Banning Work Conversations About Race Is Counterproductive

After the video of police officer Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd hit the internet, many organizations lent their support to calls for racial justice. One year later anti-Asian hate crimes, police murders of Black Americans and racial discrimination persist, yet some companies are sending signals that they are ready to move on.

Tech companies like Basecamp and Coinbase have now characterized racial injustice as a “political” topic inappropriate for the workplace. Even the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — which has publicly denounced systemic racism and is tasked with enforcing laws against workplace discrimination — has told employees that Black Lives Matter is a topic that should be limited to “personal conversations.” This framing not only misrepresents the nature of these conversations, it represents a shift that could be damaging to employees and workplace cultures.