by guest contributor Latoya Peterson

“Are white women doing their part to support their black sisters in the fight for gender parity in corporate America?”

Damn, I thought to myself after turning the page, Pink isn’t playing.

Pink Magazine focuses on perspectives and resources for women in business. While I was underwhelmed with their offerings when the publication launched, they have won me back over the last few months with interesting features, timely articles, and an increased commitment to diversity in their pages.

But even I wasn’t expecting something of this caliber.

In their January/February 2008 issue, Carolyn M. Brown weighs in on the sticky subject of race relations in the workplace. Brown, the editor at large for Black Enterprise pulls no punches with her piece:

One look at the statistics (see “A Story in Numbers”) and the question emerges: Why haven’t black women made the same strides as white women if the issue is purely gender?

The harsh reality is that white women are afforded many of the same privileges as white males by being part of the majority class in the corporate arena, say high-ranking women of color. And many white women are shirking their responsibilities as sisters in the gender movement.

[…]

Michelle Johnson, director of supplier diversity for The Home Depot, agrees that white women, just as much as white men, are often in denial of race as a significant deciding factor at work. “White women don’t have parity with white men but they’re a rung above women of color on the ladder,” she says. “White men in corporate America look at white women and see their wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, daughters, nieces, and granddaughters.” In contrast, she says, many of the same men still see women of color as clerks. And even some of the white women secretly view black women as their support - “the hired help” - not equal partners striving for common ground with the men.

“White Lies” goes on to describe the rise of subtle race based discrimination and the assumptions that are made about the abilities of women of color - particularly the assumptions that are made when staffing a high profile or high visibility position.

The two sidebars included in the text are also packed full of useful information and shocking statistics. In the first sidebar, “A Story in Numbers,” it is revealed that of the top 500 corporations, there are only thirteen women CEOs. Of that number, two are Asian-American. The rest are white.

The second side bar (written by Denise Beckles, diversity education manager at Johnson and Johnson) provides actual steps to take to build diversity and inclusion in our workplaces. Beckles advises white women that “Inclusion requires interaction and connection. Tolerance does not. Go out of your way to be a mentor for a woman of color.” There is also advice provided for women of color: “Never assume white women are all alike; they, too, are unique individuals. Gain an understanding of why we need each other to survive.”

I really have to applaud Pink for using such direct language to tackle a divisive subject. (And I will be very interested to see next month’s reader mail.)

Perhaps other magazines would do well to follow the advice of Lillian Dukes, vice president of technical services for American Eagle Airlines:

An honest dialogue between white and black women may not always be rosy, Dukes suggests, but only by discussing and reshaping women’s deeply seated notions about one another can women of all races move forward. “This is not a recrimination,” Finley says, “but an opportunity for us all.”