second generation European-American.
Let’s call diversity diversity.
Let’s talk about race and racism.
I’ve volunteered in nonprofits since I was a teenager, worked for local governments and sit on a nonprofit board. In my opinion racism is prevalent. No one talks about it.
I’m looking to move away from working with nonprofits and put my energy into my block. Why? We talk about race. We don’t want handouts. I’m not sure we feel good about *hand-ups*. We want our phone calls returned. We want folks to listen to us. We want ideas not *pat answers* and *jargon phrases* trotted out in response to what nonprofit leaders think we are saying.
On my block we have succesfully pressured drug dealers, petty and trying to *move up the corporate ladder* to move away from our block. We have porch furniture and nice flower pots. We do not worrry about stuf fgetting stolen. We want someplace to send our young kids. We want some men to step up and talk to the drug dealer *wanna-be’s*. We want to learn how to do better at keeping our block strong.
We argree these are not white or black values. In a flash of insight at this moment I’m calling our values *human values* like human rights from now on.
If you feel uncomfortable about this comment. Good. It’s not nice what I’m talking about. I’m uncomfortable and working hard to stay the right side of mean and angry. Talk about what makes you uncomfortable. We all have a lot to learn.
BY Alice
ON October 26, 2007 11:43 AM
Yes, Rosetta’s ideas are poorly conceived and hackneyed. She claims that people cannot discuss race. Yet, race has been endlessly discussed the past 30 years. The big issue of the 21st century is class, not race. Race is an element in class determination but a diminishing one. We cannot allow reverse racialized thinking to replace the hard work we need to do developing leaders, from whatever race, to better serve our communities. Upper income blacks have little in common with lower-income blacks. Bill Cosby stumbled into that when we he criticized low-income blacks for their dysfunctional families, culture and behavior as contributing factors in their problems. Obama is called “not black enough” because he has more in common with upper-income blacks and Latinos, etc. Race as the key item of social anaysis is gone. Class has replaced it, Rosetta. You need to move on and catch up with where the field is today.
BY Rosetta Thurman
ON October 26, 2007 12:12 PM
Alice,
I greatly appreciate your thoughts on the need to focus our attention equally, if not more, on class instead of race. It’s not a piece that I’ve thought about as deeply, so thank you for sharing an opposing viewpoint for others to learn from. Your sentiment that “Upper income blacks have little in common with lower-income blacks” really strikes a chord with me because I do realize that my experience is not the same as the experience of every Black person in America. Just to get a little too personal, I come from a low-income, single-parent family where I was the first person to graduate from college. I grew up in public housing projects watching drug dealers on my block as a young girl and knew something wasn’t right. I also understand that many people of lower-class backgrounds (of color or otherwise) don’t often have the opportunities (as I did) to attend college and make a good living for themselves. What I don’t agree with, however, is that an upper-class person of color doesn’t face some of the same challenges as a lower-income person of color. Racism is felt across class lines, but your point is very well made.
No matter what direction the “field” is going into now, I feel it’s important to keep discussions of race at the table as well as ones of class and other diversity issues the nonprofit sector faces.
BY alice
ON October 26, 2007 12:56 PM
I am an upper class black woman, 23 years old, and a Columbia University graduate. My parents were both surgeons. Did we face racism and challenges. Not that I was aware of at any point in my life. No doubt, Rosetta, you did. But class, for the most part, trumps race. OJ Simpson will tell you that.
I so deplore ad hominem evaluations of people’s race and ethnicity as a qualifying factor in what they say. I prefer Aristotle’s faith that the quality of the argument, its empirical content and its logical rigor, that justifies acceptance or rejection of a proposition. Racialized thinking perpetuates victimology and delays facing the real problem of income and class in America. I respect you rosetta and your struggle to rise in life. I am black, faced no racism and did not have to struggle to get ahead while my low-income white friends, to the extent that i had any, struggled and many failed. Race plays a role in class determination but a greatly diminished role.
A good white leader can understand the needs of blacks as well as any black man or woman can. I think the assumptions of race identity theory are dysfunctional. An upper income black such as myself does not possess superior understanding of the needs of black communtiies at all. I share little in common with the low income communities I serve and rely heavily on voices from those communities to survive in my work. I resonate with Bill Gates, not “my people.” My set of learned behaviors in Exeter and Columbia had little to so with race and everything to do with behavior sets that allowed me to assume and retain my social and economic superiority to poor white, latinos and blacks. Am I black…yes, I am. But one who thinks like my social class.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 26, 2007 08:36 PM
Alice,
Sadly enough your education and upbringing has unfortunately blinded you to the true struggle of other people in this country that look like you. You can believe this class distinction garbage for as long you are in
academia, but when you get into the real world of money, employment, and housing I am sure you will eventually join the ‘Rosetta Club.’
Travel to any all white areas of this country such as Wisconsin, Maine, Kentucky, even parts of New York… and something that you will quickly realize is that the people who intend to do you physical harm really do not care about your “class.” If I remember correctly there was noose hung on Columbia’s campus as well… my best advice for you is never forget.
They kill “rich niggers” too.
I am sure your select group of friends have been very politically correct and nice to you. But when the whites that you don’t know personally… turn you down for jobs, pull your car over to search drugs, or even do you physical/mental harm…. I am sure that you will go running to the Black Community for help… just like OJ.
