New York SBDC Research Network

06-05-20 POV 6 ways leaders can combat racism in the workplace By Nicholas Emerson Mazzone Fast Company Magazine "The CEO and founder of Supportful, who is gay and part Japanese, says it is this diversity and experience that equipped him with the skills necessary to be an empathetic founder and understanding leader." Even without the evidence that bigotry drives your bottom line down, we know dealing with instances of racism in the workplace is the right and legal thing to do. It is also what people want. This article encourages business owners to address difficult issues in the workplace and not shy away from difficult conversations about race and equality.

There is a recent article in Forbes magazine , delineating the ruckus that Madison Avenue ad man Jerry Della Femina has found himself in. In the January 23, 2008 edition of Della Femina's weekly Hamptons newspaper, The Independent, editor and columnist "Rick Murphy wrote what purported to be a column written by Barack Obama headlined 'Why I Should Be Our Next President, with a photo of the actual Obama and an overline that was blatantly racist," Forbes' media columnist James Brady writes. I became aware of the imbroglio early on when an SBDC staffer sent me a copy of The Independent column. The previous week's column on Hillary Clinton, for which the paper has also apologized, still had a working link as of February 5. The pieces never made any sense to me because the tasteless stories - yes, I can send you copies, if you want - seemed out of place in what is essentially a Pennysaver-type adzine publication, albeit for the Hamptons. The story has gone fr...