The great W.E.B. Du Bois famously said that the problem of the 20th century in America was the problem of the color line. The election of President Barack Obama redrew somewhat the color line in this country, though of course that problem remains. However, with a bow of respect to one of this nation’s greatest thinkers in Du Bois, we might suggest that the problem of the 21st century in this country is the problem of workforce diversity. For too many black people today – for too many Americans of any description – this equates to the problem of the unemployment line.
One executive order from a first-term Democratic governor already positioning himself for reelection with the support of his party’s essential African-American base is not going to solve this problem. Time will tell if it even contributes appreciably to alleviating the problem of insufficient workforce diversity in this state. However, on Sunday when Gov. Jay Nixon signed an executive order establishing rules for workforce diversity in the executive branch of Missouri government, this conservative Democrat signed his name to a concrete effort that attempts to address the problem (see Business, page B1).
Nixon signed this executive order at the opening reception of the 101st annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People conference in Kansas City, so without question there was an element of playing political theater to his base. Kansas City is the home of the governor’s African-American right-hand man, Commissioner of Administration Kelvin Simmons, and home of the legendary Freedom Inc. organization that produced Simmons and many other effective black political officials in Kansas City. So Nixon’s decision to sign this executive order in Kansas City and highlight the pressing need for greater workforce diversity and inclusion in Missouri government and business also spotlights Nixon’s continuing reliance on Simmons and his sensitivity to Simmons’ sharp sense of what the black community needs and how to wield government to address those needs. This includes Nixon’s support for an economic disparity study that would facilitate greater minority participation in the State’s procurement practices. So the focus on racial disparities is also partly a result of Nixon’s own workforce diversity efforts within his own administration at the most senior level.
“We will be openly and transparently quantifying our results, which then hold us accountable for what we are trying to do,” Simmons said of the new executive order, which mandates the setting of workforce diversity goals in the State’s executive branch and the public accounting of progress toward meeting those goals. Simmons also noted that Nixon is the first among governors in the country to include sexual orientation in such an order, which broadens the potential effect of the move beyond the bounds of race, while aligning both Nixon and his most senior black advisor with a boldly progressive agenda.
We have been questioned recently for placing too much emphasis on Simmons’ personal role in Nixon’s administration, and in turn neglecting policy issues, but it is people who create and implement policy. Only an assertive, diverse group of people will create and implement a policy that properly promotes and enforces diversity. We are seeing steps in the right direction in this crucial area from the Nixon administration that go beyond the merely symbolic. We salute the governor and encourage much more effort in this area of workforce diversity – toward helping to solve a defining problem of the 21st century.
