How Black officers are treated on Madisons police force by their colleagues is still an issue that must be worked on, but it also shows you the power of having the top leader be a person of color who is concerned about diversity. If it were not for former police Chief Noble Wray, and before him Chief Williams (two Black men), as well as former Fire Department chief Deborah Amesqua (American Indian) one could easily argue that the citys police force and fire department would likely look like the rest of the departments in city government (very little if any diversity at all). But I will give new police chief Koval credit though. He is seen as being fair and committed to diversity by officers of color in the Madison Police Department and is already visible in Madisons nonwhite community much the same way Chief Wray and Williams were. I hope he can be a symbol of commitment and results for other leaders of for-profit, nonprofit and government employers in the Greater Madison area. Too many local businesses still look like 1960 Country Clubs and all of them need to make a serious, genuine and out-of-the-box effort to change this. As Ive told hundreds of business leaders across this region, you may not be racist and you may not be responsible for previous acts of discrimination that created these wide disparities in our otherwise prosperous nation and capital city, but if you are doing little to nothing to change the complexion and composition of your organizations, leadership teams and boards of directors, and do little or nothing to undo the organizational behaviors that got you there, then you are reinforcing and upholding the very system of Institutionalized racism and discrimination that was promoted by or allowed to prevail by your predecessors. Also, when you look in the mirror and realize how many lives and generations you could be changing and improving by opening your doors to others and you still do nothing or little to manifest equality of opportunity in your business or department, then you are no better than those who came before you and should not be upset when your current track record is affiliated with that of the past. We busted doors open during my tenure at the Urban League of Greater Madison and became a source of professional advancement and service for a lot of people who represent the diversity of our city. I hope my successor and their team break open more doors and work with employers to keep them open. I will measure the quality of their leadership and that of all other leaders in Madison by their results, not by how many meetings and events they hold or attend, or by their words alone. Get involved and make change happen! No excuses! And community members, get yourselves ready for these opportunities, worked hard to secure them, and act like you want and value them when those doors are opened to you. If you dont, then you too are part of the problem, and you are stomping on the graves and wounds of scores of people who fought and died so opportunity would be available to you. No excuses from you either!
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 12:17:49 +0000
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