Our Truth Our History Our Story: Our THS

Episode 32: Sorry, Not Sorry | When Sorry Comes Without Repair

When is an apology not enough?

We hear companies and institutions say, “We’re sorry.” But what happens after the apology? Where is the accountability? Where is the change? And where is the repair?

In this episode of Our Truth. Our History. Our Story., I’m thinking about fall, harvest and what happens when we finally have to pick what has been planted.

Recent controversies involving Target and Converse have me asking how racially offensive or disturbing imagery can move through design, production, marketing, management and approval without someone in the room saying, “Wait a minute.”

Target apologized and removed a children’s Halloween costume after its imagery drew criticism for evoking blackface and minstrel caricatures. Converse removed advertising after critics said its imagery evoked the Ku Klux Klan and lynching.

But sorry is a start, not a finish.

I remember a different Target. In 2007, while I was working with Dr. Maya Angelou for Oprah Radio, I watched her participate in Target’s Dream in Color initiative. Target partnered with Dr. Angelou, the Poetry Foundation and others to celebrate Black history, poetry, creativity and culture.

So I have to ask: What happened?

This conversation is bigger than two companies. It is about who has a seat at the table. Who is in the rooms where products, images and messages are created and approved? It is about jobs, leadership, contracts, investment and whether the communities whose dollars companies seek are represented throughout those companies.

And it is about the power of our choices.

History gives us an example. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Black citizens organized, sacrificed, walked, created carpools and used collective economic action as part of a sustained campaign against segregation. The buses were ultimately desegregated following the successful legal challenge to Alabama’s bus segregation laws.

That history reminds us that where we spend our money can be a choice. So can where we withhold it.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, I’m asking all of us to think about who receives our dollars, who benefits from them and what those companies return to the communities they serve.

Accountability does not stop with corporations or institutions. It extends to the people we elect to represent us. Each of us decides what values, policies, conduct and vision we expect from our leaders, and we can hold whoever holds power accountable to those standards.

Fall is harvest time.

You planted something.
You watered something.
You neglected something.
You nurtured something.

Eventually, the harvest tells the truth.

America has been planting for centuries. What are we harvesting now? And are we willing to change what we plant next?

This is about truth.
This is about reconciliation.
This is about repair.

Because when “sorry” comes without repair, sometimes it sounds a lot like: Sorry, not sorry.

LINKS & RESOURCES

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Rita Coburn:
https://www.ritacoburn.com

Our THS, articles, resources and more:
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DREAM IN COLOR | DR. MAYA ANGELOU

Poetry Foundation – Dream in Color:
https://media.poetryfoundation.org/uploads/media/default/0001/24/39142e346f9808839dcc595bdcee27001f5d6116.pdf

Scholastic – Maya Angelou, Dream in Color:
https://www.scholastic.com/dreamincolor/africanamericanheritage/maya_angelou.htm

THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

National Park Service:
https://www.nps.gov/articles/montgomery-bus-boycott.htm

ABOUT OUR THS

Our Truth. Our History. Our Story. is hosted by Peabody and Emmy Award-winning director, writer and producer Rita Coburn.

Our history is not simply about where we have been. It helps us understand where we are and challenges us to decide where we go next.

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