Smoke and Mirrors

Race and the Black CPA

Anton Lewis, PhD

Change is in the air for accounting. Many promises have been made about increasing diversity, particularly for Black accountants. But have all the projects, initiatives, and reports lived up to expectations? Or has it been a shell game? Genuine victories have occurred in the past, such as the 1994 PhD project initially led by KPMG (https://phdproject.org/), which has significantly increased the number of minority accounting professors over the decades. These diverse professors have in turn worked tirelessly to encourage many more students of color into the profession. Regrettably, this is a “drop in the ocean”; the accounting profession still seems incapable of fostering fundamental change in how race and racism is enacted—despite much protestation to the contrary, despite brave words and considerable promises of financial resources. This article seeks to reconcile recent pledges of racial equity made by the accounting profession—as represented by the Big Four, mid-tier firms, and AICPA—to racial reality. Given the state of play where race and racism are concerned, can accounting really fulfill its promises and make itself more equitable in the long term?