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Think there’s no race problem in America? Or, there’s nothing you can do about it? Try asking this question:
“Do you have any African American salespeople working here?”
Feel free to add your own favorite minority group.
I tried this recently at a car dealership. We all know the drill − you go into a car showroom and a salesperson approaches and asks if they can “help” you. I decided to preempt that and perform a social science experiment at the same time.
I walked up to the receptionist and asked the question. They looked perplexed. Shocked or dumbfounded would be a better description.
“Um, I’m not sure. I think we have, one.”
After an awkward silence I asked, “Are they here today?”
Again, a long pause. “I’m not sure.”
“Can you check?”
“Oh, yeah.” And off they went to find Sharon, their only African American salesperson.
So why is this important, or instructive, when it comes to understanding how race operates in our daily life. It’s because someone at the car dealership, consciously or otherwise, decided to hire almost exclusively white people as their sales representatives.
Sales, and especially car sales, is not a career that most people initially long for. I never played “car salesman” with my friends in the backyard. Cops and robbers, sure. Car sales, nope!
In sales, people can make more money, often with less responsibility and training, than say, doctors, lawyers, or accountants. Which is exactly the point. If an average person of color in your class at school, or your neighborhood, can get a lucrative position in sales just like a white person can, then maybe society is getting a little more equal.
And I didn’t stop there. I kept shopping for a car, asking the same question of each dealership. One receptionist, understanding what I was asking was kind of cute. “Well, we do have a female sales manager, does that count?” In the male-dominated world of cars, I guess that is somewhat of an accomplishment.
Someone at every dealership, or more importantly, at every business, is responsible for making hiring decisions. And whether intentional, or not, I only know one thing − they are not hiring many people of color to sell things, in this case, cars.
I also think the dealerships are asking themselves a slightly different version of “the question.”
“If we had lots of salespeople of color, would our white clients feel comfortable buying a car from them, or would they go elsewhere?”
My guess, they decided they aren’t going to take the chance of finding out.
And consider the other side of the equation for a moment − Black people have been buying cars, heck, most things, from white people their entire life.
My advice to business owners: If you believe diversity in sales might hurt profits, walk into an Apple store. The place has every version of human being you thought existed working there. Apple customers just want competence. The last time I bought an iPhone, my salesperson was hearing impaired, but Apple also had a staff person who translated with sign language to facilitate my purchase. It was very cool.
And yes, economics plays a role here. More white people are buying cars than Black people. But its not just about population size, it’s also about economic population size. Consider these stats: The average net worth for a white family is $188,000. For Hispanics, it’s $36,000, and for Blacks, $24,000.
The trend is historic, and I don’t have enough space to address how we got to this situation. However, a possible step toward progress is something you can start doing tomorrow.
Try this: Walk into a car dealership, a roofing company, you pick the business, and ask the question. Now imagine if lots of people did that. I’m guessing at some point the owner might notice that their customers are asking for diversity in the salesforce.
If one person asks the question, the business might think you’re a little odd. That was my experience. If a few people ask, it might seem “curious.” If 20 or 30 ask, it might make a sales manager wonder if it’s a trend. If hundreds or thousands asked the question, well, it might just be a movement.
Hopefully, it might change the behavior of some business owners or store managers.
Improving race relations in America is a daunting task. You might wonder, “What can a person do?” Maybe, if enough of us “ask the question,” businesses in the future may look a little different than they do currently. In fact, they may begin to look a lot more like America than they do today.
And that’s exactly the point.
Nathan J. Bachrach Is the co-founder of Simply Money.
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