George Floyd Four Years Later - What's Really Changed?

Introducer

This is the ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett, a podcast from the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, an organization dedicated to eradicating racism and hate and spreading anti-racism. Listen as Donzel talks about the relevant topics that will inspire you and help build your capability to take action and change the world, because none of us are doing enough as long as racism still exists. And now here's your host, Donzel Leggett.

Donzel Leggett

Hello and welcome to the second episode of Season 4 of the ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett. In this episode, I welcome Tiffany Daniels, managing director of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity to discuss the current status of the many commitments that were made to address the longstanding racial injustices that led to George Floyd’s murder four years ago. Now let’s get started with our show.

So I am Donzel Leggett, host of the ARCC of Change Podcast and founder of the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, or ARCC. Our vision at ARCC is to build a racism-free world and our mission is to provide inspiration, education, and support for you to transform, practice, and spread anti-racism and anti-hate. This begins with our three-step process of personal transformation to anti-racism. The first step is erasing your ignorance about racism and hate. The second step is educating yourself about anti racism and the third step is building the confidence and character to stand up, speak out and take action to spread anti-racism and anti-hate and make positive change happen. Now as you know, this is our 4th season of the ARCC of Change and it's the fourth season because the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition or ARCC was founded in 2020 in response to a devastating and jarring tragedy. You see, four years ago, on Memorial Day weekend, the world was awakened to the real social and racial injustices that were still taking place in the United States of America when Darnella Frazier filmed the callous, agonizing, and brutal murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in downtown Minneapolis. What followed were demonstrations the size and magnitude and duration and diversity of outraged participants of which the state of Minnesota and every state across the United States and even countries all over the world had never seen before. Protesters demanding accountability for the officers who committed the murder and for real change in real action to address the systemic factors that led to this terrible tragedy. Factors that included the racial disparities in policing, incarceration, education and meaningful employment access, investment in infrastructure and business that all still existed in the state of Minnesota, in the United States of America as a country, and many other countries around the world, locking most black and brown people into the never-ending cycle of racial injustice and generational poverty. In response, the state of Minnesota and the United States federal government vowed to hold the officers who killed George Floyd accountable for the murder. And to make changes. To introduce new laws that would change policing to make it more racially and ethnically equitable and easier to hold officers accountable for violating civil rights and using racially and ethnically-based policing and deadly force. Also, in response, many public and private institutions and major corporations vowed to make real change happen as well. To address the cycle of racial injustice, denial of meaningful employment access and business investment, and ultimately, generational poverty. Many of them made commitments to increase monetary support and, even more importantly, many of them vowed to increase diverse organizational hiring and promotions focused disproportionately on African Americans, as well as to accelerate their progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion, adopting it as part of their culture. And very importantly, having real, authentic leadership commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion progress from their company leaders. 

So, four years later, what happened? Well, many people, not all, felt that there was accountability for the actual murder of George Floyd. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in the state of Minnesota for murdering George Floyd and sentenced to 22 ½ years. He also pleaded guilty to federal charges and was sentenced for his federal crimes to 21 years. And the other three former Minneapolis police officers that were on the scene but never intervened to stop Chauvin from using deadly force and did not provide George Floyd any medical assistance, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao were also either convicted or pleaded guilty and were handed sentences ranging from three to just under five years in the state of Minnesota and 2 ½ to 3 ½ years on federal charges. Now regarding laws to address systemic racism and policing, the state of Minnesota's legislature responded in July 2020 by passing police reform legislation, and that was signed into law by the governor. This mandated changes in police officer training and conduct. At the federal level, the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act was passed by the United States House, also in 2020. But unfortunately, it's never passed in the Senate. So not a perfect outcome in terms of what many of us were hoping for in terms of accountability, but it's certainly qualifies as delivering on most of the government’s commitments for accountability for those officers, the ones who murdered George Floyd, and at least some legislative action to address the systemic issues of racially and ethnically biased policing. But what about the commitments of the many public and private institutions and major corporations? The commitments to accelerate progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion adoption and culture change within their organizations and authentic commitment by their company and organizational leaders to diversity equity inclusion, progress. What about the commitments to make significant and real progress in diverse organizational hiring and promotion focused on African Americans? What about the commitments to address the institutional racism, denial of access and the sustained generational poverty that led to this tragedy? Four years later, where are we? Four years later, what's really happened? Four years later, were those commitments actually met? Four years later. What's really changed and has the change been positive? Joining us in the next segment is someone who is perfectly positioned to provide excellent insight on these questions. My good friend Tiffany Daniels, the managing director of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity, is here and she joins us next.

