In Discussion About Racism, Chairman Hood Says He's 'Stopped Twice a Year' by Police
During a panel discussion, credit union leaders get really honest about race, racism and DEI.
Five leaders from the top credit union organizations in the country gathered together for a very direct and at times, personal discussion about racism and diversity, equity and inclusion.
On Thursday, during CUNA Mutual Group’s Discovery 2020 annual virtual conference, NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood, NASCUS President/CEO Lucy Ito, NAFCU President/CEO B. Dan Berger, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle and CUNA Mutual Group President/CEO Robert Trunzo spoke together in an online video discussion about the murder of George Floyd, the protests and how the issue of race should be a top priority in the credit union space.
Ito described her initial reaction to the killing in Minneapolis. “That weekend, Memorial Day weekend, it broke us emotionally. Then it all led to our looking at ourselves at a staff level and a leadership level,” she said.
Chairman Hood added, “Before the George Floyd murder, I must say I would probably never have been so vocal about diversity, equity and inclusion in terms of some of the injustice that we’ve seen permeate society, but what made the George Floyd tragedy so horrific was that we all saw this egregious disregard for life play out, and before our very eyes.”
As a teenager, Hood said that his father taught him how to behave as a Black man if and when the police pull him over. Even though he is the head of the NCUA, Hood admitted that he is pulled over by police at least twice each year. “I get stopped because the rationale is that if you stop someone who looks like me, there’s bound to be something that I’ve done wrong in the past. In fact, many times when I’m stopped, and again, I’ve already been stopped once this year, so at least I think that’s probably four more months before I’ll get stopped again,” Hood said.
As uncomfortable as the topics of race might be, Berger said as credit union organizations, there must be real goals and a focus on positive change. “Our organizations have to reflect, society has to reflect the community we operate in. That’s the reason we’re really proud at NAFCU, that almost half of our staff are people of color. Seventy percent are female. That doesn’t happen by accident. We work on it extremely hard. We have to have these discussions,” he said.
In June, CUNA announced its Board of Directors had passed a resolution to publicly take a stand against structural racism. On Thursday, Nussle took a stronger tone in asking credit union boards to take a look at themselves and their credit union executive teams. “Our credit union boards need to think about this when they think about succession planning. If you look at our industry, boards themselves suggest that we are not diverse enough. It’s not anyone criticizing or anything, anyone having to say it from the NCUA or anyone else. Boards themselves say, ‘We’ve been here too long. Maybe we’re too old. Maybe we’re too white.’ That is reflected in the leadership of our credit unions often as well.”
Ito said, “I do think that we need to be focused. Given what the country is realizing, we do need to focus on social injustice against the Black community. I also hope that that leads to similar introspection for other groups.”
Nussle continued to say he believes so much of the needed change and focus on DEI issues will have to come from the top. “That starts with boards. That starts with choosing executives. That starts with choosing the middle management of the future, and I think that’s the road we need to be on. I would challenge credit unions that are listening, that talking about it, passing resolutions, embracing DEI, all of that is really important today,” he said, adding that the long-term changes for credit unions “need to happen as a business imperitive.”
“Clearly, now is the time to act on DEI issues. Action is critically important, both now and into the future,” Trunzo said.