Juneteenth reminds us that the delay between what leaders say and what everyone else experiences is still everywhere today, wherever inequitable systems of power persist. I’ve worked in corporate systems that say all the right words about inclusion, impact, equity. I've watched the same systems reward the appearance of progress while resisting the substance of it, and I’ve seen clearly who these systems hurt the most. Black women are often the first to speak up or step out when something’s not right. Often the most overqualified, under-supported people in the room.
My Black colleagues were often the ones asked to lead change and then blamed when the system wasn't actually willing to change.
A 2021 study by Lean In and McKinsey found that Black women are more likely than any other group of employees to spend substantial time on DEI efforts outside their formal job description and to openly call out bias at work, and many note they step up because they know that if they don’t, these issues might never be addressed. Tying the double bind tightly, another 2016 study found that when leaders supported diversity in the workplace, their bosses and peers perceived them as less competent compared to leaders who did not actively support diversity—but only if they were women and/or people of color.
White men were able to support diversity and equity initiatives without negative impact to their perceived competence, and yet the burden fell on those most likely to be hurt by the inequity and shoulder consequences for speaking up about it.
After public reckonings over racial injustice (for example, the 2020 corporate responses to George Floyd’s murder), many companies rushed to showcase commitment to diversity by hiring or promoting Black women into leadership roles, many of them DEI roles. While this looked like progress, it often amounted to Black women being placed on what researchers call a “glass cliff,”“a phenomenon where women and people of color are more likely to be appointed to leadership positions during periods of organizational crisis compared to those of stability and growth.”
Juneteenth isn’t just a celebration of what was won, although we must celebrate that, too. It’s a reminder to pay attention to what’s still being withheld: freedom, safety, justice, truth.
“I’ll say the quiet part out loud. There’s no business reason; it’s bigotry.
When Zuckerberg calls for more 'masculine energy' while simultaneously dismantling DEI programs, he’s not just dog-whistling misogyny—he’s doubling down on the interconnected systems of racism and patriarchy that keep power firmly in place for people like him. It's the undertow of regression.
When I spoke up—about safety failures, about retaliation, about the gap between what Meta says and what they actually do—it was made possible by privilege. I had a title. I had resources. I had years of outstanding performance ratings. Yes, it has come at a huge cost—but at least I've been taken seriously, at least I have power, at least I have a voice. I’ve watched Black women do the same thing and get written off entirely.
There’s a reason many of the prominent tech whistleblowers are blonde, white women. It’s not because we’re more brave. It’s because of privilege, layers and layers of it. Research backs up the idea that privilege, not greater bravery, often determines who isheard, protected, and believedwhen they blow the whistle.
Ifeoma Ozoma by Adria Malcolm for the New York Times
Why am I writing about Transgender youth on Juneteenth? Because we are not free until everyone is free. Because the surviving and thriving of humanity—liberty and justice for all—are tied up together. Because I can’t be fully who I am intended to be until you are fully who you are intended to be.
So no, the delay isn’t over. Juneteenth reminds us of that distance, it asks us to celebrate what was won, and also to get honest about what’s still being withheld: freedom, safety, justice, truth.
We’re told we live in a place that’s equal, but we don’t. Today is a good day to recognize that pretending we do causes harm to those who can’t pretend. Today is a day to notice that there's a gap between the world we say we live in and what many of us experience. And to ask better of ourselves, the places we work, the systems we uphold, and the stories we tell.