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Donzel Leggett

All right, we're back on the ARCC of Change and as promised, we're joined by our esteemed guest, my good friend Tiffany Daniels. Tiffany, welcome to the ARCC of Change.

Tiffany Daniels

Thank you for having me, Donzel.

Donzel Leggett

It's so great to have you, and obviously I've known you for a while, but the audience doesn't know who you are. So, let's start off by you talking about yourself. Tell the audience who you are or what you do, anything else you'd like to share.

Tiffany Daniels

Sure! I am the inaugural managing director for the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity, which is a consortium of large corporations that are mostly headquartered in the state of Minnesota that worked together to advance racial equity specifically for Black Minnesotans. I have had the pleasure of serving as the Managing Director for almost three years, however, I come to this work not having been a DEI leader or practitioner before. I am a business leader. I've spent 15 years building brands. I started my career in advertising before I went to business school and then joined General Mills where I was building brands and running businesses and leading teams, all the while really involved in the DEI work of the company, whether that was lead taking a leadership role in our Black employee resource group, the Black Champions Network, or leading our Inclusion Council for the marketing function, or going out to recruit racially diverse candidates to want to work at the company. I was really, really involved in that sort of work. And so, I've always really viewed DEI as a really strong avenue for my impact.

Donzel Leggett

Well, great. Thank you, Tiffany. Now, if I remember right, you came into this, this role back in 2021, when you were named the Managing Director. 

Tiffany Daniels

That’s correct.

Donzel Leggett

So tell us a little bit more about the organization and why it was formed specifically and then maybe you can also talk about why you, as the Managing Director. Obviously, you have a great background, but I'm guessing there maybe were some other circumstances that led to you being named Managing Director.

Tiffany Daniels

Yes. This organization, the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity, or MBCRE, was formed in 2020 in the midst of the racial uprising here that that was catalyzed here in Minneapolis but quickly spread around the world. And this coalition was formed, really, as an acknowledgment from the private sector that the business community both could and should be doing more to address racial inequity in the state of Minnesota. If you recall those days and weeks following the horrific murder of George Floyd, there was a lot of conversation happening about the racial disparities in the state of Minnesota and what type of conditions could lead to such a tragedy happening on the streets of this great city and in broad daylight, no less. And with that magnifying glass on all of the disparities, whether it was education, or home ownership, or household income, or just the wealth gap broadly, the private sector really stood up and formed this coalition to say, “we have an opportunity to act different. To listen to community about what might be helpful from the business community and to start to harness the power of our resources and our influence and direct it at some very specific issues.” This organization was run primarily by volunteers for about 18 months, and all those folks have big daytime jobs. They were heads of foundations, corporate foundations, they were chief diversity officers, chief equity officers. And so they were really busy in their day jobs. And as MBCRE started to grow and we really started to recognize the potential, they decided that they needed a full-time leader. And I had known about the coalition because I was working at General Mills at the time, and General Mills is one of the founding member companies of the Coalition. But I never thought that I would go into running a startup nonprofit. Or even that I'd be a good fit for this type of role. However, as they were on their search, they were looking for someone who had a really strong background in corporate who was comfortable building strategy, creating structure in highly ambiguous environments. And that's a lot of what I like to do. So I'd say professionally my skill set really aligned with this role. The thing that really called me to this job, though, was not just about my background and what skills I had gained, you know, through my career in marketing and getting my MBA. It was really a much deeper call for me. If I go back to, you know that Tuesday after Memorial Day in 2020, when the world is learning about the murder of George Floyd, my husband and I were having a different conversation in our house. I found out that I was pregnant on that same day.

Donzel Leggett

Wow.

