When we wonder why marginalized groups are ‘underrepresented’, we are asking the wrong question
For the most part, we have been doing it wrong. For decades, the way that government entities, institutions, organizations, and even advocates and activists have gone about addressing inequality in this country has been fundamentally flawed. We’ve asked the wrong questions, pursued the wrong solutions, and accepted the wrong premises. We’ve mainly obsessed over why people of color, women and LGBTQ+ individuals are “underrepresented” rather than asking: why are straight white American men so dramatically overrepresented in positions of power?
This isn’t about semantic hairsplitting. It’s about asking the right question, a strategic reorientation in thinking that gets to the heart of the matter. The problem isn’t that people of color and other marginalized people are lacking the necessary qualities – intelligence, ambition, discipline, networks and other qualifications, other merit – to climb their way up to positions of power and influence in greater numbers. The problem is the longstanding and widespread practice of granting preferences to straight white American men. White men make up about 29% of the US population, according to census data.
Twenty-nine percent: white men make up approximately 29% of the US population
The percentage of top positions in an organization, institution or entity held by white men
The organization’s overall workforce demographics
The demographics of the relevant qualified candidate pool
The demographics of the communities the organization serves
Industry benchmarks (where available)
The overall general US population?
Who makes hiring decisions for senior roles?
What criteria are used for promotion to leadership positions?
How are “cultural fit” and “leadership potential” assessed?
What networks and relationships influence succession planning?
How are board seats filled?
This article was adapted from Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?: Playing Offense in the Fight for Racial Justice in America, out on 21 April from New Press
Steve Phillips is the founder of Democracy in Color and author of Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority and How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good