Fear and Self-Loathing at American Express A classic capitalist enterprise attacks capitalism. James Freeman
This has been the year of woke and weak corporate CEOs trying to signal virtue by endorsing leftist politics and attacking Republicans. But now we have a bizarre case of a business attacking itself. The Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo writes this week in the New York Post about a lecture hosted by American Express. He reports that at the Amex corporate event a guest speaker argued that the system of capitalism was founded on racism and that “racist logics and forms of domination” have shaped Western society from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Mr. Rufo quotes the insufferable lecturer telling Amex employees, “You are complicit in giving privileges in one community against the other, under the pretext that we live in a meritocratic system where the market judges everyone the same.”
Well, it’s true that the company’s advertisements have touted the privileges enjoyed by consumers who use its ubiquitous green cards. But the history of American Express is the story of a company that has thrived by offering its many services to a broader and broader clientele. The firm’s website says it has more than 100 million cards in use—accepted by millions of merchants. Sure, it has generally served a higher-income segment than Visa and Mastercard, but there are options for all kinds of consumers.
Mr. Rufo describes how American Express employees had to define themselves:
In a foundational session, the outside consulting firm Paradigm trained AmEx employees to deconstruct their own intersectional identities, mapping their “race, sexual orientation, body type, religion, disability status, age, gender identity [and] citizenship” onto an official company worksheet.
Employees could then determine whether they have “privilege” or are members of a “marginalized group”: White males presumably end up in the oppressor position, while racial and sexual minorities are considered oppressed.
In a related session, trainers instruct employees how to change their behavior in the office based on their relative position on the hierarchy. The trainers provide a blue flowchart with specific rules for interacting with black, female and LGBT employees: If members of a subordinate group are present, workers should practice “intersectional allyship” and defer to them before speaking.
In another handout, the instructions for white employees are even more explicit: “identify the privileges or advantages you have”; “don’t speak over members of the black and African-American community”; “it’s not about your intent, it’s about the impact you have on your colleague.”
Even common phrases are subjected to race-based regulation: White employees are told not to utter phrases such as “I don’t see color,” “We are all human beings” and “Everyone can succeed in this society if they work hard enough” — all categorized as “microaggressions.”
American Express would seem to be a particularly difficult choice if one is seeking to prove a case of systemic racism. Paul Beckett reported in the Journal in 1999:
Harvey Golub will step down as chief executive officer of American Express Co. in 2001 and as chairman about a year later, opening the way for Kenneth I. Chenault, president, to succeed him in the two top positions at the financial-services and travel company…
Mr. Chenault joined American Express in 1981 as director of strategic planning after working as a management consultant at Bain & Co. He ran the company’s charge-card operation and its flagship Travel Related Services unit, which includes charge cards and the company’s travel-agency business. He was named vice chairman in 1995.
In the past two years, Mr. Chenault has assumed a much higher profile with the investment community, where he has earned a reputation as a congenial straight talker, in contrast with Mr. Golub, who is well known for being blunt to the point of gruffness.
Mr. Chenault told reporters his greatest challenge “is to ensure that we focus on top-level performance.”
… Mr. Chenault, one of the highest-ranking blacks at a major U.S. company, played down any broader significance that could be read into his appointment.
“What I hope it represents is that the decision was made based on my performance and that’s all there is to it,” he said.
Mr. Chenault would go on to enjoy a long tenure in the top job as capitalists bid up the price of American Express shares. In 2017 the Journal’s AnnaMaria Andriotis reported:
Kenneth Chenault, the head of American Express Co. and one of the country’s most prominent African-American corporate leaders, will step down as chairman and chief executive Feb. 1, capping a 16-year run at the iconic card company…
Since the end of 2001, AmEx shares have beaten the market, rising 195%, compared with a 131% rise in the Dow and a 23% bump for the S&P 500 financial-stock index, according to FactSet.
It seems the color investors saw was green, suggesting we have at Amex an example of systemic meritocracy.
American Express employees have no reason to hate themselves. And rather than hosting corporate festivals of self-loathing, perhaps Amex managers should focus on bringing even more services to their customers—or some of them might start asking: What’s this green card doing in my wallet?
Consumers may also be interested in anticapitalist screeds being delivered at other capitalist enterprises. In a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham this week, the enterprising Mr. Rufo promised more news to come:
I’m going to be exposing 10 of the Fortune 100 companies that have adopted Critical Race Theory in the workplace…They are ripping these employees apart. They are designating them oppressor and oppressed based on their skin color, their sexuality, their religion, their nation of origin. And then they are using this divisive ideology to mask, in many cases, their bad behavior.
… I’ve talked to a number of sources in many companies around the country. They are all telling me that… once Critical Race Theory training programs enter the workplace, people become scared, they become paranoid, they become hostile, they become divided.
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