Why Diversity Matters In Public Relations

By Lia Hurd | April 26, 2021

Over the years, companies have tried to engage with communities but due to lack of diversity, these attempts have gone horribly wrong. Ultimately the lack of knowledge on these communities in PR teams has resulted in crises that could have been avoided if there was someone from these communities to properly engage with the public. These preventable crises are nothing new, but with recent events of racial injustice being brought to light, many companies have been going the extra mile to make sure all communities feel their support.

For example, when the death of George Floyd occurred many companies took to social media to stand in solidarity with the African American community. Unfortunately some of these attempts were poorly thought out and actually came across as performative and made the African American community more irritated than comforted in those hard times. 

An example of a recent PR crisis that has happened in relation to an organization attempting to show support for a community but doing a very horrible job was the Las Vegas Raiders tweeting “I Can Breathe” after Derek Chauvin was found guilty. Yes, you read that right they literally tweeted......I Can Breathe. When I first saw it I thought it was a joke, all I could wonder was so nobody on their PR team thought ‘hm…..maybe this looks nuts’. I was blown away. But obviously not. The tweet went viral and enraged the Black community and even caught the attention of celebrities like Lebron James who shared his anger at the careless statement that had been made. 

Just in case you aren’t familiar with this story and literally can’t believe someone was this careless with such a heavy topic, here is the exact tweet for reference : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/raiders-tweet-i-can-breathe_n_607f6f33e4b0f8db2499804c

Unfortunately on this day of what was supposed to be a day of relief for the Black community, the Raiders were not the only ones to make careless, and in my opinion stupid statements. These problems could have been avoided if there was just someone there from the community to make the statement. 

Outside of handling heavy topics with minority communities, diversity is also important for social media engagement. Nowadays, a company’s social media is just as important as its website. Social media content makes a difference in the consumers you attract. Knowing how to infiltrate social media communities such as Black Twitter, which is where most social media trends originate, is highly important. Even on Tik Tok, Black creators are what keep things fueling. Keeping up with the latest trends can be highly beneficial and the best way to do that is follow where the trends are starting. The best way to do this is to have someone a part of Black Twitter, properly engaging with this community. 

To avoid crises, diversity in public relations matters. These times are sensitive and improperly engaging with communities is quite frankly, embarrassing. Next time a PR crisis occurs, think about whether it could have all been avoided with a diverse team. 

Author Biography: Lia Hurd is a junior-standing student at CSUN majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Interactive Marketing. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Lia has always been drawn to making her community more heard and seen in the media. Upon graduation in December 2021, she hopes to be working in entertainment public PR 

Photo by: Adobe stock images