Black In Business

A buzz word from the 60’s that still is a hot topic today. I saw Barrack Obama on “Meet the Press,” this morning. He mentioned much of our political debate today is a hang over from the 60’s.Examples;big government vs small,sexual revolution or family values, quotas vs affirmative action. Why are we stuck in the pass and what does this have to do with blacks in business?

I had the good fortune to hear a speech from a VP of HR for a major big city newspaper. He was a accomplished black professional with confidence and style. Here we are 40 years after a program designed to “keep hope Alive,” and help us blacks, long victimized by discrimination, live the American dream. Yet many have lost hope, have we failed or succeeded from the days, when my miner father use to tell me, the White-man, will let you work in his store but he will not let you be the cashier or count the money. As we all know now, we can now be the cashier. Of course there are cameras all around and security focused strategies to help keep us honest.

Back to the speech, there was a section called, the history of HR. 40 years ago, HR was personnel and it became a safe heven for black faces,affirmative action at work;work in the store, but do not touch the money. The personnel dept. lacked clout,respect and did the distasteful work. Employees were sent to personnel if their bosses were unhappy. Few blacks came into sales, marketing,  where God forbit, we might come into contact with customers, or finance where we might count the money. The personnel blacks were often subservient and non threating. They were not respect for their talent and were often viewed as Uncle Tom’s by other blacks in their work force.

Fast forward, the dept. is now HR and they sit aat the table of power. The jobs, once reserved for passive blacks, VP of HR, Director of HR, Dversity manager, HR Generalist, now includes whites and a more business savy black.

HR is part of the inner circle and they sit at the table, where business is discussed. They are there when  plans are made for growth and some even have opinions. They have an opportunity through organizational development to become major players in theri companies. The HR VP giving this speech, has an MBA from a  top 10 business school. I predict over a short period of time HR will become whiter and whiter. What do you think, does it matter, how can our youth be better prepared for the future trend? What about some of the old school Black’s that started as personnel, will that adapt and develope the couarage and skills to participate in and not just sit at the seat of power, while waiting to pass the baton to more and more whites.