Essay 1337

Sanford Moore and Mr. HustleKnocker comment on the responses (see Essay 1332) to the AdAge story presented in Essay 1326…

> I’m the individual that Ad Age credited with “triggering the agency investigation.” The facts as documented by repeated NYC Human Rights Commission investigations [are] that a condition of “de facto segregation” exists for Blacks on Madison Avenue. So stop your whining about Blacks seeking their rightful opportunities. To the Mexican-American respondent, what have Mexican-Americans or Latinos done to fight for justice on Madison Avenue? Cesar Chavez for whom I was a consultant has been dead for over a decade, who has replaced him in the Latino community as a champion for minority rights not just Latino rights? So don’t be so quick to down Jesse Jackson… we’re fighting a fight that your people have and will benefit from. — NYC, NY

> I don’t know J.J. but I do know one of his more popular contemporaries along with a few others in the Civil Rights arena. I can tell you this much about most Civil Rights leaders: When they get on board an issue, it’s only because the issue’s gotten out of hand all on its own; and, guys like him have been chomping at the bit to get at the ad industry for years, not because they can get paid, but because they’ve seen the employment data and have had to listen to several decades of war stories from educated, talented and deserving black and Hispanic professionals who’ve dealt with this industry. And, truth be told, most of us have discouraged these guys from getting involved only out of the basic belief that the industry would be smart enough to actually evolve on its own. (Who knew that hiring talented people, agencies and vendors from diverse ethnicities and respecting ethnic consumers would be this damn hard?) But what you’re seeing now is what happens when people say stuff like, “Well, how come the ethnic agencies don’t hire more whites” and they (minorities) need to stop whining. Our industry is upwards of 95% white, many of whom have proven themselves to be less than deserving of jobs. Ethnic shops are banned from AOR status -- not even allowed in those pitches. The crap ethnic professionals have to put up with at the shops of major marketers, from clients and colleagues, related to race and ability, etc, is only outweighed by the 50 years of excuses about the reasons for it. So yup, it’s now a circus. And you guys made it one by ignoring the big elephant in the middle of the room -- the one you brought in. Either help fix the problem or pass me a bag of peanuts and some cotton candy and shut up. Fools. — Chicago, IL