A First Step
Woo! It has been a trying, difficult couple of weeks that started with the murder of George Floyd that was broadcasted to the world. I questioned in writing about this topic because I don’t want to come across as bandwagoning off of his death. But his death, along with the many others that have happened all too close together – Ahmaud Arbery, Breyonna Taylor and Sean Monterrosa to name a few, have weighed heavy on my heart. Big Floyd’s killing has caused a huge spark in businesses big and small to finally address the shortcomings they have in how they operate internally and externally when it comes to people of color from the lack of diversity within their companies, lack of diversity in leadership roles in their companies, lack of diversity in the marketing to people of color and lack of sponsorship to people of color.
It’s great to see the messages from CEOs and the donations going towards various funds at this time. But let’s hope that those words don’t ring hollow as the days and weeks pass on. Much like a music artist can have a great first week debut, what happens one month, three months, six months down the line? Is the record label still pushing their album to streaming platforms? Is the label still pushing other singles out to radio? Are the marketing dollars still there? Likewise, where will these companies be at with their support whether in their words, their dollars or most important, in their actions to change and be more inclusive beyond what they initially committed to? To impart real change, there needs to be a sustained effort beyond the lip service.
As the saying goes, no one wants a hand out, but a hand up and an opportunity to have a seat at the table. Not to be passed over because they look a certain way; the name on the resume isn’t common to see; because the route taken to get there isn’t a typical one seen in the industry. And I speak specifically when it comes to the endurance sports industry. For many of us people of color, there has been a clear lack of representation for years. Only within the last let’s say five years, have we seen better diversity in the marketing and sponsorship toward and of people of color. Props to New Balance, who has been doing a great job in sponsoring elite athlete Brenda Martinez and her high school women’s athlete running camp, Hoka One One who has been sponsoring body positive athlete Latoya Shauntay Snell as she champions better inclusivity of athletes of all sizes and of color and even USA Triathlon whose campaign all of last year was to grow the sport of triathlon in communities of color. Props to them on working to be better stewards of inclusivity well before George’s death. I hope that other brands and organizations within endurance sports continue to make concerted efforts beyond these initial statements and donations.
Speaking for myself, while local running groups may be pretty well diverse, that representation doesn’t translate enough upward with the brands and races we spend countless dollars on for gear to stay active in the sports we love. With a combined purchasing power of over $3.5 trillion dollars between Black, Asian and Latino Americans, from purely business outlook, why wouldn’t you want to market your wares more to us? However, for many of us who try to buy with a social conscious, the effort has to be genuine and authentic. Don’t just slap your logo on a product or donate blindly and call it a day. We’ll see through that. Make an effort to learn about us, and why certain things matter. For those brands new to this, look at your peers that are making these move properly for that inspiration on how to do it right.
For many of us that stumbled upon endurance sports and ultimately fell in love with it, I don’t think we had many role models that looked like us; that shared common life experiences to look up to whether from an amateur or elite level. As we mature into the sports, perhaps we are slowly becoming those role models that younger generations can see that look like them and have them feel like they would want to get their feet wet into triathlon and marathon as well. Coupled with brands, races and organizations that properly foster a more inclusive business model, hopefully the next generation can feel more welcomed at being true to themselves and feeling represented in training, at the starting line and beyond. I’ll do my best to do my part.
Image cred: This mural of George Floyd was one of the first to go up nationwide. It was done by Amend of the TDK crew and is located at Somar Bar in Oakland, CA