I can honestly say that my best friends at this point in my life are White, but they can see past my skin and understand my logic. We do not agree on all issues and I do not have to change my cultural norms of speaking, the music I listen to, or my opinions given my upbringing to be friends with them… the key to our friendship is that we know and acknowledge the difference between…
Unity and Assimilation.
While you had no choice as to where and how your parents raised you, for you to deny the continuous issue of race in this country is to do millions of people who look like you and will one day come to your aid, a tremendous disservice.
Your single point of view, from a unique life experience while valuable as any life is valuable should not be held as a norm of American equality in living standards for Blacks.
I have another challenge for any of you reading this blog…. turn off your tv and read a book. Not just any book… but the U.S. Statistical Abstract available at any public library.
look at the numbers in that book about the different racial experiences in America and honestly tell me that racism doesn’t exist anymore. Do any of you know that the standard of living for 95% of Black America has gone DOWN not UP since the inception of Affirmative Action 50+ years ago? White women have been the overwhelming benefactors of Affirmative Action…so why are only cases of Black & White issues of Affirmative Action in our courts? Yes, the the top 5% of Black America got richer as we can see from Alice’s existence…. but what happens to everyone else?
I know your tv’s project a different image of America, but whatever happened to the value of statistical analysis? Its really frightening to see how propaganda can effectively cover statistical fact within human logic.
Look at the disproportionate way in which poverty affects the Black Community…. Alice should you one day marry and have a male child…. you should remember the statistics in that book and calculate the probability of him actually living long enough to reach college.
I do not hold you responsible for your lack of knowledge of the plight of those that look like you. Your blindness was given to intentionally. I simply challenge you to read all the statistical facts on the topic before you ever repeat that class is more important.
The website I have created operates independently of race. No one can search for a poor child based on race at all, because yes… white, black, brown, or asian… being hungry sucks. However, at the same time denying the existence of racism in the modern world as many whites do only serves to marginalize minority communities. The 20 year old’s in the black & white video of the Civil Rights Movements screaming “Nigger this, Nigger that” didn’t evaporate because tv became colorized. They are in their 60’s and 70’s now, running companies and have more power now.
As a declared pacifist, it truly frightens and astonishes me to see how close this country is to race riots and how the majority of white community does even realize it. Protests and marches are forming all over the country, yet the majority of the white community seems to think that there is no need to directly address the issues at hand.
In the development of my anti poverty program.. I call for outright unity… again the scary part is that no one is listening…. on any side.
I have the only viable solution to ease tensions… Its called subsistence aka social welfare. We live in an imperfect world, marginalization and discrimination, while bad enough should never be allowed to result in the death of a community as it currently is for Blacks.
Check the stats and prove me wrong.
BY Rado
ON October 27, 2007 12:26 AM
Darryl,
Your rhetoric vis a vis race issues is as confusing as your site. I’m sure both are well meant, but neither serve you or the public well. If people don’t like your site, it’s not because of your skin color. It’s because it doesn’t work well or explain itself well. Want a good example of a site that is set up well? Go to Kiva.org.
Hope you succeed with your site and your dream. You’ll get there better faster if you get over the “people hate black people” thing. I’ve seen racism in the US, Europe, Asia and in Africa. White on black, black on arab, asian on white, german on turk, french on bulgarian… just to name a few. And I’ve seen members of the ‘hated’ rise above it and do great things. Complaining and blaming isn’t what get’s them on top. It’s the work.
good luck to you
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 27, 2007 12:31 AM
Rado
where’s your statistics? and while you may not understand what “beta” means…. thank god some people do.
facts are facts.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 27, 2007 08:07 AM
Rado,
before I begin another day, I will make things simple for you to understand…
With regards to race, if you treat or anyone else treats me fairly black, white, asian, brown, or -green-... I will treat you fairly…
However, if you are treating me in a prejudicial way or unfairly, I do have the right to tell you… hiding or ignoring prejudicial treatment does no one any good… that is how tensions rise and boil over.
Man throws dog off balcony during a heated argument he is sentenced to jail for 3 years.
5 policemen beat a restrained black teenager to death on video and no one is held responsible.
There’s simply a problem there.
With regards to my site… I welcome any detailed feedback from a user view that you can provide, “worker harder” and “explain itself well”.... don’t really provide much to go on in terms of constructive criticism.
logic & reason
BY Nichole King-Campbell
ON October 28, 2007 11:52 AM
Rosetta
I think you made a very relevant post. However I have a few comments. This thing called diversity is an issue in the nonprofit, for profit, and governmental leadership roles. It is our comfort level. I have worked for the state, the military, corporate America and I may have a somewhat jaded perspective. I have sat in many meetings when an artificial of diversity success, such as a percent makes people feel comfortable. The dialoge is really a briefing a push down of information not an actual working group comfortable with making change. I know because often times I have been one of a few at that meeting. Funders feel comfortable when they look around the room and see people like them at the decision making table. They do not seem willing to go outside of their comfort zone unless they percieve that there is a problem. The nonprofit sector is exploding in Organizing Black America an Encyclopedia of African American Associtions there are over 700 pages of information that shows that African Americans have been involved in philantropy for a long period of time. If we study history we can look at the origins in Africa and the West Indies. The problem is society acts like we are new to this process and just like they erroneously have the audacity to say often that Africans are “not ready” or “articulate” and African Americans sometimes buy into this way of thinking and describing it is really just holding back achievement.
