Adidas shoes have been a long-standing staple in Black culture. Whether Run DMC’s ‘My Adidas’ song or Beyonce’s recently announced partnership, the brand is one that has built a reputation off working with – and being worn by – Black cultural influencers.
But Black employees at the company’s headquarters (HQ) in Portland, Oregon say the truth they experienced doesn’t line up with the brand’s image, reported the New York Times. According to HypeBeast, only 4.5 percent of employees at HQ, also known as Adidas Village, are Black.
Over 20 current and former Black employees told the Times Adidas has predominately white leadership that struggles with “issues of race and discrimination.”
During interviews, Adidas employees said “black employees often sit together” and were told doing so made their “white colleagues nervous” and could prevent their career’s upward trajectory.
Others said they were often the only Black person in meetings and the company didn’t value their input or take their advice on campaigns that were culturally insensitive or had negative stereotypes.
Earlier this year, Adidas got in trouble for including an all-white shoe in its Black History line-up, underscoring the employees’ point. They pulled the shoes after immense backlash and apologized. But some Black employees said they were even called racial slurs by colleagues.
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Adidas said it has a “zero tolerance” policy for such behavior and are open to dialogue about it.
“We want to be humble … We’re not where we need to be in all of the locations around the world. But we’re not afraid to have the conversation, either,” said Adidas’ global head of human resources Karen Parkin.
Still Adidas top-level leadership does not reflect the diversity of its collaborators or ad campaigns. Of 353 VPs, the Times reported only 8 percent were Black. The company is accused of being all talk and no action.
“Companies spend billions of dollars on marketing and advertising to attract African-American kids to their products, but they don’t do much to support the African-Americans on the inside,” D’Wayne Edwards told the Times.
Edwards is an experienced shoe designer with over 30 years of experience working in corporate footwear. Once an employee at Nike, he currently runs Pensole Footwear Design Academy.
“What is frustrating is that none of us are empowered to change it,” he added. “Some companies have said for years that they want to create a diverse workplace, but if anything, the numbers are getting worse. And they don’t care. It’s a lot of lip service.”
