5 years after George Floyd’s murder, performative DEI is dead. What comes next?

Superficial displays are out. Sincere commitment is in.

Five years ago, I watched alongside millions of Americans as the news media looped a clip of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. In the days that followed, as a national movement came to life, dozens of CEOs and executives reached out to me for advice on how their companies should navigate this sudden “racial reckoning.” One time donations or DEI policies would no longer be enough. We needed a sustained response that would create generational wealth for Black families, and start to move the dial on closing the racial wealth gap. I told them, Black people are almost 15% of the U.S. population, major retailers should commit 15% of their shelf space to Black owned brands.