One person stated that there is a distinct difference between low income African Americans and wealthy African Americans. After travelling amongs some circles I watn to say that there is not much of a difference except one has and has not. I think people have the basic same survival instincts.
That means that we need to really understand what challenges are in the community from both aspects. How do we educate everyone on the importance about being in the game as players and teammates. Would foundations be better grantmakers if they understood the challenges that nonprofit organizations face. Especially in communities of color where the founder may see the need but also has to work their full time job. Can funders provide better support services that help grow new organizations.
People make things happen. People have to look around the table, whichever table they have and say something is not right here. Once they make that realization then they have to act. The rhetoric has been going on for years. Let’s do something now.
BY Nichole King-Campbell
ON October 28, 2007 12:08 PM
Rosetta
Thank you for your much need post. I definitely think you made a very relevant post. However I have a few comments. This thing called diversity is an issue in the nonprofit, for profit, and governmental leadership roles. It is our comfort level. I have worked for the state, the military, corporate America and I may have a somewhat jaded perspective. I have sat in many meetings when an artificial measure of diversity equates to levels of success, such as a percent i.e. 6% of Air Force officer are African American makes people feel comfortable. My question is why is 6% acceptable? What is the percentage of African Americans/Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans in philanthropy an acceptable number? The dialogue is really a briefing a push down of information not an actual working group comfortable with making change. I know because often times I have been one of a few at that meeting. Funders feel comfortable when they look around the room and see people like them at the decision making table. I think that organizations of color feel the same after being neglected for some time. They do not seem willing to go outside of their comfort zone unless they perceive that there is a problem. The nonprofit sector is exploding> In Organizing Black America an Encyclopedia of African American Associations there are over 700 pages of information that shows that African Americans have been involved in philanthropy for a long period of time. If we study history we can look at the origins of philanthropy in Africa and the West Indies. The problem is society acts like we are new to this process and just like they erroneously have the audacity to say often that African-Americans are “not ready” or “articulate” and African Americans sometimes buy into this way of thinking and describing it is really just holding back achievement.
One person stated that there is a distinct difference between low income African Americans and wealthy African Americans. After traveling amongst some circles I want to say that there is not much of a difference except one has and has not. I think people have the basic same survival instincts. The challenges in the African-American community is part of a negative conditioning that I wish would not be heaped upon us.
That means that we need to really understand what challenges are in the community from both aspects. How do we educate everyone on the importance about being in the game as players and teammates? Would foundations be better grant makers if they understood the challenges that nonprofit organizations face? Do funders consider the additional issues especially in communities of color where the founder of the nonprofit may see the need but also has to work their full time job. Can funders provide better support services that help grow new organizations?
People make things happen. People have to look around the table, whichever table they have and say something is not right here. Once they make that realization then they have to act. The rhetoric has been going on for years. Let’s do something now.
BY alice
ON October 28, 2007 01:41 PM
Rado is very perceptive. And as for the problematic and antiquated Daryl, let me tell you that I never claimed race was not a viable way to analyse communties. I said it was a diminishing factor in explaining and predicting social outcomes. And, yes I do work for a community-based non-profit serving the homeless. No, I do not run to black organizations to save me from the mythical noose. The event at Columbia University was a joke and at least one black was involved with the bad joke. He meant it as a post-modern ironic comment on “the noose.”
I clearly indicated my parents wealth in New Canaan, CT was not common for blacks-or for whites. My first memories of white people was that they were yardmen and house servants. Many upper class blacks had the same experience and found low-income whites as dysfunctional with respect to education, hard work and advance as poor Latinos or blacks.
But apart from my circumstances, the fact is that blacks are enjoying unprecedented levels of emergence in the middle class. Foundations are swelling with their number and, as i said, many of them worry they have little in common with the poor whites and blacks they serve. Good white leaders can “understand” low income Americans as poorly or as well as the average middle or upper income black.
I deplore victimolgy and find Rosetta’s points badly dated. Her approach would be novel in 1975 or 1985. Not today. Most blacks I know want to move beyond race-based affirmitive action and favor massive investment and action to assist the poor, no matter their race. Daryl..your pandering to the past is frightening and dysfunctional. We need to attack the roots of poverty and do it in a comprehensive and thoughtful way. Nothing diminishes racism faster than the end of poverty.
Many low-income blacks are slowly relaizing their complicty in their circumstances. But not enough as they are repeaddly told someone “did it” to them. I choose to empower low-income people of whatever race to work in their own communtiies to change the sets of assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors which retard economic advance. No one can hand justice to low-income groups. They must take it.
I do agree that upper class blacks often sound like their upper class peers in the latino and white communities. Poor Obama. He is blamed for being too white just because he shares many of these beliefs, assumptions and behaviors.
BY MarilynJean
ON October 29, 2007 12:23 PM
“Just to be real, people are really only interested in their interests, meaning that if you are a woman, you’re probably more likely to be motivated to take action on women’s issues than a man would be. Since I am Black, I care more about issues of race being resolved than the “larger” inclusiveness conversation. “
But aren’t you a woman as well?
This is a great discussion and everyone brings up some excellent points. Part of this discussion does need to involve class and how it has become the great divider. And yes, Alice is right that being a person of color doesn’t necessarily mean that you understand the plight of disadvantaged people. But yes, Daryl is right because race will always matter and disparities still exist because of it.
