“Identity Is Not a Shield”: Power, Accountability, and Equity

I’ve spent years in organizations that claim to champion equity, yet I’ve repeatedly observed patterns where leadership uses identity as a shield for harm. Staff concerns are dismissed, contributions erased, and retaliation is disguised as feedback, all under the guise of “diverse leadership.” This essay explores what happens when accountability is sacrificed for optics, and why it matters to anyone who cares about equity.

When organizations lower expectations or standards because leadership holds “diverse” identities, it assumes that any harmful actions stem from ignorance or lack of knowledge. This assumption already positions leaders as less capable, less accountable, and less responsible. These assumptions can align with the very systems of oppression that equity work claims to dismantle.

If leadership harms Black women, women of color, queer people, low-income individuals, or any other marginalized community, and their actions are enabled by institutional resources, then these systems are funding harm.

While this may seem like it’s about identity on the surface, the real issue is power and accountability. Allowing leadership to perpetuate the same oppressive systems that organizations claim to oppose does not dismantle them, it strengthens them. It gives institutions and funders cover to say, “We didn’t know,” while marginalized communities remain disenfranchised.

If leadership berates staff, exploits labor, amplifies some voices while silencing others, or erases credit for work done, that is not liberation work. That is not equity. That is hypocrisy.

Leading a “racial justice” or equity-focused organization while perpetuating harm against the very people the work claims to center is not leadership. It’s hypocrisy.

We cannot build liberated futures on abusive, exploitative foundations. It does not matter how eloquently someone speaks in public, how much money they raise, or how many grants they secure. If their actions replicate the same harms they claim to fight, they are reinforcing systems of oppression, not dismantling them.

The communities most impacted by oppression deserve more than performative justice. True equity requires consistent accountability, regardless of who holds power. Leadership decisions and the harms they enable are not invisible. Institutional resources, funding, and support play a role in perpetuating them. If organizations claim to stand with marginalized communities, they must act when it is hard, inconvenient, or challenges the image of leaders they have elevated.

Otherwise, they are not dismantling oppression. They are merely outsourcing and obscuring it.

If you want to follow along as I analyze patterns, share behind-the-scenes insights, and expose how equity can be gamed, subscribe to my newsletter. This is not in the headlines, but it is happening, and it’s time to call it out.