"Racism is bad."
"This has got to stop."
"I/we/Company X stands in solidarity with the Black community."
“Black lives matter."
"We're all in this together."
Etc.
Maybe these messages are sincere. Maybe they're heartfelt. Maybe they're a catalyst for change. Maybe they weren't written by comms or PR people.
But maybe they're a bunch of bullshit. Disingenuous platitudes. Boilerplate templates. Well-crafted PR spin. Reactionary jargon.
The thing is, we just don't know. We don't know for several reasons: leadership team homogeneity, no previous statements, damning employee testimonials, to name a few.
The main thing I've noticed though?
I haven't read one message from a senior leader that has included a personal story. Nothing about their evolution of consciousness. No revelation of an internal existential crisis. No public vulnerability.
We haven't gotten the tiniest glimpse into the personal lives and thinking of these highly successful, powerful, and influential leaders sitting at the top of the corporate food chain.
We don't know any more about them now than we did two weeks ago. Nothing about their personal lives. No peek into their family or their childhood. No anecdotal evidence of who they really are.
So should we trust them? Probably not quite yet.