Overall, I think we can all agree that nonprofits have some work to do in addressing it’s leadership. I applaud Rosetta for keeping the dialogue going.
BY alice
ON October 29, 2007 01:53 PM
Thanks Marilyn..you are a consensus builder. Race will always matter but never as much as class. That is the challenge of the 21st century and we still lack an adequate vocabulary and set of methods to deal with that. Affirmative action in its old guise served to advance white women and the black middle class. But it has done nothing for the growing number of poor of whatever race. In fact, affimative action was always a sham to divide races along lines of who got what. It was a clever trick…dividing the races and focing them to battle for crumbs while the rich walked off with the real spoils. I am afraid darryl got duped. And being duped is painful.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 29, 2007 09:42 PM
As an entrepreneur, I will say that a core ability to spot trends in the behavior of markets and individuals is essential.
As a leader, the ability to spot trends can some time be used as a teaching tool.
I have watched this blog since my last entry to see if anyone else could spot the pattern of this debate on race.
After reviewing the entries on this blog, there is something very simple that you will all notice that I have already pointed out…
While Rosetta and I have broached this topic of race in philanthropy and society on a statistical basis of analysis, no one has provided a single refuting statistical fact to justify their position or provided a viable solution to overcoming issues of race beyond common clichés found in the popular white majority media.
In this blog we have witnessed Alice move from Rado to Marilyn in attempt to build support for views and evidence of her emotional attachment to this debate is reflected in her illogical attacks on me and conflicting rebuttals.
This exactly the behavior that constitutes and is meant by the phrase, “the marginalization of minority issues…”
Rosetta and I are not attacking whites or saying anyone is evil… we are merely repeating statistical facts that reflect a problem that need to be openly discussed.
The challenge that faces modern day White America is developing the ability and collective willingness to admit that there is actually still a problem of race in this country. Then having the willingness to listen to issues, formulate a plan, and act upon resolving the problem. Racism is America’s alcohol and denial of the problem is counterproductive in establishing a united and just society.
The fact that this blog could be considered a valid debate is actually disheartening. A valid debate occurs when competing entities compare, contrast, and interpret bodies of data.
Would any of us participate in a blog on astrophysical theory, if we hadn’t the training, reading, evidence, or legitimate platform from which to make our observational points?
So, why is this behavior readily accepted when discussions of race take place?
Alice… ‘sister’ as I should call you because we do share a common heritage, history, and culture that you should learn more about… Sorry to be the one to hold a mirror up for you to see yourself… but when you, Rado, or anyone else enters any intellectual debate, especially one as sensitive as race, and you choose to make blanket comments devoid of statistical evidence, then you should always prepare yourself to be met with a strong response from those that more informed on the topic than you are.
To quote my sister Alice,
“I do agree that upper class blacks often sound like their upper class peers in the latino and white communities.”
Now to quote dictionary.com sociology definition of ‘assimilation:’
“ the merging of cultural traits from previously distinct cultural groups, not involving biological amalgamation. ” sound familiar?
Again does anybody get that there is a difference between true diversity (mutual respect for each other’s cultural differences) and assimilation / marginalization?
I bring up this point because all too often the defense commonly held by whites is that I have a Black friend. Do you really have black friend? Or do you have someone that by birth and circumstance has spent a lifetime attempting to fit in and be accepted by a racial group that is not their own?
We can not excuse incidents such as the various noose (plural) that have been hung in different areas of this country simply because an assimilated person of color was involved. That undermines the seriousness of the tragic events that are taking place across this country.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 29, 2007 09:56 PM
my posting is incomplete… but I will forward the rest to Rosetta and see if she or others can post it…
BY Darryl Penrice
ON October 29, 2007 10:15 PM
to read my full and -final- posting visit…
http://povertysdemise.org/FinalPosting.html
BY alice
ON October 30, 2007 02:18 PM
So Darryl flees the debate and hides behind his selective data? Very sad but all too predictable really. Again, I never said race and racism were not relevant tools of analysis. I simply said that class trumps race in most instances and will do so more and more as the century proceeds.
I am not an assimilated black woman. I am a product of an upper class education. Most whites are not upper class. Most whites are poor or middle class. I assimilated, if that is what i did, to my class..not to a race. This is where Darryl is stubbornly blind.
Also, I never excused any noose incident at Columbia University or anywhere. I simply noted that the Columbia incident was a horribly inept post-modern attempt to be humorous about the iconic noose. At least one middle class black was behind it.
Darryl needs to mature intellectually and emotionally and stop holding on to the errors of his ways. Affirmitive action has done little or nothing for poor blacks, whites or latinos but a great deal for darryl. I want, and many blacks i work with want, a much more comprehensive program to attack poverty regardless of race. Racism will nto be eroded unless we attack poverty in our society. That is the challenge of our new century. Race is still a factor…just less of one than ever before.
We need new vision and risk taking programs and thought. BNot the same old hackneyed and flawed reliance on racis,m to explain everything. Part of the problem is thta there is ltitle honesty in non-profits where race and class are involved. Lets break the barrier!
BY alice
ON October 31, 2007 04:13 PM
Thanks for the long post Darryl. I am at the Ford Foundation and volunteer for an interracial homeless shelter. Please call me about PDO. I think you are more on my side than I thought.
