This one’s for the white guys
by Matt May
Happy Monday! Today there’s a total solar eclipse spanning from Mexico, through the midwestern to northeastern US, and into Canada. If you’re somewhere in the path this morning, I recommend poking your head out before you read this. It can wait.
Did you see it? Was it amazing? Good. Now let’s talk about work.
I’m picking on white men this week. Hang in there, fellas, it’s worth it. Think of it as leg day for your conscience. (I know that most of my subscribers aren’t white men. Odds are, if you’re reading this, someone shared it with you. If they think you’re ready to hear it, that’s good news for you.)
My guys. We have it easy in the workplace. In lots of places, really, relative to others. And yeah, many white guys can be members of employee resource groups (ERGs), as disabled people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, and so on. But the fact is, there is no better coat of armor in the workplace than presenting oneself as a non-disabled cishet white male. In most places, and at most times, you are afforded the opportunity not to have an opinion about diversity, equity and inclusion. If you can’t see the problem, then it must not exist. Right? (Hell, the simple fact that I’ve got “white guys” in the title is going to cause this post to be throttled on LinkedIn, if that tells you anything about how insulated we are from the conversation.)
Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if you read the first few paragraphs and didn’t parse it as white guys bad, then you might also think that DEI in the workplace is actually good, and valuable, even if it doesn’t benefit you directly and materially. If so, congratulations! You are part of a largely-silent minority of white guys in tech. (If not, you can stop here. The rest of this won’t interest you.)
You may, as many of us do, struggle to find a way to be less silent, in a safe and supportive way. Here’s one suggestion.
If you work for a non-weird company, you just entered a new fiscal quarter. And with that, there’s a pretty good chance you’re some number of days or weeks away from a quarterly all-hands meeting. They usually have space for employees to ask questions. And you should ask one.
You should be aware that DEI programs at US companies, government agencies and higher education institutions are being targeted for elimination. That’s not hyperbole: Heritage Foundation, a conservative lobbying group, is openly calling it a “battle.” School systems in Texas and Florida have fired their DEI organizations, under the direction of their Republican state houses. At the federal level, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the U.S. House of Representatives was eliminated to appease House Republicans in the most recent spending bill.
Many of the same forces, unable to use a few state houses or a divided Congress to do the same to multinational companies, are coming for corporate DEI through other means. Uber, Citi and Starbucks are moving the goalposts, cutting out hard-won executive pay packages or inclusive language from their own policies. Shareholder proposals are saying the quiet part out loud: last year, an Apple shareholder’s complaint began: “DEI is overtly bigoted against men, white people and straight people…” And that’s just what’s in my open tabs.
Fellow white guys, many other fellow white guys are speaking for us as a whole. If you disagree, it is time to say so publicly. It is assumed that white men in tech are at best indifferent, and more likely opposed, to DEI programs. Countering this assumption publicly serves to demonstrate that there is broader support than there appears to be if your executive team only listens to the bad PR rolling in.
If I were working for a multinational corporation, here’s the question I’d be asking this quarter:
“There’s been a troubling and ongoing industry trend of layoffs, program cancellations and budget cuts among corporate diversity, equity and inclusion teams. In my experience, our investment in DEI programs have made us a better company, and I wouldn’t want to work for this or any company that devalues their contributions. Will you commit right now to continuing or increasing your commitments to our corporate DEI programs, and to oppose any shareholder proposals that would cause them harm?”
Now, that’s just me. You may wish to season that to your particular taste. But this question covers a few bases:
- Aligns you with corporate support for DEI programs
- Notes a coordinated external effort against DEI
- Focuses on DEI programs in general, not specific policies or communities
- Contains a concrete request that a committed executive team could easily answer
- Connects your continued employment to the org being responsive to your values
If you have to submit in advance, you may need to trim the question back. But submit it anyway. Some companies have an open mic, while others are filtered through PR. You may not get through this quarter, but keep trying. If your question is rejected repeatedly, you may have a problem that’s deeper than the Q&A process.
Let’s say you get to ask your question. Your job is mostly done. Now, listen to the answer. Not just what your execs say, but how they say it, and what they leave out. Do they accede to your request right away? Lucky you! Or are they mealy-mouthed and noncommittal? Even a non-answer gives you information about who your leaders are, and may expose some information that is worth your coworkers knowing and reacting to.
Speaking of coworker reactions: you may learn some things about them, as well. Acting on your values is uncomfortable in itself, but sometimes especially because you find that people you thought were your friends… aren’t. This is also good information, even if it’s not fun to learn that the system you work in is fundamentally unfair. That’s harder to learn when it benefits you, than when it doesn’t. And yeah, living your values is hard. This can affect your standing at work negatively. That’s something that everyone working in DEI as a way to protect and support their own communities learns from day one.
Lastly: so much of this backlash caters to white men’s feelings about being meant to feel shame. There’s no shame in here, guys. Shame is not a synonym for accountability. This is just explaining the rules of the game. It’s so easy to sit back and benefit from them. You are actively rewarded for doing so. If you don’t want to see it, or do anything about it, there’s nothing I can say that’ll convince you otherwise. But this isn’t about moving forward vs. staying still: it’s about holding on vs. sliding back 60 years. If you do happen to believe that everyone deserves an even shot, the only way you get to live your values is by saying so.