My White Boss Told Me to Wear a Hairnet In The Coffee Area … And My Spirit Was Crushed
It was 2007, and I had just gotten a new weave.
Oh, it was sickening, baby … and I paid good coin for it too! It was the first time in my adult life that I could afford a hair-do with a hefty little price tag.
It was long, jet black and wavy. I had a whole new attitude at work that day. Well, much to my surprise, my brand new ‘do was met with vile contempt from my then boss.
Let me give a little back story …
I had been at my job three-months when the abuse started. The “unusual” comments, the chaining my laptop down to my desk to ensure it could not be taken home at night — though my white counterparts had the same laptop — they were free to take it home every night, and it had no chain attached to it.
Even though we worked in Facilities, the lowest position in our departments hierarchy, my white counterparts were granted an office and their own blackberry devices to keep with them 24/7 on the company’s dime.
I was the only black person on the team.
I was also the only team member without an office. I worked from the back corner of a cluttered mailroom with my back to the door. I had no blackberry, or laptop to take…