Lets all end poverty and wave goodbye to racism and phony affirmative action.
BY Erin Eisenberg
ON November 3, 2007 05:54 PM
My take on devising some semblance of an action plan to mitigate the disparity racially diverse leadership in nonprofit organizations is to take a holistic approach and address other challenges that exist disproportionately in low-income and underserved communities (i.e. schools, healthcare, affordable housing, etc.) Because as soon as these families and individuals can empower their personal situations, they will have the time and resources to volunteer their skills, time and expertise and finally enter into leadership positions.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON November 5, 2007 09:27 AM
hey alice…
I need a last name or contact information for you… the staff at Ford Foundation don’t know who you are…
BY Jeff
ON November 5, 2007 05:26 PM
What a fabulous way to add some spice to a delicious day on one of my favorite Mexican beaches. Many thanks for all who have helped prepare what I can only compare to a good Mole. Tambien tengo que decir a todos que es posible que no puedo seguir con la conversacion por no tener aceso reguar al internet, pero voy a tratar hacerlo.
Some have referenced wanting to learn more from where things are working when it comes to race and class. I can think of many organizations in the US that would be a good place to start and I’m sure there is a good model in any major US city if we look around, perhaps in small cities too. I like focusing on what’s working as a way to move forward, while not ignoring the ugly realities of what’s not working. I’ve spent the past week with a team of Cuban psychologists and sociologists that I’ve been working with for the past 5 years. As Michael Moore did so well in his movie Sicko, we can also turn to more macro models like Cuba for learnings around race and class advancements (though things are not perfect there either).
My main addition to this Mole, is to ask again for examples (small or big) of what’s working well that we can learn something from. Maybe it is a non-profit in Atlanta, maybe it’s a health system in another country.
Gracias.
BY Catherine Onyemelukwe
ON November 9, 2007 07:16 PM
The book Silent Racism, How Well-Meaning White People Perpetuate the Racial Divide, by Barbara Trepagnier, describes how institutional racism is supported by liberal white people (like me) who believe they are non-racist. Passivity, she says, allows racist attitudes to continue. Being anti-racist means speaking up and pointing out racism in others and ourselves. She says forming cross-racial friendships where race can be and is discussed, not ignored, and reading works by Black authors, help in the process. I believe nonprofits should embrace this anti-racist practice and attitude. We nonprofit leaders have a responsibility, I think, to work to end racism, as an issue of justice and equity. Two ways to assist the process have been mentioned. Several comments have reflected the need to look hard at our hiring practices - are we demanding more from non-white applicants? And others have pointed out the need to expand our boards with members of non-white communities we serve; this will help us form friendships across racial lines.
BY Alice
ON November 15, 2007 01:48 PM
Catherine is right. I do think it wise for foundation and other non-profit boards to include people of diverse views, opinions, experiences and class. Too many organizations choose middle or upper class “minorites” to represent their race and that is counter-productive.
Yes, Africans like me have been involved with philanthropy for centuries. But we are, for a host of reasons, relatively new to the world of organized, institutionalized philanthropy. That is changing as we are flooding in as new staff at foundations across the country.
I just hope that our field can move beyond race, end the phony fingerpointing and self-deprecation, and move to ameliorate and eventually cure economic inequality. It is remarkable how fast racism disappears when equality increases.
And yes, African-Americans and all of us need to take more responsibility for our actions. Blacks who dwell on past racism are too quick to blame others and too slow to make the necessary changes to move up the social latter. Those who dwell on past racism are slowing the necessary change. I find that immoral frankly.
Let us get on with the 21st century agenda: end class differences, ensure class representation, make affirmative action race-blind, and blame ourselves when that is where the blame lies. Mainly, let us dump the racism crutch and move on.
By the way, so-called affirmative action was a joke. It allowed the rich to run off with the real riches while middle classes were left battling for the crumbs off the table. Great trick!
BY Charlie
ON November 15, 2007 05:56 PM
Dear Alice,
I just found this post today and I felt that I had to write to say thank you. Thank you for your brilliant mind but more importantly, thank you for your courage. There is no one more viscously attacked than a successful black person who is not on board with the “race message”. I offer Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby, Condolesa Rice, and Janice Rogers Brown as just a few examples. They were viciously attacked personally by white liberals as well black “leaders”. Three of them are conservatives (although they weren’t always conservative), but they weren’t attacked for their ideology they were attacked personally because they were black and they dared to oppose affirmative action or to point out that poor blacks could have a greater impact on their own lives. Names like “Uncle Tom” and “token porch _____” (I won’t repeat that word here) were just a few of the incredibly hateful things said about them.
You give me hope in the future of our country. In my opinion, our country will not survive unless we can mobilize a greater percent of our population to believe in the power of hard work, education, community, and the inherent goodness of our country. Dependency will be the death of us. Self-reliance can be our salvation. Voices like yours will lead us toward self-reliance.
BY Alice
ON November 16, 2007 03:24 PM
Thanks Charlie. Yes, you are so right. When I call for a need-based, race-blind affirmative action I am cursed by middle class blacks (sisters and brothers0 who think thta I am advocating for them to get less in a rigged game they have come to depend on.
Rosetta is a cliche but our field is still victimized by her insistence in the face of growing evidence that blacks are victims and are helpless to change their ciccumstances. I especially deplore her vapid insistence that one has to be black to relate to the black lower class. One’s ideas should never be race-bound but allowed to float free of race and allowed to stand or fall on the strength and integrity of the idea itself.
