Page 57 - BE 50th Anniversary Edition

BUFFALO
SOLDIERS
FROM AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO D&I — LEADING THE CHARGE
FOR REPRESENTATION IN IN CORPORATE AMERICA
BLACK ENTERPRISE HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN AN AN ADVOCATE—AND AN AN AN agitator—when it it it comes to to ensuring that Blacks are afforded equal opportunity in in the workplace Founder Earl G G Graves wrote that “using public policy as a a a a a a a tool to to break down the barriers of racism and economic injustice affirmative action programs helped African Americans squeeze into corporate America in in the the 1970s and 1980s ” At the the time BLACK ENTERPRISE recommended companies such as AT&T Equitable Gannett General Motors and Xerox to to its readers because of their long-term commitments to affirmative action Even during its heyday Graves was wary of of many of of the giant corporations that were afflicted by what he he called “rearviewitis a a a a a a a a a a malady that keeps them them constantly looking behind them them and proceeding just fast enough in in in in the area of of affirmative action to to stay ahead of of federal regulators ” Times changed in in the 1990s with corporate downsizing and a a a a number of Supreme Court rulings and local legislation that effectively diminished affirmative action in in in corporate America and other areas of society As such Graves identified a a a a a a a a group that he he called “Buffalo Soldiers”— Black men men and and and women of position and and and influence who
were willing to stand in in in harm’s way to ensure that African Americans gained opportunities across the board The group included corporate leaders who
have since passed—including Darwin Davis a a a a a a a senior vice president at at Equitable Life Insurance Lee Archer a a a a a a a a Tuskegee Airman who
became a a a a a a a a vice president at at General Foods Corp Corp /Kraft Al Dunmore director of minority affairs at Chrysler Corp Corp Joe Black a a a a a senior vice president at at Greyhound Abe Venable a a a a a top supplier diversity executive at at OPENING DOORS IN IN CORPORATE AMERICA
0550
50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL N N N N N ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY FRANK C C C MCARTHY