Tiffany Daniels

So I remember so vividly him coming home from work that day. My husband worked in healthcare, so he was still very much in the, you know, going to work every day in the midst of the pandemic and we were just trying to process the news of Mr. George Floyd and at that point, you know the video had come out and so I said to him, “OK, well, can we just take a break from talking about that for a second? I have something else to tell you.” And I think it was my journey to motherhood that really called me to get more directly involved in my community at the at that particular moment. You know, I found out months later that I would be having a boy, and I was going to be bringing another black boy who would grow up to be a black man, and the anxiety, and I just felt as though I needed to be doing something different, that my son was going to one day and grow up and read about this moment in his history books. And I wanted to be able to demonstrate for him that his mother did something as a way to model that if you ever see an injustice or you see something that you want to impact in your community, that you have the agency to do it. You have all the talent you need. You have everything that you need to have the sort of positive impact that you might want to have. And so I decided to accept the role as Managing Director to lead MBCRE. And it was a lot of unknowns for me. I was coming from a, you know, corporate background. I was very fortunate that General Mills did agree to sponsor me. So, I'm what you might consider an “executive on loan”, which means that General Mills pays my salary and benefits at 100% and has been for the last 2 ½ years and I have the opportunity to lead the Coalition full time.

Donzel Leggett

Wow, that's great. I remember when your announcement was made and my first reaction and thought was, “wow, she is awesome. How did they get her to make this this move?” So, it's really great to hear the story. I didn't know about your son. The news about you being pregnant with your son and the impact that that having the decision. But I'm really happy that you moved into this role. I mean, you know, you obviously talked about George Floyd's murder, your pregnancy, bringing a black baby boy into the world, having an impact that's told you, “I gotta do something.” You know, certainly I didn't have those same circumstances, but one of the reasons I started ARCC was because George Floyd was murdered. There's a big black man 6’5, 6’6, 240 lbs. I'm 6’5, 240 lbs. I saw so many similarities that happened 30 minutes from my house. There's so many people and people I know that I volunteer for organizations down there that knew him. I had to do something, so I started ARCC. Four years later, we're still going. Four years later, you're in this role trying to make a difference. But as you said, there were many organizations like this Coalition, and companies that also made big commitments to say, “we're going to do something, we're going to make a difference.” What has happened since then?

Tiffany Daniels

I mean a lot happen. I say a lot. Well, I will say that a lot has happened, period. And some of it has propelled us forward and some of it has not. And if we go back to, you know those mid-2020 and early 2021, there were a lot of dollars committed, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars were committed specifically from the private sector as a commitment to fighting racial injustice in this country and unfortunately, you know, not all of that has come to fruition and I think there have been a number of detractors and things that have really worked against the progress that we all claim to have wanted to see in 2020. I mean, I think the first thing that I reflect on, you know, when I started in leading the coalition, there was this really strong sense of urgency, specifically in the corporate community about taking action. And, you know, from, I'd say, the very top of companies down to folks that were responsible for implementing or investing in programs, there was a sense of alignment that we wanted to make good on those commitments. As time marched on, though, the environment just started to kind of return to the dynamism that we all kind of live with every day. I think there was a moment in the midst of the pandemic and when— immediately following when George Floyd was murdered and that racial uprising where it almost seemed like time stood still a little bit. And then if you fast-forward a few months, you know there are, we're starting to get more comfortable going out in public. There's some companies who are opening the doors to their headquarters again and welcoming people back to work. And one of the other things that you might recall from that period of time is we were having a lot of discussions about the macroeconomic environment. There was a lot of talk about inflation, challenges in supply chain, and these and this was causing some very serious issues for a lot of companies and I think that was, from my experience, when I saw kind of the first big shift of our attention away from racial equity.

Donzel Leggett

OK.

Tiffany Daniels

That there is now a bigger, seemingly more pressing business issue and we've got to focus on that, and you know, I'll even use the engagement or membership in the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity as a proxy for that. When I joined MBCRE in October 2021, we had over 75 member organizations on the road. If you fast-forward a year, that number dropped to just around 50.

Donzel Leggett

Wow.

Tiffany Daniels

The following year, it dropped to just under 35.

Donzel Leggett 

Wow.

