ALEXANDRIA, Va.–In remarks that were a strong departure from what many might expect from a white, male federal regulator, NCUA Board Member J. Mark McWatters offered some thoughts that begin with a 23andMe kit.
Two years ago, related McWatters, he was given one of the kits that identify a person’s ancestry and, not surprisingly, discovered he was 99.6% of Northern and Western European descent.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I’m .3% diverse,” joked McWatters.
But as he made clear in remarks to NCUA’s first-ever Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Summit, he wasn’t joking about what his ancestry has meant for his career versus that of others, most especially people of a different gender or race as well as those who are handicapped or LBGTQ.
‘What Could I Possibly Add?’
“So here is a straight white guy--99.6%--with no disability starting this meeting. I am a card carrying member of the Episcopal church. Who could be more generic than me?” he asked. “What could I possibly add?”
Rather than show charts and graphs, McWatters said he ultimately decided what he could add was to share his own life story—which is similar to many others in not just credit unions but many careers—and highlight how his experiences have differed during his life from those of others in ways many people like him may not have thought of, he said.
In law, said McWatters, equity is all about a sense of fairness.
McWatters shared his story of having graduated from law school, going to work as a clerk for a senior judge in Los Angeles who acted as a mentor, and then moving upward through a series of law firm positions until he reached the corner office. He went on to have an academic career as a law professor before joining NCUA, where he previously served as chairman.
Memory Lane
“So why the trip down Memory Lane?” asked McWatters. “Because everyone is this room is thinking, ‘We did the same thing.’ You all started at the bottom and worked your way up. You wouldn’t be in this room if you didn’t. In that respect, regardless of anything diverse about you or un-diverse about me, we are equal. But what did I not need to say? During my 40-year legal career, not one time did I have to worry or fret or go home tied up in a knot because of potential backlash or discrimination because I am female. Not one time, not for one second did I have to worry about discrimination or being treated inappropriately because I am a person of color or a member of the LBGTQ community. Or because I had a disability, or I was a member of a non-Christian faith. How many people can say that?”
Just about everyone works hard, said McWatters. It’s only when they move out of the domain of hard work that things change and other factors come into play.
What ‘Privilege’ Means
McWatters noted there is a term he hears frequently in the media today, “privilege.”
“It can be inflammatory to some, they say it doesn’t exist. They say, ‘I had to work so hard’ But we all had to work hard. That’s just part of the story,” McWatters told the meeting. “What privilege really means is what you didn’t have to do. You didn’t have to worry about race or gender. You just had to approach your job and work.
“I will refrain from using the word privilege, and instead use what works better for me: competitive advantage, just because of my 99.6%,” McWatters continued. “That’s a huge advantage to me. There are men who look like me who will take issue with this. When they do, my response is to ask, ‘Would your route have been easier if you were a female, of color, if you’re Muslim, if you’re LGBTQ? Nobody with a clear conscious can say it would be easier or even the same in most institutions.”
McWatters, who began his remarks by sharing a personal story of researching his ancestry, closed his remarks by sharing another, that of being married to a woman for 32 years whom he described as an “extraordinary, brilliant” attorney.
May the Day Come
“During those 32 years, a couple of times per month, she would be exhausted not just from work but from the stress of the harassment she had been put under,” said McWatters. “It can be very subtle. It takes your spirit away. It’s harmful and destructive and takes an extraordinary person to overcome that.”
McWatters said the reason for NCUA’s DEI Summit is to address the idea of competitive advantage and to eventually level the playing field for everyone. But what metric can be used to measure success?
“If there is a day, and I hope there is a day when a woman can come up here and say, ‘I’m with Mark.’ During my career all I had to worry about was doing the job. I never had to think about being female. Same thing for people of color,” said McWatters. “Then the competitive advantage goes away for the 99.6% club.”