The police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and, most recently, Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, are a reminder of how far America has to go to remediate systemic harms against communities of color. In the past year, communities, nonprofits, researchers, and policymakers, including the Biden administration, have joined the global movement for racial justice. Second Chance Month is a reminder that corporate America also has a role to play.

Research shows Black people are disproportionately incarcerated in the US—more Black people are in prisons and jails or under community supervision today than were enslaved in 1850. The impact of justice system involvement lasts long after incarceration. People of color already experience discrimination (PDF) because of structural inequalities, institutional biases, and personal biases.

Criminal records perpetuate barriers to successful community reentry and research has documented the variety of collateral consequences of system involvement; criminal background checks restrict access to employment and create barriers to economic stability, increasing the likelihood of recidivism.

With racial equity at the forefront of our national conversation, both the public and private sectors should address inequality and expand opportunity for justice-impacted people. Corporations large and small have a responsibility to expand employment opportunities for all people, regardless of their criminal history, and researchers and policymakers can help remove barriers to equitable hiring practices.

Read the full article about equitable hiring practices by Cassandra Ramdath at the Urban Institute.