Black folks experience acute cognitive dissonance in every aspect of life, but especially in the workplace
Glossary:
twilight (noun)
twi·light ˈtwī-ˌlīt
- the light from the sky between full night and sunrise or between sunset and full night produced by diffusion of sunlight through the atmosphere and its dust
- an intermediate state that is not clearly defined
- a period of decline
gaslighting (noun)
gas·light·ing ˈgas-ˌlī-tiŋ
- psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator
- the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage
The Uphill Battle Never Gets Any Easier Does It?
Nope, it does not. Black folks face a perpetually lopsided, steep, uphill climb in the employment arena — numerous statistics and studies can verify this statement. Don’t believe me, read this report from McKinsey Consulting:
Not in the mood to read the report, I’’ll summarize it for you: It says that on the current trajectory, it will take nearly 100 more years for Black employees to reach talent parity (or 12 percent representation) across all levels in the private sector. Frankly, I think they are being wildly optimistic (as consultants tend to be).
But let’s be real — anyone who has spent more than a few years working while Black would be able to testify to racially-driven adversity as a fact of life from their own experiences and observations.
But oh wait, let’s pause a moment…
Chad, my non-melanated senior colleague is raising his hand:
Setting: Break room in one of the world’s most prestigious, white shoe professional environs…
Me:
Chad, what are you doing in my mindspace?
Chad:
Hey man, I was just gettin myself a cuppa brew and suddenly I popped into your head and overheard what you were thinkin. Like I dunno, maybe we’re in some kinda mind meld or sumptin.
Me:
WTF?
Chad:
Anyhow, I gotta tell you man, no offense or anything, but that stuff you were sayin, you are just flat out wrong.
Our latest [Insert: Internship / Entry-Level Training / Talent Development / Junior Analyst / Junior Associate / Junior Flunky] Program is the most diverse class we’ve ever seen.
Me:
Umm, yeah, how about that.
I see quite a lot of white women — Is that what you mean by diverse?
Chad:
Oh yeaaah, don’t you know it mah man [attempts fist bump].
There is some mighty fine “talent” in that class! Count me in on that mentoring initiative [winking].
But dude you need to look closer, don’t you see “them”.
Me:
[cringe-eye-roll]
Ahh, yes if I squint I can see a sprinkle of brownish faces in there — kinda tough to make out cause they’re not very dark, seems like most of the non-whites are actually Asian.
Chad:
Oh they be hidin in there mah man. You gotta stare at it harder. Try turning the picture sideways to see better.
Me:
But, isn’t that what HR says every year— “record number of diverse hires, blah, blah blah”. I mean, there’s only a couple of Black hires even left from those new hire classes.
Chad:
[nonchalantly]
Well dude, we have no control over who stays or goes.
Me:
Kinda reminds me of the time they claimed there was a record number of Black senior-level promotions, because they tripled the number of Black managers in that year from one-to-three.
Like, never friggin mind there’s over a hundred [white] mangers in our department.
Whoo-hoo! The headline said two hundred percent increase in Black managers.
None of those are still here either.
Chad:
[sternly, arms-crossed, looking as if something smells unpleasant]
We can’t help it if some of these DEI hires just can’t hack it under our exacting standards. Everyone has to earn their spot.
We are a meritocracy. Nobody sees race or cares about Black, white, green.
And you know, the good ones get poached away — the competition for new “diverse” college graduates is fierce out there, especially for women.
It must be pretty damned good to be a Black woman these days.
Me:
[blood pressure rising, growing urge to grab Chad by the throat and wipe that smirk off his face]
Yeah, well that’s not what I’m seeing. Didn’t a whole bunch of those newbies get laid off in last years annual culling of the herd,
almost like they simply used them for the headline statistics and glossy posters and then discarded them when nobody was looking.
And you know Chad, oddly, have you ever noticed the less than stellar [white] junior hires related to senior colleagues never seem to get axed in those rounds.
And they get promoted pretty quickly, based on nebulous BS like their “potential”…
almost as if they’re in a protective bubble on some sort of imaginary career escalator.
Chad:
[giving me a look that look that says “you are being completely obtuse”]
Look Blackfire, there’s going to be attrition, there’s always going to be attrition. And people get promoted based on merit — it’s that simple — got nothin to do with who their daddy is or who is lickin who’s boots or strokin who’s dick.
Geez, you people see race this, race that, race in friggin everything.
Never satisfied. But see, the key to the Black thing is to stuff the pipeline and eventually that cream will rise right up there to the top. That’s all we can do.
We provide the opportunity and let the work sort em out.
Me:
Um, but wait a sec. Chad, the company’s been taking this approach for years, actually decades, and we’ve barely seen any lasting improvement in Black representation, not even in middle management, never-mind the top executive roles.
Management is still an old white boy’s club with a few white women thrown in here and there for shits & giggles.
I mean, aside from my lonely self, where are the Black [Insert: Team Leaders, Business Unit Managers, Group Co-Heads, Department Heads, etc.]?
There has never been much by way of Black managerial representation except for the usual [Insert: DEI Head, HR Director, Community Relations VP, etc.].
In fact, insert any nebulous title indicating little to no real influence or direct front line revenue responsibility and that’s where you’ll find the few Black managers.
Chad:
You know Blackfire. I like you. You complain all the damned time, but you work hard, take care of business, and get shit done.
And yeh I know they don’t pay you enough for all your commercial contributions, what with the rough bonus year we had [i.e. like almost every year].
Don’t know what we’d do without cha. You know I gotcha back, you’re one of da good ones. I mean you really are the best [whatever] and I’m your biggest cheerleader.
But, geez, y’all really need to work on that whole attitude thing.
We’re all the same here — same opportunity — nobody sees color here. People just need to put in the work to get the rewards.
I’m just tellin it like it is man, cause we’re good pals and I know you’d never hold it against me for speakin my truth [nervously].
Hey by the way, did-jah see the latest awesome White House press release! We’re takin this country back baby! Hey, gotta run. See yah later in this afternoon’s staff meeting [practically skips down the hallway].
The Twilight Zone
“We know that a dream can be real, but who ever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings, or are we simply parts of someone’s feverish, complicated nightmare? Think about it, and then ask yourself, do you live here, in this country, in this world, or do you live, instead, — in The Twilight Zone?”
- Episode 62 of the The Twilight Zone, originally aired on May 5, 1961
And so it goes ladies and gentlemen. We’ve seen this old rerun many times. We’ve been experiencing some version of this kind of gaslighting from our non-melanated colleagues for years.
They keep telling us that we’re imagining things. That in fact, our experiences are born of our own paranoia and biases. That we’re looking for excuses for our own shortcomings. That we need to do better, be more worthy.
We are constantly being told to question the validity of our own perceptions and at the cost of our emotional sanity and mental health.
Existing as a Black employee in predominately-white workplaces is a study in cognitive disconnects. What they say and what they do are two completely different things.
Why are companies still trying to “move the needle” with efforts that have never shown significant sustainable results — EVER?
Aspirational perhaps, but surely they must mean well.
Maybe, but really… maybe not.
Is it possible, they never actually wanted to change a thing. There are no genuine signs that these conditions will abate. Certainly, not in this century.
In the Black Twilight Zone, Chad gets to live rent-free in our heads, undermining us at every turn.
And so, for those of us engaged in Striving While Black — How do we even stay in the game much less advance? What should we be doing differently?
A related topic, and very interesting article by Toni Anderson:
