The declaration this week of a federal holiday for Juneteenth is an encouraging milestone, but meaningful inclusion, diversity and equity come through economic opportunity, said the keynote speaker at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Diversify summit.
“We have to be intentional to understand business and industry play an increasingly important role in advancing what we call the equality of opportunity across our society,” said Rick Wade, the senior vice president of Strategic Alliances and Outreach for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “All of these issues are really important, but underpinning those movements is the importance of economic opportunity.”
Wade spoke Friday from his office in Washington, D.C., during the virtual event, and urged area business leaders to continue to work together to advance efforts to create opportunity by directly addressing inequities in systems from education and criminal justice to access to capital for Black entrepreneurs.
“The persistent racial disparities we see today did not happen by accident,” Wade said. “They arose from a long history of deliberate policies that were based on race and have been perpetuated by biases that remain.”
The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce introduced a pledge for racial equity in May, and the document has drawn 85 signatories. The chamber is organizing outreach to those business leaders, and encouraging others to sign on, to build a coalition that can work together on equity and inclusion in the business community, said Lorne Steedley, the Chattanooga chamber’s vice president of diversity and inclusive growth.