Tiffany Daniels

And right now, there's about 21 or 22 companies, right? So in almost three years’ time, even a coalition like ours has lost 75% of its member organizations. Which I do think is somewhat telling and indicative of and just the shift in focus, right? I mentioned you know that shift in attention when we were when companies were really focused on their supply chain challenges and then you know you jump forward a year, and you have the Supreme Court issue a decision about, you know, using race as a factor in decisions in higher education, and while that decision was really focused on higher education, it really sent a shockwave and had a very strong ripple effect in the corporate community as well, because it sparked all sorts of conversations about hiring. And then you have, you know, attorneys general who are sending letters essentially threatening legislation or threatening litigation, excuse me, around— towards companies, around their DEI programs. And so we have seen what was a very strong sense of urgency and a lot of courageous action in the corporate community really turn into apprehension and really focus risk mitigation, If I'm being honest.

Donzel Leggett

Well, so I mean what you've provided us is a really good insight into you know why first of all, it sounds like there was some initial progress made, but over time some of the interest and the commitment has kind of waned and you know, of course that's not really great when you when think about the legacy of George Floyd and what people wanted from that horrific murder was not just protesting, but they wanted action, a sense of urgency. So it sounds like there's been some mitigating factors. Do you think, I guess, what would be your thoughts you know in terms of as you know it, it feels like again progress made but progress is waning. It's a little not really where we want to be and it feels like we're, you know kind of gone backwards in some cases. You've identified some good reasons and some really clear perspective as to why that is. Are there any other reasons, whether it's cultural, or do you really think just this the tone change in terms of what business need to focus on coupled with this the legislation that's happened recently has really been the key factor? Is there anything else that you want to identify?

Tiffany Daniels

I mean, I think just to maybe zoom in on the recent legislation and maybe this is a separate factor, but related, it's just the overall politicization of DEI, right? 

Donzel Leggett

Yeah.

Tiffany Daniels

There is almost a— DEI has almost become a bad term, right? That we're using it in place of other words, it's being, you know, thought of in some instances, as you know, another form of racism or discrimination when that's not at all. Those of us that work closely in the field of DEI, or are in organizations who have stated commitments about supporting diverse employees, and that's even, you know, beyond racial diversity, right? Diversity does not just mean race. But even I think so often we have made it shorthand for race. And so, like we often do in this country, we have kind of taken a term and co-opted it to kind of keep from saying what we really mean. And I think as a result, it's left some organizations and not just those in the corporate community, but anybody. I mean, we've seen it in academia, we see it even in the philanthropy space with the recent federal court appeals blocking Fearless Fund from making grants towards Black women entrepreneurs and so seeing it all over and What is meant for good? What is meant to level the playing field? What is meant as a tool for us to really realize the ideals set forth in this country around freedom and opportunity and democracy and equality? DEI is a tool to help us to realize those ideals that there is very serious opposition.

Donzel Leggett

Yeah. So man, it's those are very significant macro-issues. I think most of us who are in this work have felt this tone shift, negative towards diversity, equity inclusion work and commitments that that companies have made. We've obviously seen the changes in legislation that have pushed against that work. If we zero back into ground zero of the George Floyd murder, which is Minneapolis and why MCBRE was created, what do you think has to happen? To actually get back on track to achieving the changes that MCBRE was created, was actually created to make in this environment. Again, I'm not asking to take a look at the entire nation because you know that's a much bigger issue. But for what you have to do, what do you think has to change? For you and your organization to get back on track to those commitments.

Tiffany Daniels

The biggest thing, which is you know more, it's more kind of abstract, but I think it's we have to get back to that sense of urgency and courage. There was just a different energy and momentum in 2020 and 2021 that was, in retrospect, really about crisis management. It was not necessarily about sustained engagement or impact. It was just, “I've got to manage these crises and come out on the other side as positively or as unscathed as possible from a company standpoint.” And unfortunately, when you get out of crisis mode, we have realized that we just don't have the muscle to sustain commitment around racial equity in the absence of crisis, and especially in the absence of death.

Donzel Leggett

Yeah.

Tiffany Daniels

Our significant progress in this country has always come on the back of tragedy. And we have to get away from that. We have to be able to care about injustice or dismantling racism when no one's watching. Or when it feels unpopular to do so. And as I think about the private sector in particular, I think that's a very new set of habits for us, and one that we're trying to build, that's part of the power of MBCRE. While MBCRE has gotten smaller in the last two or three years, I very much look at it as a coalition of the willing.

Donzel Leggett

Yes.

