Ask a Manager: My Company Sent Out a Fried Chicken Recipe for BHM

[minoanmiss]

My employer sent out a fried chicken recipe for Black History Month

I am seriously considering quitting my Fortune 100 job over an email that went out to all U.S. associates to celebrate Black History Month. However, until I do, I’m hoping you have some advice on what else I can do. The email I received had this subject line: “Recipe Attached: Black History Month was first recognized in 1976.” The recipe attached was for “healthy fried chicken” and buried in the depths of the email was the submitter of the recipe — a white-presenting woman who lives in New York. There was also a link to a BBC article on the history of fried chicken being Scottish, not Southern.

I immediately clicked on the “submit feedback” link to provide them with the google search results about the racism of this. Within 30 minutes, they had issued an apology — of sorts. I’m not sure that “[we] understand there have been mixed emotions for some regarding today’s Black History Month communication and recipe suggestion and we are truly sorry if anyone was offended” counts as an apology. I’ve sent similar feedback when they had a man as a keynote sponsor at the Women’s Employee Forum and when they sent alcohol to people’s houses without regard to recovery, religion, or health considerations, so they are tone-deaf and signal blind in multiple areas.

As a cis-het white woman who tries to be a good ally, I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt to be a black employee who received this message. Besides submitting feedback and telling others to submit feedback when inappropriate things show up, what other actions can I take to try and enact change?

That “apology” wasn’t sufficient, and the fact that the email could happen in the first place says there are deep-rooted problems in your company’s culture. If you’re willing to do some organizing (or lend your energy to others who are already leading), it sounds badly needed.

You’re at an F100 company, which means it’s large. Do you have an office that works on equity and inclusion, or employee resource groups that tackle race or equity issues? If so, start with them and ask how to help. If you don’t (or even if you do), it’s worth looking at how your company handles issues of equity and inclusion in general (badly, it sounds like), what kinds of experiences people of color are having there, how any DEI programs are working or not working, what holes you see in those programs, and what commitments your company has made to DEI and whether they’re meeting those. Consider seeking out colleagues who share your concerns to form a racial equity working group to start tackling some of those issues if one doesn’t already exist. There’s some advice here from DEI expert Michelle Silverthorn on getting started.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

I want to hug LW.

Also, for once, the discussion didn't hurt my wee soul. Pretty much everyone was on board with "that was racist and the apology doubled down on the racism and obnoxiousness, WTF." I was pleasantly surprised.

[sporky_rat]

I can't even think of a company here in the American South that would pull this shit.

[green_grrl]

Right? That this is a Fortune 100 company that seems to lack any kind of professionalism in its internal communications, HR, and/or DEI is mind-boggling to me!

[shirou]

Yeah, I would expect a F100 company to have layers of review for anything being sent company-wide. My company is large but definitely not F100, and we conduct legal and policy review before any such communications. That this somehow made it out the door is, as you said, mind-boggling.

[conuly]

Every single month I talk to people who swear that they never heard of any association between African-Americans and fried chicken and/or watermelon, and strongly insinuate that I must be making it up, or at least exaggerating something from the distant past.

Those people further suggest that since they can't imagine any way this can be offensive, it therefore can't be offensive and, naturally, anybody who thinks so must be the real racist.

Some part of me that has no common sense wants to forward this onto them to see if they'll finally concede point a, or if they'll double down on point b instead.

[dine]

I bet they'd double down

[conuly]

Almost certainly, but there's still that part of me that wants to know for sure.

[minoanmiss]

Every bleeping month? OMG, I send you so much strength.

[conuly]

It wouldn't be quite so frustrating except that several times it was the same person. And that's even more frustrating because over the past 18 years, it's like every time I've moved to a new parenting blog/forum as the nieces got older, there she was. The last time I changed my username. I don't know if she's figured out it's me again yet.

[lilysea]

Every single month I talk to people who swear that they never heard of any association between African-Americans and fried chicken and/or watermelon, and strongly insinuate that I must be making it up, or at least exaggerating something from the distant past.

What the actual fuck?

I'm an Australian who has never even *been* to America and *even I* know about it

thanks to a video by the excellent Franchesca Ramsey

https://youtu.be/1GgwtjqqZEU

[bikergeek]

Seriously? This company *literally* pulled one of the textbook examples of "What not to do." Not enough facepalm in all the world.

And that was 100% a "non-apology apology." FFS.

[movingfinger]

This is the sort of thing that would blow up spectacularly in the F100 company's face if it became public with attribution. So I hope it does. Save a copy of that email, someday-ex-employee!

[lemonsharks]

I'm on team "leak the email to the press and let the chips fall where they may" here.