Symonds Says

When I was young, I was sent to my room if what I did was bad enough. My mother would march me upstairs, point to my bedroom door and say, "I want you to stay in there and think about what you did, and whether or not you’re ever going to do it again…" Recently, I read that of the 50-something cable companies sent the NAMIC survey on minority hiring, only 11 responded. That means 40 or so companies failed to submit a survey. To those that responded, as both a black man and a member of this industry, thank you for your diligence. To the rest of you, who were not willing or able to answer a few simple questions about your company’s commitment to minority hiring (or perhaps, more tellingly, to document your willingness to practice equal opportunity), I don’t know what to say. I know the deadline has been extended, and that you now have until mid December to respond. In the meantime, Symonds says in the spirit of my mother, I’d like you to take the rest of this column and think about what you did, and whether or not you’re ever going to do it again… Curtis Symonds can be reached at [email protected].