• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
LeadershipraceAhead

raceAhead: Target Settles Bias Suit, New Deadly Force Bill Introduced

Ellen McGirt
By
Ellen McGirt
Ellen McGirt
Down Arrow Button Icon
Ellen McGirt
By
Ellen McGirt
Ellen McGirt
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 6, 2018, 2:14 PM ET

Your week in review, in haiku.

1.

Trump: “Tariff time, yo.”

China: “Fine. Hold my Tsingtao…

and your damn soybeans.”

2.

Shower head. Cell phone.

CDs. Loosies. Listening

to rap. Toy. Skittles.

3.

“How could things be this

bad?” asks the world. “Are we mind

readers?” sighs Facebook.

4.

RiRi, Chrissy T,

Invasion of Privacy?

Cardi B: She back!

5.

A firefly’s grave:

Isao Takahata

sketched with light and air

Have an animated weekend, everyone.

On Point

Target agrees to pay $3.7 million to settle suit claiming racial bias in job screening The civil-rights class-action complaint alleged that the company’s criminal background check procedures discriminated against Latinx and black applicants; more than 41,000 such applicants were denied jobs based on “overly broad” screening from May 2008 to December 2016. In addition to the settlement, the retailer has also agreed to overhaul their job screening guidelines for hourly workers and work with experts to create "valid" guidelines for hiring. The company admits no wrongdoing.New York Times

In light of the Stephon Clark shooting, a new bill limiting police use of deadly force
This week, California lawmakers introduced a measure that would introduce a stricter standard for when police officers can use deadly force. The Police Accountability and Community Protection Act proposes that law enforcement can only open fire when there is no other reasonable alternative, a shift from “reasonable use” to “necessary force.” The full text of the act is not yet online, but Democratic Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, who introduced the bill, says “We need to ensure that our state policy governing the use of deadly force stresses the sanctity of human life and is only used when necessary.”
Colorlines

A historic mayoral race in San Francisco
Scott Wilson reminds us of the quirky nature of San Francisco politics, and that Haight-Ashbury tinged characters with eclectic platforms have always been a part of the city’s political landscape. But this year’s mayoral race, held in June, promises a legitimate milestone regardless of the winner. The city’s next mayor will be the first African American woman, the first Asian American woman, or the first openly gay man. In many ways, the city’s shifting demographic identity is also on the ballot. “There are no real ideological differences between the candidates, but each is a proxy for something larger,” said a San Francisco State University political science professor.
Washington Post

Blackish creator plots exit from ABC
The Hollywood Reporter weighs in with the juicy scoop that Emmy nominated and Peabody award-winning producer Kenya Barris is itching to get out of his deal with ABC Studios, where he’s been since 2015. They’re also reporting that he's is in talks to join Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy over at Netflix, which sounds like a juggernaut in the making. Huge if true, of course. And I’m imagining the potshot this week’s Roseanne episode took at Blackish and Fresh Off The Boat isn’t helping negotiations.
Hollywood Reporter

Code 2040 gets a new CEO
Laura Weidman Powers has become synonymous with the groundbreaking racial justice organization, but after six years at the helm is ready to step aside. Her co-founder, entrepreneur Tristan Walker, weighs in with this tribute both to Powers and her successor Karla Monterroso, who had been their vice president of programs since 2014. “Laura turned Code2040 from an idea into a reality,” he writes, having also “reshaped the conversation on equity in tech through conversations and coverage in media.” Monterroso, who launched two programs and expanded the number of people served from 25 to 4,000, plans to continue her work on coalition building, community growth and holding the industry accountable, the company told raceAhead in an email.
Medium

The Woke Leader

“The talk” given by black parents now includes a warning to their kids to never hold anything, ever
The Onion weighs in on the latest police-related shootings of black men armed with everything but actual weapons. In this story, we meet African American dad Aaron Mitchell, who recently gave his twelve-year-old son the talk about the “cultural dangers of having things in his hands.” Blessed are the satirists for they will make us cry through our tears and give us a way to share the pain on our feeds while lol joking not joking.
The Onion

Women describe themselves as they think male novelists would
It was a Twitter fight gone wrong, then sideways, then hilariously on point. After young adult author Gwen C. Katz observed a torrent of criticism from white male authors during a conversation on the benefit of having marginalized characters written by authors of the same identity (#OwnVoices), she highlighted a particularly egregious example of a male writer who did not write female characters as well as he thought he did. What followed was a Twitter game in which women described themselves in the type of breathless terms made popular by lad lit tradition. Trigger warning: Lots of heaving boobs and mystical Asians ahead.
Wokesloth

Speaking of identity, how would you like to get Mark Zuckerberg’s hate tweets?
This is the sad fate of Mark Zuckerman, a Washington Nationals beat reporter for a regional sports network. Until recently, good-natured @MarkZuck would respond as if his haranguer was actually complaining about his coverage of the team, with a literal inside-baseball joke.“My attitude is, maybe this is a way to have a little fun with it and expose some of the nastier sides of social media,” he told Awful Announcing. But since the run-up to the 2016 election, things have taken a darker turn from the bleachers. And now that Facebook is in the crosshairs, he’s gotten up 100 angry tweets in one day.
Awful Announcing

Quote

When people talk about it, they talk about it in terms of explicit bias. This person is black, this person is white, I don’t discriminate, I’m meritocratic. But no one ever talks about implicit bias. It’s rampant and real.
Tristan Walker
About the Author
Ellen McGirt
By Ellen McGirt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Leadership

NewslettersCIO Intelligence
Inside tractor maker CNH’s push to bring more artificial intelligence to the farm
By John KellDecember 10, 2025
2 hours ago
Hillary Super at the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show held at Steiner Studios on October 15, 2025 in New York, New York.
NewslettersCEO Daily
Activist investors are disproportionately targeting female CEOs—and it’s costing corporate America dearly
By Phil WahbaDecember 10, 2025
3 hours ago
Zhenghua Yang
SuccessSmall Business
At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
4 hours ago
AsiaCoupang
Coupang CEO resigns over historic South Korean data breach
By Yoolim Lee and BloombergDecember 10, 2025
6 hours ago
Databricks CEO speaking on stage.
AIBrainstorm AI
Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi says his company will be worth $1 trillion by doing these three things
By Beatrice NolanDecember 9, 2025
13 hours ago
Arm CEO on stage at Brainstorm AI
AIBrainstorm AI
Physical AI robots will automate ‘large sections’ of factory work in the next decade, Arm CEO says
By Beatrice NolanDecember 9, 2025
15 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Fodder for a recession’: Top economist Mark Zandi warns about so many Americans ‘already living on the financial edge’ in a K-shaped economy 
By Eva RoytburgDecember 9, 2025
16 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
When David Ellison was 13, his billionaire father Larry bought him a plane. He competed in air shows before leaving it to become a Hollywood executive
By Dave SmithDecember 9, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Banking
Jamie Dimon taps Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Ford CEO Jim Farley to advise JPMorgan's $1.5 trillion national security initiative
By Nino PaoliDecember 9, 2025
18 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
14 days ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Even the man behind ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is worried about the ‘rate of change that’s happening in the world right now’ thanks to AI
By Preston ForeDecember 9, 2025
21 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.