By George E. Curry

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum prides himself on his support of big business. But on the issue of diversity, he is out of touch with corporations that value a diverse work force.

Speaking at a New Year’s Eve celebration on December 31 at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa, the former senator from Pennsylvania said: “I was at a debate with Howard Dean and we were asked what was the most important quality of America and he said diversity. Diversity? Have you ever heard of e pluribus unum?…The greatness of America is people who are diverse coming together to be one,” Santorum said. “If we celebrate diversity, we lay the groundwork for that conflict. We need to celebrate common values and have a president that lays out those common values.”

Judging from public comments, not a single CEO of a Fortune 500 company shares Santorum’s view that diversity lays the groundwork for conflict.

John Strangfeld, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, states: “Prudential’s greatest source of competitive differentiation is our people. Their various perspectives, experiences and skills help us to maximize opportunities with the markets and customers we serve. Diversity makes us a better innovator and facilitates our ability to draw top talent to the organization, making us a better company overall. That’s why diversity is a key business strategy.”

Rick Santorum

Another insurance company, Chubb, puts it this way: “It is well-proven that diverse, heterogeneous teams promote creativity, innovation and product development. Only by fully embracing diversity and maximizing the well-being and contributions of our people can we fully maximize the strength and competitiveness of our company. We must encourage individuals to reach their full potential, in pursuit of organizational objectives, without anyone being advantaged or disadvantaged by our differences.”

J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and CEO of one of America’s most successful hotel chains, observed: “Marriott’s greatest strength lies in the rich diversity of culture, talent and experiences of our associates worldwide. For over 80 years, our service excellence has created customer loyalty and preference and fueled our growth around the world. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion creates competitive advantage. It is this focus and engagement that will drive sustained success in the global marketplace.”

Marriott and other numbers-driven business titans are not oblivious to the rapid demographic changes in America:

• Racial and ethnic minorities made up 91.7 percent of the total U.S. growth from 2000 to 2010 and will constitute the majority by 2050.
• Over the past decade, Hispanics accounted for more than half of the nation’s population growth, now exceeding 50 million. They grew by 43 percent over the past decade and now represent 16.3 percent of the U.S. population.
• Asians tied with Hispanics as proportionately the fastest-growing demographic group. Asians represent 4.7 percent of the nation’s population, up a percentage point since 2000.
• African-Americans, 12.2 percent of the U.S. population, held steady, outpacing the nation’s 9.7 percent growth rate by 1 percent. When combined with people who identified themselves as members of more than one race, the Black percentage is about 14 percent (42 million).
• The White population grew by only 1 percent and dropped as a share from 69 percent of the U.S. population to 63.7 percent.

And no CEO worth his or her annual bonus check can afford to ignore the spending power of people of color. The collective buying power of people of color will total $3.6 trillion in 2015, which will represent more than 25 percent of all U.S. spending.

In four years, the total annual spending by people of color in the U.S. is projected by the International Monetary Fund to be larger than economies of Germany ($3.46 trillion), Russia ($2.95 trillion), Brazil ($2.85 trillion), United Kingdom (2.60 trillion), France ($2.52 trillion), Italy ($2.02 trillion) and Mexico ($2.02 trillion). If people of color in the U.S. were a separate country by 2015, they would have the world’s fifth largest economy, trailing only the U.S., China, India and Japan.

Tim Solso, former CEO of Cummins, a global power leader that designs, manufactures, distributes and services engines, states: “Companies that value and manage diversity have a distinct advantage over those that do not when it comes to the bottom line. In fact, the ability to manage diversity well could be the difference between success and failure for businesses, as well as the communities in which they operate.”

It’s unfortunate that Rick Santorum doesn’t listen to the corporate leaders he claims to represent.

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.