Yes, i realize being upper class has freed me from the black middle class insistence that they need race-based afiirmative action to correct past wrongs. There are many past wrongs but affirmative action as we know it today is not the way to deal with it. Truth is, too many middle class black foundation staff do not udnerstand the lower class backs they purport to help, In fact, they are deeply resented by the lower class, whatever their race. Let us end racialized reasoning and move beyond and cure the ills of our increasingly polarized country. Darryl has now admitted he was wrong. I hope others will do so and allow our field to better serve all races.
BY Roy
ON December 3, 2007 03:22 PM
I am late to this discussion, however, I found it very stimulating and hopeful. Philanthropy is such a tough field in and of its self. I recently read Narcissism and Philanthropy: Ideas and Talent Denied by Gerald Freund. Self-Examination is hard personally let alone a field which has formal and informal habits. Now race, equity and inclusion, Whew ! Recently, I watched an episode of Bill Moyers Journal discussing the Cross and the Hanging Noose(http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/profile.html) with Professor James Cone. A conversation around Race must start with the acknowledgement from America that we are not innocent. Self Examination is fraught with pitfalls but a necessary step to begin healing, discuss remedies, and chart new courses of action. This would bode well in all civic life which of course, includes Philanthropy.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON December 6, 2007 02:34 PM
Hey folks,
Guess who…. thanks to those of you that have reached out me via email. Fan mail is definitely a cool thing. I’ve been a busy boy, but have no worries… I will write another post in coming days…
Darryl
BY michael stewart
ON December 7, 2007 12:27 AM
i cannot help but think that your article should have read “why are blacks not interested in philanthropy.” perhaps the comment on socio-economic background of blacks is correct, that is, traditionally, we do not have it and to entertain a job where you do not make that much money is quite silly.
but i have found that poor whites are very much engaged in philanthrophy and non-profit work.
i am of african descent and started a non-profit, the liwalo na liwe fdn, with the purpose of not only bringing attention to the problems of street children in iringa, tanzania but to have blacks participate in the organization and contribute to africa in a more qualitative way.
in my travels to africa, i have found that africans idealize white folk and i could not understand why until my recent trip to tanzania where it hit me: all africans see are white folk helping them. i make a commentary on this in my film, “watoto wa mitaani” which i solicited “my people” to produce but that sense of urgency was not there. so one of my former students, a white guy, jumped on board and we did the damn thing.
i am a garveyite; people in tanzania knew me as the black guy from america who does not talk to wazungu (white people). if i were to return to tanzania at this moment, the people would be shocked as all of my board members are white and indian. they seem to understand the sense of urgency. believe you me i try as hard as i possible can to engage black people in what i am doing. one colleague, non-black, has told me to give up trying to get black folks interested in africa, “black americans do not care about africa,” she explained.
i am not saying blacks do not assist, but it is not in the numbers like whites. i am convinced that we seem to be more concerned about money than providing human service which is interesting in light of how we have been educated to be socially responsible.
i know that the powers that be are cunning and they can furtively avoid dealing with race, but there comes a time when we have to question the implications of our materialism. we have to start forming and supporting our own organizations and save our communities ourselves. the reason why we are in the same mess is because those in charge do not appreciate our experiences….
BY Alice
ON December 7, 2007 05:03 PM
Thanks darryl..how do I email you? Michael…that is a very sensitive remark and you are brave to make it. I am an upper-class Columbia University African-American in philanthropy. There are many reasons blacks have been slow to embrace philanthropic positions. Yes, race may have once played a role. I do not think it does today. Black women and men are flooding into foundations and other non-profit work. We are everywhere.
As an upper class black female, I have a difficult time udnerstanding the behavior and even language of the underclass. I have no special insights that white upper class officers do not have. Obama speaks my language and I will vote for him. I also do not udnerstand the behavior or the white underclass. They are far more numerous than members of the black underclass of course. I find middle class whites odd as well. We need to be wary of the identity theory that claims all blacks, desoite social class, all act and see the world in the same way. It just is not so.
Anyway, all of my people need to take responsibility for their behavior and their fmailies. Whites may be to blame for much of our malaise but not for most of it. Not anymore anyway.
Best to all for christmas!
BY Darryl Penrice
ON December 13, 2007 12:15 PM
Hey folks,
Thanks for the emails. I appreciate the letters and thoughts folks have shared. Also, to show my appreciation I will let all of you on this blog know first: I am starting a video blog to answer everyone’s questions about PDO. I have already embedded videos in my website (also available on youtube).
Now, for the slaughter… ;- )
American Heritage Dictionary
sta•tis•tic (stə-tĭs’tĭk) Pronunciation Key
n.
1. A numerical datum.
2. A numerical value, such as standard deviation or mean, that characterizes the sample or population from which it was derived.
Charlie / Sis Alice
The above is the definition of a “statistic.” I highly recommend that both of you turn-off he Fox News channel and well read a book containing “statistics.”
Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby, Condolesa Rice, Janice Rogers Brown, and Sister Alice are all included in the top 5% of African American population, previously I mentioned that since the institution of Affirmative Action that the standard of living of African Americans has gone down, not up over the past 50+ years. Therefore there should be no surprise in the reaction of the African-American middle & lower classes to the aforementioned persons being held up as aggregate examples false progress in American race relations.