Tiffany Daniels

It is still powerful to have almost two dozen of the largest corporations in our state convened around racial equity, working together to think about employment opportunity, which is one of our big focus areas and black business development. How might we really support a thriving ecosystem for black entrepreneurs and even to lift our voice? At the state legislature, like, there is still great work happening that I'm incredibly proud of. It's just with a smaller group than we initially started with. And I think that that's OK, that as long as we continue to model the behavior, as long as we have alignment at every level in an organization from the very top of the House down to folks who implement programs that we will eventually, I hope, enlist more people in this movement and Minnesota really has an opportunity to provide a model and really show what it looks like when the business community stands up to honor its commitments.

Donzel Leggett

Perfectly stated. I'll give you an opportunity, s there any closing comment or call to action you want to leave our audience with?

Tiffany Daniels

Sure. I mean, I think the thing that is really important for any business leader that is listening, it is to, really think about how your DEI initiatives or your social impact commitments, whatever nomenclature you're using your organization, to really think about how it connects to your core business. How does it connect to how you make money? Because without that really strong linkage, that inextricable linkage or connection, we will always see the deprioritization. We will always see it kind of fall to the bottom of the list when there seems to be a more pressing issue come forward. And so my challenge is to executives and to strategy leaders to do the hard work to really get clear about how diversity, equity, and inclusion can be a growth driver for your business. And if you do that, then you will be among some of the most courageous because you will be able to sustain your investment and sustain your commitment in a way that many of your peers have not.

Donzel Leggett

That's awesome. Thank you so much, you know, for your awesome insight and call to action, Tiffany. I 100% agree with you. We have to take action to regain the momentum we had in 2020 and make these changes happen. We can't let George Floyd's legacy simply be an emotional one or risk management one. Or one where guilt force people to do something in the moment. But one that actually drives systemic change. ARCC, like MCBRE was created in the wake of George Floyd's murder to drive real change. The essence of our vision is to build a racism-free world, and our mission is to provide an inspiration, education and support for you to transform, practice, and spread anti-racism and anti-hate. So what can you, our listeners, do right now to reignite the energy and regained the momentum we had in 2020 following George Floyd's murder and ensure that systemic change does happen? 

Here are two things I can tell you right now that you can do to help make real change happen. The first one visit our website at www.joinarcc.org that's joinarcc.org to learn more about ARCC and join our coalition. Secondly, while you're on our website, register for the ARCC personal transformation learning and development experience. We just unveiled this on episode one of season four that's available to the public for the very first time. Again, visit our website www.joinarcc.org click or hover over “take action” at the top of the menu bar and then click personal transformation experience in the drop-down menu. This experience. Is the core of what ARCC is all about transforming people to be anti-racist and building your capability to drive positive change. It will not only accelerate your anti-racism journey. It will also be a positive life changing experience that will help you build your overall confidence and support you to demand and drive the changes in progress that many of you protested for and that were committed to following George Floyd's murder. And that you heard today, some of that progress is stalled or, in some cases, actually gone backwards. 

Let me close by once again thanking my good friend Tiffany Daniels for joining us today and providing our expert insight on this critically important topic. And I also want to thank her for her tireless service and her sacrifice to the Twin Cities community for being another example of HOPE. HOPE: How Optimistic People Endure, and she continues to fight every day for the changes that must be made, even though sometimes that progress doesn't appear to be in the direction that she might want it to be. She has to continue to keep that hope alive. That we will make a difference. And change racial inequity. And change and eliminate generational poverty. Tiffany once again, thank you. And please come back and join us sometime in the future.

Tiffany Daniels

Thank you. I would be back anytime, Donzel.

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To find the ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett and learn more about the Anti-Racism, Commitment Coalition or ARCC, please visit us at joinarc.org. You can also subscribe to the ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett on your favorite podcast hosting sites. I greatly look forward to our next episode and opportunity to inspire you to become part of the movie that will change the world by eradicating racism once and for all. ‘Til next time, stay safe and continue to ask yourself, am I doing enough? And remember that none of us are doing enough as long as racism and hate still exist. Thanks for listening and goodbye.

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The ARCC of Change Podcast with Donzel Leggett is brought to you by the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition. To learn more about ARCC, donate to our cause and join the coalition, visit joinarcc.org. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And share this podcast to help spread our mission to change the world by ending racism once and for all. Thanks for listening. Until next time, stay safe and be inspired.