Essence.com: Working While Black (& Fitting In)
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 9:55AM Ever wondered why there aren’t more faces of color in high corporate places? Yeah, me too. A new study from the Center for Talent Innovation, “Vaulting the Color Bar: How Sponsorship Levers Multicultural Professionals into Leadership,” has an answer: A lack of relationships with the folks who can help bring us up the ladder. The study lays out key reasons why many talented people of color haven’t yet acquired executive positions, and the one the factoid that stood out the most to me was CTI’s finding that “people of color too often feel that they have to hide their true selves [at work], a discomfort that breeds two-way distrust and distance.” According to the study, more than 35 percent of African-Americans say they “need to compromise their authenticity” to conform to their company’s standards of demeanor or style.
I’ve been there. Two jobs ago, I was one of just two Black women — out of an staff of about 30 to 35 — in the New York office of my company. The other one had me by about 20 years, which means technically, she was old enough to be my mom. To make matters more challenging, I was by far the youngest editor and the only one who lived in Brooklyn, back before it was universally regarded as the best borough ever.
I swear to you I tried to fit in. I popped in my colleagues’ offices to strike up random conversations, hoping to stumble upon a mutual interest.
Me: Where do you live in the city? [Classic New York question.]
Her: Upper West Side [or New Jersey]. You?
Me: Brooklyn.
Her: Oh. [Awkward pause.] I went there once.
She said it like a visa was required to enter.
The things that I bonded over with my previous co-workers, all Black—hair salons, music, TV, movies—were off the table. There was no common ground. Nobody knew who Dave Chappelle was, much less had heard of Chappelle’s Show. Martin references were out. Gushing over Love Jones? What happened on The Sopranos? No and no. Pop culture was what I thought I knew best, but that line of questioning was building a bridge to nowhere.
There had to be something. I tried current events. That was cut short when my casual observation about the Katrina disaster was summarily dismissed by another editor as “So sad, hmm?” and then it was on to the next topic.
I fell back as much to lick my wounds of rejection as to re-strategize, which meant I mostly stayed in my office, my head buried in a manuscript or my eyes glued to my computer screen. I decided my job wasn’t to make friends, but to do work, get paid, then go home.
But after a year, I decided I wanted more money and a better title. My work was good, but it wasn’t getting me the lift I desired. There were more Black people at the office by then and we had great relationships. But no one there was in a position to bump me up the ladder. I read a book—Lois Frankel’s Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office—about how to get a raise.
Read more: here
Reader Comments (1)
Great article Demetria,
This is so true...Before I branched out as an entrepreneur, I was working for a print company, mostly employed by whites. The atmosphere was always shaky and the small few blacks who worked their including myself, felt like our voice or opinion didn't matter...Becuase it didn't.
We were often treated differently and unfairly. And whenever you would try to climb up the ladder and apply for the higher position, you would always get second dibs. There were absolutely NO blacks working in the main office, only at the sub office, where the rejects were sent.
So glad, I don't work there anymore lol