Another point of contention between the council and WNET management was a 36-second video the company posted on its social media accounts on June 3. Set to a plaintive piano, the video presented images of harmony between New York City police officers and citizens. In one photo, a Black man in a hoodie is seen fist-bumping a white police officer in riot gear; in another, a white police officer marches in a protest next to a Black woman wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt; the montage also showed a Black woman embracing a white police officer.
The Inclusion and Diversity Council said the video displayed “bias in favor of the police,” and WNET removed it. (The video was reviewed by The New York Times.)
On June 18, the company appointed Eugenia Harvey, an executive producer who had joined WNET in 2018, to a new position, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. The diversity council criticized the promotion of Ms. Harvey, a Black woman, partly because it had not been consulted before the move.
“Being a Black woman is not enough of a qualification to head diversity at a company like ours,” Titi Oluwo, a representative of the council, said in an interview. “This is a big deal and it was not treated with the proper respect. We had feared that Neal was creating a shield for himself, using a Black woman as a shield.”
Ms. Oluwo added that WNET management had dismissed proposals from the council meant to address workplace discrimination and bias.
In a statement, WNET said: “We have put a plan in place and have made progress toward our diversity, equity and inclusion goals. There is more progress to be made.”
In August, the company said it planned to change the composition of the Inclusion and Diversity Council and rename it the Inclusion Diversity Equity Advisory council. The current council objected, saying the planned changes amounted to “dissolving” the group.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/business/media/wnet-neal-shapiro.html
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