This is a dumb email from the CEO because it makes the company look bad to the peers of employees. There are plenty of companies who don’t care about racism, they say the right things and move on changing nothing, allowing people who work there to still hold their heads high at dinner parties. However if you have to be the person who works at the place where the “CEO doesn’t care about racism” that’s a lot harder to do.

The winning move here is to say the right things with a somber face regardless of the strategy you intend to execute.