{"id":6356,"date":"2024-02-05T17:59:08","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T17:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tup.kxe.temporary.site\/the-mistakes-waiting-to-be-made\/"},"modified":"2024-02-05T17:59:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T17:59:08","slug":"the-mistakes-waiting-to-be-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdesign.ca\/en\/the-mistakes-waiting-to-be-made\/","title":{"rendered":"The mistakes waiting to be made"},"content":{"rendered":"


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When it comes to marketing and Black History Month, remember the words of chess grandmaster Savielly Tartakower as looked at an empty board, \u201cThe mistakes are all there, waiting to be made.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you do not have a diverse marketing team and a real, long-term commitment to working with whichever marginalized group you are featuring, you\u2019re riding a pogo stick across a minefield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The innocuous-looking photograph below is an example of how easy it is to mess up. It is a screenshot of a Google Meets background labeled \u201cBlack History Month African-style living room.\u201d It showed up as an option on February 2nd, and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if it went away at the end of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Screenshot\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

To be clear, I have no idea whether or not Google is a good corporate citizen when it comes to working with marginalized communities. I also have no idea about the diversity in their marketing organization. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if marketing had nothing to do with this. There is no reason whatsoever to think this was motivated by prejudice. It was likely meant as a well-meaning way to mark Black History Month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One picture =10,000 wrong words<\/h2>\n

The first problem here is the choice of imagery which says Black = Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Black History Month is officially recognized by four countries: the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Ireland. So why acknowledge the Black people in those nations by showing a room with African-esque decor?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two things it\u2019s important to remember:<\/p>\n