Steve Ballmer on the Black Community: "It's up to our CEO community to be part of lifting it up"
Steve Ballmer hasn't shied away from controversial topics. As the owner of the Clippers, he inherited a team with an ugly history, and had to tackle it head-on.
Ballmer spoke on CNBC's 'Squawk Box', and had strong statements to say about what CEOs should be doing for the African American community at this time.
The Clippers owner has spent his short tenure as a basketball owner to improve the community. Numerous times, he's donated millions to renovate public basketball courts. That's why he believes CEOs need to do more than just have a conversation about racial inequality.
"We need to have the conversation, we need to do implicit bias training, we need to make sure that we're high a diverse slate of candidates," Ballmer said. "How do we stimulate more action? How do we stimulate advocacy? Volunteerism? Donations to not for profits? How do we surface the organizations that are doing the good work that matter in this area?"
The biggest thing Ballmer challenged, was for white CEOs to step up more. Time and time again, it's historically black leaders that step up during this time. Ballmer wants to lead the charge as a white CEO to take charge.
"I think it's up to our CEO community to be part of lifting that up. One of the big issues has been, it's all been black leaders historically talking about these issues. It's time for white leaders to stand up and really speak, and encourage action."
If there was ever a CEO who could step up and encourage again, Steve Ballmer would be the one. A man who has the faith of both his players and organization, a man of Ballmer's stature would be a fantastic ally in the fight for equality.
