You could have all the merit, excellence, and intellect in the world. If you don’t have wisdom, you’re likely to find a way to hustle backwards. This has been the lot of the United States at key points in our country’s nearly 250 year history, particularly when it comes to cultivating all that its people bring to the table. Rather, the country has continued to waver at key points in our history where we could have exercised wisdom and done the hard work to root racial disparities out of our system.
James 1:5-8 outlines the bad effects of this wavering.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The stakes are high. We are entering an exponentially complex time with artificial intelligence maturing into the largest platform shift anyone alive has witnessed. In parallel, through the energy transition, we are attempting to usher in the first technology shift in history that likely will not reap a return in our lifetimes. Both of these shifts are happening at a time when our society appears frayed and the institutions this country relies on don’t look as strong as we’ve held them to be. What we face doesn’t leave room for MEI virtue signaling or surface-level $100M commitments that don’t materialize.
Sit with the counterfactual that had the country pushed itself, between 1990-2019, to ensure Black folks got the same sort of shots as our White counterparts in the fundamentals – education, jobs, healthcare – we could be looking at $23 trillion in additional GDP.
I wrote about my dad’s push that if better is possible, good is not enough. I often hear business leaders known for being uncompromising in pushing the bounds in investing, technology, and more, compromise on the pursuit of the ideals of our country saying, “Capitalism is not perfect, but it is the best system we have.” If one of their direct reports followed similar logic in bringing a deal to them, I doubt they would be happy. Similarly, we shouldn’t be happy with the extent to which we have underperformed.
This is what comes to mind when I see a proclaimation that MEI (Merit, Excellence, and Intellect) would replace DEI as company policy. The people implementing and cheering on these sort of policies, or challenging DEI programs at the Supreme Court are incredibly smart. What seems to be missing is wisdom.
I met an incredible man a few years ago who works with a prominent family in the UAE. He made a fascinating observation in contrasting Middle Eastern values with those of the US, highlighting that the US was extremely technically skilled. The CEO of the company that has its new MEI policy graduated from MIT with a 5.0, for example. The man went on to state that for all the technical skill that the UAE may not have, it has wisdom, which has enabled it to maximize the resources it does have. Meanwhile, those looking to supposedly flex their commitment to meritocracy stand up strawmen to knock down rather than actually do the right thing and hire the best people.
This country made a similar decision in bringing Reconstruction to an end. Rather than apply pressure against the racialized infrastructure of the South, a handshake deal pulled Union troops out of the South in exchange for Southern Democrats ending their filibuster of Rutherford B. Hayes legally becoming president and ushered in Jim Crow laws. It took nearly 60 years to reverse the separate but equal precedent set by the Supreme Court in 1896. It was nearly another 20 years before the Civil Rights Act put Jim Crow laws to their end. Unofficial policies like redlining continued to carry forward the spirit of those laws, contributing to McKinsey’s findings that it would take 110-320 years for Black folks to reach parity with White folks at the current rate of change in eliminating structural racial discrimination and the spirit of Jim Crow.
So, what are we supposed to do with a multi-century deficit and $23 trillion in lost economic activity? I submit that we need to focus our efforts on getting wisdom and exercising it to unlock efforts that shift the trajectory of this country towards one that maximizes what its people bring to the table in efforts to maximize outcomes for everyone. That looks like being aggresive in unearthing the best people for opportunities wherever they may be. That looks like investing boldly in communities that have been boxed out from tapping into their potential for generations. That looks like pulling the plug on complexes that extract rents from the least of these. But it all starts with seeking wisdom. And then it’s about putting that wisdom into practice.
If we can root out the wavering on eliminating structural disparities in our country and push ourselves to move with wisdom, the times ahead could be really special. But we’ve really got to be about more than merit, excellence, and intellect. We’ve got to tap into wisdom that helps us unlock the full potential of all God’s children. That’s the kind of thing that would push future generations forward.
KWAME 