Fast cars and slow minds: reflections on race and my 1980s self

Black History Month is a good time to engage in introspection and self-review. As employers, most of you are conscious of your legal liability when it comes to equal employment opportunity. But many of you also have taken a step further by hiring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) directors to appeal to a broader range of customers and employees. As the following essay shows, it’s never too late to take a deep and thoughtful look at our personal biases and consider as employers how we can work harder to foster inclusion.

‘Behind the Wall’

As for so many other people, music forms the soundtrack of my life. While my memory fails me more and more lately, I still have a crystal-clear recollection of the music I consumed at different times in my life and my feelings when I listened to it.

Recently, I found myself thinking about Tracy Chapman, a favorite artist of my college years. I spent the summer of 1988 in Boston, working in Faneuil Hall and living in an MIT frat house with friends. One of my roommates for the summer showed up with a cassette of Chapman’s self-titled debut album, and I was instantly hooked.

Listening to Chapman’s music again brought my mind right back to that summer. I began thinking about the themes of racial inequality that predominate her songs—even though they hadn’t quite resonated with me in the same way when I listened to her music in the ’80s.

Chapman’s poetry is beautiful and direct in message. How could her words, which I listened to over and over again, not have provoked any deeper thoughts on my part? As I look back, I’m both confounded and disturbed.