More often than not, hiring is handled like making a new friend. Sure, resumes are reviewed, and standard questions are asked, but people in the driver’s seat are looking for a piece of themselves in you. Do you remind them of a younger version, a child, grandchild, mentee? Ultimately, they are in search of a connection.
RELATED: Pot jobs and salaries expected to explode
This search or seeking can be both conscious and/or unconscious. According to the piece 13 Common Hiring Biases To Watch Out For, there are a number of biases that apply: the halo effect, similarity attraction bias, and affinity and intuition bias. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, white majority-owned businesses made up the greatest share of classifiable firms (85 percent) and their revenue (93 percent) in 2021. Majority Black-owned businesses made up only 3 percent of all U.S. firms, and they accounted for just 1 percent of gross revenue.
Specifically in the cannabis industry, a 2017 report from Marijuana Business Daily reported that 81 percent of American cannabis business owners and founders are white. And this is not surprising. The cannabis industry is but a microcosm of our larger capitalist system. And herein lies the problem and origin of the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Affirmative Action origins
DEI is a by-product of affirmative action, which is a term first introduced by former President JFK in 1961 during the Civil Rights Movement. A time when the color of one’s skin was the first and often primary hindrance to forward movement and the granting of opportunities. Since that time, the scope has expanded to include gender, age, sexual orientation, disabilities, and other factors of identification. But it’s important to note that its origin, philosophically, included the want to address compensation for past discrimination, correction of current discrimination, and the diversification of society.
RELATED: Get high and give back with these weed brands
History of DEI
The term “diversity, equity, and inclusion” came to life in the 1980s as a response to President Reagan’s seeking to dismantle affirmative action practices and policies. The argument that a diverse workforce should be seen as a competitive advantage rather than just as a legal constraint was born. The message was, do not promote diversity because it is a legal mandate; do it because it is good for business.
However, affirmative action in practice would eventually become synonymous with preferences, goals, and quotas. DEI has been bastardized and has become a buzzword. More often than not, established committees or departments are filled with people from marginalized communities tasked to address their own harms; the minimum is done due to a lack of or improper budgeting, and/or there is simply inaction. The pollution of these efforts shows itself in the lack of accountability, the lack of budgetary support, the lack of tangible planning and action.
The awakening
In 2020 we saw a quick change of tide. With a pandemic to hold us hostage (in some states and for some of us because some of y’all were still going to house parties) and in the aftermath of the horrific losses of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, America was forced to look in the mirror and face facts. Money was donated, boycotts were planned, petitions were signed, departments were created, and C-Suite demographics changed.
RELATED: Women regain key leadership roles in cannabis, but equity lacks in key area
Four years later, we are in the midst of a regression. DEI departments are disappearing, donations to nonprofits are drying up, especially for programmatic initiatives, and in the precious state that I live in, Texas, DEI has outright been made illegal at the collegiate level, and the plan is to expand the scope. The message being sent is that this work, the people it impacts, and the effort needed to address the deficiency of having decision-making tables that do not reflect the society we live in are not of high value.
Present day DEI
Here we go again. Project 2025 is the conservative roadmap created by the Heritage Foundation that was front and center in this past election cycle. It doesn’t speak to cannabis policy specifically, but we know the think tank’s position has regarded cannabis as a gateway. An increase in law enforcement power is being called for, an attack on “woke” ideology, aka DEI efforts/initiatives, is being wage,d and the transitioning of independent agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission, to be under presidential power is being proposed.
This is important because Trump reportedly adopted 64 percent of the Heritage Foundation’s agenda during his previous tenure. So, even with Trump’s mentions of cannabis while campaigning, one must wonder and anticipate unfavorable outcomes such as additional policing and the continued squeeze of small-owned businesses and diverse ownership.
In cannabis, we have a burgeoning industry that is being built on the backs of a legacy market that had been tested and proven for profitability through decades of disparately applied tactics during the War on Drugs to Black, LatinX, and Indigenous communities, which include asset forfeiture, policing, and sentencing. There are people right now, as profits are being generated and business acumen is being celebrated, behind bars for the very same thing.
RELATED: What another Trump presidency means for weed
This is not new; throughout history, advancements have been made to disregard or harm marginalized communities and people. The Tuskegee Experiment, Henrietta Lacks, the exploitation of Black female bodies by James Sims, which birthed modern OB-GYN practices, and the 1990s genetic etiology of aggressive behavior testing specifically done with Black boys as sole subjects are a few well-known examples that come to mind, and these are just in the health field. Pick a different area, and we can build a list of exploits for it, too.
We are experiencing a shift, and our systems and industries should reflect that. The US census reported in 2020 that the white population was at 57.8 percent, a decline from 63.7 percent in the previous decade. BIPOC numbers are increasing but we’re not necessarily seeing this reflected in our political leadership. Pew Research reports that Non-Hispanic White Americans account for 75 percent of the voting members in the new Congress, considerably more than their share of the U.S. population. This means that a lot of decisions are being made by people who may not hold authentic understandings of the public.
But we’ve been here before. We are at another inflection point where people’s power is a must. The power of our dollars and where we choose to spend them will be our flex! We must hold businesses accountable and push them to claim a side. Silence will be viewed as a declaration. We can not afford a hands-off approach. The question is, are you for people and progress or simply your bottom line?
The good thing is employing equitable business practices is the right thing to do and a sound investment. As the Executive Director of the Cannabis Impact Fund, I welcome opportunities to educate and empower the cannabis industry to be equitable so businesses and communities can thrive through anti-racism training, equity assessment, and strategic partnerships! Truly, the success and sustainability of the regulated cannabis industry depends on it. So, are you down?
*This article was submitted by a guest contributor. The author is solely responsible for the content.