Statistics do help predict behaviors & trends…
Remember my prior warnings about the current state racial stratification being so bad that this country is on the verge of race riots? This article was posted on MSNBC.com following my posting to this blog.
Study: Black pessimism worst since 1980s
Blacks increasingly less certain about racial progress in America
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21775438/
Next, the true reason this blog exist and the reason I am on it is to relate my own experiences in the charity world and bring a real life illustration to problems still plaguing not only the charity world, but also American society as a whole.
Poverty’s Demise .Org is a quite a literally a way to feed millions of children living below the poverty line. I know this and now many well trained and experienced field professionals know this as well because since my original posting I have attained 4 more letters of recommendation (bringing the total to 5 letters). When I am ready I will post all of their logos on my website homepage, but you all already know that Craigslist Foundation has already endorse PDO’s design.
Why is this important? It relates to this blog because when I designed PDO I imagined many scenarios that would take place once my website became public knowledge. The one scenario that I never imagined, but ran into here in NY is as I mentioned… I never imagined that I could show anyone of any race way to feed millions of children and be ignored. I did not imagine the level of racial discrimination involved is simply being granted time introduce PDO to nonprofit experts and authorities that claim to want to help children.
My flatmate a 60+ yrs old white man from Iowa, can not believe the discrimination and ignorance that people are showing and would never have believed this scenario was possible had he not been witness to my adventures first hand. He is MIT alum, Harvard B-school alum… who knows a “little” about technology and business.
Quite literally Dr. Joanna Rubinstein writes an email praising my work to Jeffrey Sachs (one of the best economist on Earth), Jeff Flug, and the rest of Millennium Promise staff, then when I am put through to an unqualified and unprepared staff member, I am labeled “shady black man” and thrown out onto street because my proposal included a request for funding. I am a social entrepreneur trying to build a charity to feed people, I obviously need funding. I have learned from my experiences in the philanthropy world, that very very, few people consider African American males capable of being social entrepreneurs…
Could it be because we live in a country where the racial slur “Token” is openly accepted and used on national tv? Did anyone even notice that I am blogging about a world changing charity, PDO, on the Stanford “Social Innovation” Review?
The Search for Thugs
http://www.newsweek.com/id/73347/page/2
With another organization that will go unnamed for the time being, I literally sent in a professional introduction of PDO through their submission processes and directly to their supervisor of poverty issues and not unsurprisingly I was ignored. I had my Asian Canadian friend contact the -same exact person- using the same method and he received a friendly response within 30 minutes and was even able to schedule a meeting/presentation.
In the last six months the progress I have made in developing PDO has resulted from me basically ignoring “professional protocol” of meeting requests and preliminary communications that whites in philanthropy use to actively/passively discriminate against me, to me resorting to just walking into offices and demanding someone actually –looks- at my work. Sad, but true.
Even though things have been tough, in recent weeks good people white and black now, have shown themselves and I have been able to continue developing PDO. Sis Alice, this does not include you.
The behavior you have displayed on this blog, the insults you have hurled at good people, your general lack of common statistical knowledge, the pinned up anger you have shown, your lack of tack & professionalism, and general sociopathic identity crisis… as evident in your own writings disturb not only me but the many others that are marveling in this public display of your ignorance.
If you are an example of what I can expect from the Ford Foundation, this is a very easy decision as the Creator, Founder, Executive Director, and leader of PDO…
Sis Alice keep your money, I work with better people.
BY alice
ON December 14, 2007 04:18 PM
Oh dear, if my truth and honesty about class trumping race as the key factor in poverty and social pathology offended you Darryl, I am not sorry. Depending on hand outs from government is not healthy. Undertsanding the middle class black is as difficult as the middle class white for me.
I do not speak for the Ford Foundation or any foundation. I am relating the truth which your statistics hide. Many fear truth and have reason to so so.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON December 14, 2007 08:57 PM
To quote Sis Alice,
“I am relating the truth which your statistics hide. Many fear truth and have reason to so so.”
This is what I mean by those scary sociopathic tendencies you are displaying. Re-read every posting you have made in this blog. You speak of truth yet you haven’t offered one statistical fact or reference source to justify any position that you have taken.
You speak of truth, so who’s truth is good enough to meet the requirements of someone with your wealthy position in our society?
In this blog I have cited:
UNICEF
Amnesty International
The National Urban League
MSNBC.com
NEWSWEEK
Do you believe all of these sources are conspiring against you? Sis, honest suggestion, maybe you should consider spending some of your wealth on consulting a mental health professional.
But if you won’t do that, prove us all to be liars and plotters against you by flying to Bagdad and finding those “weapons of mass destruction” for us.
BY alice
ON December 16, 2007 03:48 PM
Don’t be mean. Nothing is true because it is mentioned by newsweek. Truth is independent of who vouches for it..or not. That is basic logic. I have stated the truth..boldly and dramatically. That is all this upper class attractive girl can do. Let us build toward a more equitable future and attend to the needs of all in need regardless of race.
BY anonymous
ON February 29, 2008 09:23 AM
I apologize for not putting my name on this post, but I’ve noticed that nobody seems to really disagree with each other on here (a bigger area of exclusion in non-profits - people who don’t think like you). And, I’m afraid that my views would not be welcomed in my office.
