A letter from AGC President Chris Gibbons, June 2020
Many of my family and closest friends know that all I ever wanted to be when I was a kid was a cop.
In fact, between my sophomore and junior years of high school, I was accepted into a prestigious student trooper program with the state’s police department. My first job out of high school was with the Department of Corrections, and I even started my college career as a criminal justice major.
While in college, I worked as a park ranger, and after forestry school, my first job was as a shielded agricultural inspector on the Emerald Ash Borer response.
But racism and misogyny were rampant throughout the public safety industry, and what I saw during my time in law enforcement was both terrifying and upsetting.
Yes, there were good cops—those who were cognizant of their implicit bias and tried to be fair. But in the face of overt and hateful racist and misogynistic behavior, many looked the other way because if they said something, they would be drummed out of the force.
I couldn’t see myself staying in an industry that went against so many of my core values, so I chose a different path (just one example of white privilege).
Looking back, there was so much I could have done to help change things for the better besides not become a cop, but I naively hoped things would eventually change for the better on their own.
Sadly, not much has changed in the last 25 years, as we can see from this data on the likelihood of being killed by the police, broken down by race, age and gender. Affecting actual change in my lifetime never seemed within our collective grasp … until now.
Because of Black Lives Matter and other social impact movements addressing race and gender inequality, I am hopeful that we can finally start seeing the changes I longed for, not just in the industry I’d idealized as a boy, but also in the one I’m in now:
- racial and gender equality
- genuine respect for each other
- allyship for those who fight injustice
Since George Floyd was murdered back in May 2020, I’ve been deeply considering what my next steps should be. There’s so much for me to learn that it’s taken me a while to talk with others and understand how I need to move forward, but I’m determined not to let my learning curve keep me or our company stagnant.
We are committed to seeing proactive change in the wood products industry—and in myself as a small business owner, employer and parent. I truly believe that AGC, and other small businesses like ours, can make a difference so that our industry reflects the world we serve.
Would you consider joining me as we learn and take action together? My ultimate hope is that if each of us starts taking small steps forward, then together we can make a significant difference.
Sharing this publicly is a way to keep myself and AGC accountable to these commitments, and I welcome your thoughts, ideas and partnerships as we all move forward.
Thank you for reading,
Chris
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This letter was originally published on August 11, 2020, as part of American Green Consulting’s stance on anti-racism & equality in the wood products industry.
Our stance page has since been updated to include more information from our symposium on race & equality in the forest sector, which was held in October 2021, and Chris’ letter has been moved here.
Read American Green’s full statement on
anti-racism & equality in the wood products industry.