Digiday has a series called Confession that replaces the anonymity of professionals with frank conversations. In one of the chats, it featured an executive who gave a direct message about diversity programs at agencies and companies:

Without changing the ~racist~ culture, you're just making up the numbers.

That, of course, doesn't solve the problem. It can even make it worse since if the attempt to hire black people doesn't work out, there's the possibility of firing them and justifying that there was an effort.

Quartz also wrote an article addressing why diversity programs at companies in the United States fail, even though a third have diversity professionals in management positions.

The obvious answer is that American society is racist. Still, the article provides some clues as to why this happens, such as evaluation systems developed for the performance of white people, diversity programs left in the hands of underrepresented employees, and leaders who are not at all concerned with changing the culture of the workplace – designed to promote the comfort and success of white people.

Today, there is a lot of talk about structural racism, but racism is also institutional and systemic, as Professor Silvio Almeida reminds us.

It exists within institutions (public and private) that were not developed to welcome black people. They were developed to leave us out.

In the United States, as in Brazil,

The truth is that the collective photo of agencies and companies without black people is just a symptom. The problem lies in a corporate culture that does not see itself as racist, does not care about changing its own rules and standards, but today wants black people around so as not to harm its reputation.

Of course, achieving cultural change will be challenging without changing the numbers. Still, leaders must question everyday racist practices and propose solutions that can be implemented in their management and planning.

Because it is easy to exempt oneself from responsibility for a racist corporate culture through diversity programs that help hire and "train" black people without considering that the main change must come from the inside out.

Diversity should not be about accepting those who are equal.

As others have said, culture eats strategy for breakfast.

If this is true, I wonder at what point does the racist culture of agencies and companies swallow up diversity programs?

Without questioning the processes and policies of hiring, reception, compensation, training, evaluation, promotion, and positions held by black people, I am afraid to say this is just the appetizer.