How To Support Workers of Color During Covid-19 (and Beyond)

Inequality still exists in the workplace. Here's how you can help support your coworkers of color.

In the wake of the largest civil rights movement in U.S. history, non-Black people have been looking inward, taking stock of their unconscious biases, and finding ways to not only promote and celebrate inclusivity and diversity but to be actively anti-racist in the quest for true equality. Whether it's listening to podcasts about race, donating to anti-racist organizations, learning more about white privilege, or diversifying the media you consume by reading books by Black authors and watching shows and films based on Black characters, there's a myriad of ways you can work to change a historically racist and white supremacist system into one that benefits everyone. But one way that's especially important now is supporting workers of color, and making the workplace a more fair and equitable place.

Currently, Black women are paid 38 percent less than white men and 21 percent less than white women. One 2018 survey found that for every 100 white men promoted, only 60 Black women are. The same survey found that 41 percent of Black women say they never have a significant interaction with a superior, and 40 percent of Black women have their judgments questioned in areas of expertise. And in December of 2020, as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, 140,000 jobs were lost — all held by Black and Latina women.