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Diversity & Equity

Diversity & Equity

Tulsa Massacre Case Fosters Timely Conversations

 
A new case looks at the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, when a white mob killed an estimated 300 Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses along 35 square blocks.
Ashley McCray (MBA 2022) was a little nervous as she prepared to join all 700 of her first-year classmates in February for a virtual discussion of Professor Mihir Desai’s new case, “The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations.”
A new case looks at the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, when a white mob killed an estimated 300 Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses along 35 square blocks.

“Talking about race is hard. When you add the business implications, some people are too afraid to start the conversation. But we did. We started a dialogue,” says McCray, a Black woman from Chicago.

Brian Ratajczak (MBA 2022) was nervous, too. “If you are talking about finance, and someone says something you disagree with, there’s probably not going to be a lot of emotions stirred up,” says Ratajczak, a white man from Calabasas, California.

This case was different. It seemed impossible to separate emotions from the events that had occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 1, 1921, when a white mob killed an estimated 300 Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses along 35 square blocks.

Ratajczak spent more time than usual preparing for the discussion about this century-old crime. “I wanted to frame it in a way that could create debate, rather than in a way that rubbed people the wrong way or made them feel hurt,” he says. McCray had strong opinions on the case, but decided she would focus first on listening and learning from the different perspectives of her classmates.

“Talking about race is hard. When you add the business implications, some people are too afraid to start the conversation. But we did. We started a dialogue.”
Ashley McCray
MBA 2022
“Talking about race is hard. When you add the business implications, some people are too afraid to start the conversation. But we did. We started a dialogue.”
Ashley McCray
MBA 2022

The Tulsa case raises the question of how to address historic injustices. Ratajczak steered the conversation away from past harms to the Black community to current issues that stem from them. He wondered how payments could address modern inequities and if such payments should be available only to descendants. McCray, who sees herself as an agent of change, was most interested in policy solutions. When one classmate proposed dispersing reparations in the form of college scholarships, McCray voiced concern about overlooking those who don’t attend college. “College requires more than funds. It requires a better educational foundation. . . . So, unless the literacy rates increase overnight, providing a financial scholarship. . . [won’t override] years of systematic oppression.”

Desai, the Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance, was inspired to write the case after George Floyd’s killing in May 2020. He wanted to channel his frustration and realized that creating teaching material could be powerful. “Only by directly confronting the underlying issues and history can we understand the role of Black leaders in our society and the way they can flourish or not,” he explains.

Both students learned one of the many lessons Desai hoped the case would impart: the importance of having difficult conversations and approaching them with empathy. “I think it’s necessary for us as business leaders to not only practice talking about these issues . . . [but also] practice having conversations that aren’t easy,” observes Ratajczak. McCray adds, “That’s the sign of a great conversation; conflict but progressing the issues forward.”

Desai hopes the conversation about reparations will ripple out from HBS. To help make that happen, the School is offering free to the public a downloadable pdf of the case, plus a free teaching note for educators. In addition, a free multimedia version has already been viewed by over 10,000 people in 60 countries.

A new case looks at the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, when a white mob killed an estimated 300 Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses along 35 square blocks.
Tulsa Massacre Case Download

Download the Case (pdf)

Tulsa Massacre Case

Multimedia Case

How to Create Glass-Shattering Organizations
Create Glass-Shattering Organizations
Despite significant progress over the past 50 years, women still hold only a fraction of leadership positions and board seats at major companies, earn less than their male counterparts, and experience sexism at work. In their new book, Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work, Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg explore why these inequalities persist and recommend best practices to help organizations achieve parity and improve performance and value. Ammerman is director of the HBS Gender Initiative, and Groysberg is the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration.
→HBS Working Knowledge article

40 Years of PRIDE

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On the MBA Admissions blog, Joe Panikulam (MBA 2022), a former US Navy submarine officer, writes about becoming co-president of PRIDE, the HBS club for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning students. PRIDE works to build community, foster professional development, and encourage advocacy at HBS and in business. “I never even knew that I needed such a community until I got to HBS,” says Panikulam. “It has changed my perspective on everything.” He is honored to continue the club’s 40-year legacy.
→MBA Admissions blog post
Addressing the Concerns of Latinx Students
Addressing the Concerns of Latinx Students
A new case highlights the doubts and fears facing Latinx students considering an MBA—such as being able to support their family and community, leaving a lucrative job, alienating family members who don’t understand the value of a business degree, and not fitting in. The case, written by senior lecturer Jose Alvarez, Lulu Curiel (MBA 2010), and Eric Calderon (MBA 2013), aims to personalize and normalize the experience for prospective Latinx students while introducing them to HBS’s signature case method.
→HBS news story

Diversifying HBS’s Case Collection

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Recognizing that, historically, too few protagonists in its case collection were from underrepresented groups, HBS has made a commitment to developing more cases that reflect the diverse composition of the student body and society as a whole. In the past year, faculty members have completed 160 new cases that focus on race and racism, or feature protagonists who are Black or African American, Latinx/Hispanic, Asian or Asian American/Pacific Islander, or Native American or other Indigenous people.
→HBS Alumni Bulletin article
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