ASQ is making a very public showing of its support of Black History Month, but it’s worth reminding everyone of the following troubling problem:
Running promo sales pieces or self-congratulatory press releases in honor of BHM isn’t far enough. The new (ahem, all white) leadership — corporate counsel Ann Jordan and former membership czar Jim Templin — have to go to the very scary place their predecessor Bill Troy was too afraid to tread: issuing a generic denunciation of racism.
Oxebridge called on ASQ to denounce racism back in 2017. We’re still waiting. Apparently, ASQ cares more about Black Belts than Black People.
Troy welcomed racists into the ranks of ASQ, presumably to offset the hemorrhaging of members caused by the policies of, ironically, Templin. Troy and his Board then refused outright to enforce the ASQ Code of Ethics which prohibits “discrimination.” Outreach to racists clearly didn’t work, since ASQ is still losing members, and now has to deal with a reputation of outreach to white supremacists. That never goes over well.
But Templin has an opportunity to show leadership and do what Troy couldn’t. He can reverse course and, along with Jordan — who’s a lawyer, and should know this stuff already — put ASQ on the right track and issue a public statement denouncing racism, and dedicating itself to enforcing its Code of Ethics once and for all.
That is how ASQ can honor Black History Month. Anything less is a pandering sham.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