I notice that the stats are for people in control of non-profits/philanthropic organizations - not for people working in the field total. There is an educational discrepancy that can head towards explaining that. Just a quick check of National Education Statistics, shows that only 79% of students who achieved a post-graduate degree between 1990 and 2000 were white. At least in the job descriptions I have read, post-secondary education is a strong recommendation for any CEO, Executive Director or other position. Clearly there is a statistical bias in the applicant pool to begin with.
Also, the premise of the article seems to suggest that since the CEO’s are predominantly white, the organization and staff reflect this statistic. I would guess this incorrect. That is a false conclusion. Just a quick sample of my office is over 60% African American, even though we have *gasp* caucasians in every director position!
It’s also a mistake to assume that a white board member can’t grasp the concept of racial diversity. Most board members would have a deep understanding of the organizations service mission and clientèle before joining.
This article could contain an interesting discussion, but makes incorrect assumption from unrelated stats.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON March 4, 2008 02:51 AM
Hey folks,
thanks for the emails. Glad to know folks still read these days. Anyway getting ready for my first major launch of the website… so I will be slightly delayed in answering communications.
Will make another post after my launch is fully complete.
Darryl
BY Timothy Harris
ON March 6, 2008 03:04 PM
There’s a great story in Boston activist Mel King’s biography of a late-60s United Way Banquet. King and a number of other black leather jacketed Black men filed into the event toward the end and took up stations along the side of the room. Then, midway through dessert, they swept through the room tossing people’s plates of pie into garbage backs, which they emptied onto the stage saying “We don’t want your crumbs.” It’s of an era, but I miss that sort of militancy and still find the story inspiring.
BY Darryl Penrice
ON March 19, 2008 11:11 PM
Quick note:
Anyone notice that a certain presidential candidate on Tuesday, just repeated my exact same call for an open discussions on race and other things that I said in this blog months ago…before things get our of control
While he said it in a nice politically acceptable way… he did just repeat a lot of what I have said here…
So maybe, I’m not just another “belligerent black man”... perhaps there are real problems that need to be addressed….
I didn’t design Poverty’s Demise .Org because the world is such a perfect place.
To solve real problems… first the problem has to be acknowledged…
And solutions to those problems… should be allowed to come from anywhere….
Social entrepreneurs of all backgrounds…
Almost ready for launch then you all get to see my speech… via video…
BY Carol Dawson
ON April 10, 2008 03:03 PM
I am working on a Diversity Project by developing a training workshop to assist a couple of non-profit boards to expand their recruitment practices to include cultural minorities. I am doing this pro bono. I also want them to think about how inclusion skills will assist in maintaining the new board members. These comments have been most helpful in preparing thoughts prior to creating the workshop. Does anyone have other related articles that will assist in this endeavor? Please send guidance or referrals asap to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Thanks.
BY Nichole King-Campbell
ON May 4, 2008 07:59 AM
Sounds like a good project. The first thing I can think of is that the board members must understand the benefits of having a diverse board. The idea of just getting a person on the board does not actually add real diversity. When board members are added regardless of if it is for diversity there tends to be a tension as the new person is being checked out to see if they can play with the other board members. It is imperative that group really welcomes the new member, make them part of the team, help bring them up to speed and give them equal responsibility. The members should not be micromanaged or why were they placed on the board. I would also suggest talking with national professional organizations to see what concerns they have. Additionally perhaps have an online focus group/web conference you would probably find some very interesting feedback. You have probably seen a few of these already, but just in case here are some links that may help.
BY Muhammad Al Rakbah
ON June 16, 2009 07:48 PM
You say people are “buying into” an idea of a white leadership pool. Well you tell us what are the other options? You assume there is another option. Where are our black leaders who volunteer time and money?
BY Peter
ON August 3, 2013 01:27 PM
You wouldn’t need all of this philanthropic hand outs if you were to instill a sense of individual responsibility in the black community. Black conservative are labeled Uncle Toms and when they or whites talk about family values, it falls on deaf ears in the black and Latino communities. Take a look at Detroit, MI. It has not had a conservative mayor since 1954 and the place is akin to Mogadishu. Who want would want to be there.
You lament that too any white people are in charge of non-profits. If the person or people who created the non-profit are predominately white, do you expect them to just hand over the money to those of color? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you should work to get people of color together and create your own non-profit organization? If I had 50 million dollar pool of money and decided to give it way, I would not put it towards any cause that doesn’t support some type of individual responsibility. We are too dependent on government and hand outs as a country and sooner or later, you will suffer the same fate that all of socialism does, you will run out of other people’s money. You are using good energy to seek a worthless goal. Don’t be jealous and don’t blame anyone for the numbers. It’s the free market that is at work here.
BY shirLEY DOWNES
ON October 31, 2015 07:54 AM
I NEED YOUR HELP. THIS A LIFE OR DEATH MATTER
BY Jacob
ON November 17, 2015 07:26 PM
T0 me it makes sense why there are more whites in those positions than blacks. African Americans make up 13% of the United States population. Black males make up around 48% of the African American population. No wonder you don’t see many organizations with over half African American staff. Do you blame this on racism or do you blame it on simple arithmetic? 18 percent black CEOs? That’s a pretty high number considering the low population of blacks generally. 14% African American board members? That sounds about right…Put that into perspective.