The REAL Issue With That Racially Offensive Home Depot Tweet

Last week, everybody was up in arms about a racially insensitive tweet that Home Depot posted from their company account.   

Take a look: 

Pretty offensive, right?  Yep.  There's no need for me to go into details about WHY it's offensive. If you don't know, I honestly don't have the time or energy to break it down for you.  But take it from me - a reasonable, rational, super nice, liberal black woman with a great smile - It. Is Offensive.  

OK-enough about me...  

So, listen.  I like Home Depot (told you I was nice).  I shop there often and when I purchased my new home five years ago, I visited their store 4-5 times a week for months.  I was there so much the staff knew me by name!   

From a PR perspective, I commend Home Depot for taking swift action after this tweet was posted. They acknowledged it was wrong, stated their zero tolerance policy for things like this and terminated the agency and employee who were responsible for the post. They're also reviewing their social media policy so that incidents like this won't happen again.    

But here's the real issue with that tweet.  It shows first-hand the lack of racial diversity among employees in major corporations and national advertising agencies in this country. In other words - I can almost guarantee you, there were no African Americans in those initial meetings about the content of this post. That tweet was posted by someone who didn't know any better and/or someone who has had little to no racial sensitivity training. Either way, it's bad. 

I'd like to think if there was an African American employee working on this project and someone suggested this terrible tweet, that employee would have paused and said, "Wait. A monkey and black men?  Hell no."  Crisis averted. 

Companies aren't perfect. What happened with Home Depot could have happened to any Fortune 500 company in America.  But if corporations want to continue to grow and prosper, they should have a diverse and inclusive employee base - from the board room to the mail room.  Why? Diversity breeds a culture of fresh creativity and innovation.  It allows people from various backgrounds to contribute to the success of the business.  

If companies don't embrace diversity and understand the importance of cultural sensitivity, we'll continue to see these kinds of public mishaps and crude blunders.  

Note: Diversity = Attributes such as gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, age, etc. 

  

Unwritten Twitter Rules - What They Don't Tell You When You Sign Up (Vol. IV)

This is my fourth installment of Unwritten Twitter Rules!  Tremendous milestone, I know. :)  In case you missed Volumes 1-3, here you go:

Volume I: http://dld.bz/cwwD2

Volume II: http://dld.bz/c52tT

Volume III: http://dld.bz/cHySq 

You're welcome.   And now for your reading pleasure....Unwritten Twitter Rules - Volume IV: 

• Never let your momma know your Twitter handle.  NEVER.  :-)
  
  
• If someone retweets you five times a day, ya'll go together.  #TwitterBoo
  
  
• A tweet that takes two tweets to express is usually wack. (I do it all the time though - Lol!)
  
  
• People who live to bully folks on Twitter always have some type of real life issue(s). Pray for 'em.
• It's hard to believe, but people embellish A LOT on Twitter. *side-eye*  Always remember that they're just people...sitting behind a computer.
  
  
• Being a black person who tweets vs. Being a part of "Black Twitter." *sigh* (There's a difference.)
• The same people who create drama on Twitter do so in real life also.  #Fact
  
  
• Just because you have a Twitter account doesn't mean you have to comment on EVERYTHING.  Feel free shut-up on some topics.
  
  
• Twitter Beefs - People fight allllll the time on Twitter.  It's best to stay out of it because more than likely there's way more to the story than 140 characters.

Unwritten Twitter Rules: What They Don't Tell You When You Sign Up (Volume II)

This is my second  "Unwritten Twitter Rules" post.  Click here to read Volume I.  If you're new to Twitter or you just love to tweet, be sure to keep these things in mind. *wink*  And please let me know if I've missed anything.  I'm already working on Volume III. :) 

• Extra exclamation points don't make your tweets louder.
  
  
• Be careful with the ALL CAPS (especially after 11:00 pm on a work night.)  It can be perceived as aggressive and.....RUDE.
  
  
• Twitter provides everyone with a platform.  That kinda sucks.  Cause everyone doesn't deserve a platform.
  
  
• Understand this.  EVERYONE on Twitter is living amazing, successful lives.  All rich, thin, gorgeous and whatnot. *side eye*
  
  
• People who use more than two hashtags in a tweet are labeled as...how can I say this?  Annoying.
  
  
• People who use more than three hashtags in a tweet are labeled as...how can I say this?  Annoying.
  
  
• It's possible to be friendly and likable on Twitter without everyone knowing EVERY detail of your life.

• Thursday night at 10:00 pm (EST) is #Scandal time.  Get into it or log off.
  
  
• Don't be alarmed when you see the name Neveah (Heaven spelled backwards) a lot on Twitter.  It's very, very popular.  *blank stare*
  
  
• Don't drink adult beverages and tweet.  Trust me. - Don't. Do. It.
  
  
• People rarely look like their Twitter avatar in real life. The sooner you accept that, the better.