Dismantling the façade of racial equality in the workplace

This article was originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dismantling-fa%C3%A7ade-racial-equality-workplace-yunche-wilson/

I have watched my LinkedIn feed over the last week in absolutely horror. The blatant disregard for human life from some people who are in leadership roles has been disheartening yet enlightening.

It has shown me that some sit is such a fog of privilege that they have no problem saying racist, negative or even threatening things about black people in a public forum because they are acutely aware that there will be no consequences for their actions.

Otherwise, why would they say it, here? On a platform where their livelihoods is at stake.

On the other hand, I have seen candid conversations take place where they never have before. The workplace was once considered hallowed ground. You didn’t talk politics, religion or anything beyond “so what you doing this weekend?” Those façades are long gone.

We are naked. Bearing only our truth. Raw. And it is uncomfortable.

Because with this revelation comes the unshakable reality that many of us were living a lie.

White people didn’t need to bother themselves with the nuances of oppression that black people were facing for hundreds of years because it wasn’t their reality. I mean after advances such as the civil rights act, organizations like the NAACP and having a black president, why are we complaining at all. (These are real statements from real people, on this platform)

But deep down, in the pit of their stomach, they knew they would never trade places with anyone black. Despite what they say aloud, they knew being black was taboo and they wanted nothing to do with it.

THE HISTORY THEY WANT SILENCED

I saw a video this past weekend that put into perspective the reality of being black specifically in America.

Imagine we all sit down and play a game of Monopoly. And for the first 350 turns, each black player doesn’t get to buy any property. In fact all we can do is move our piece to jail or free parking. While the other players buy up all the nice properties, collect rent and stack up a ton of cash. This time is slavery. Then at turn 351, we finally get a chance to start playing, but the only properties left are Mediterranean and Baltic Ave because no one else wants them.

So we go a few more turns and someone decides they don’t like that we are finding our way with these two measly properties so they take our money, freeze our pieces and still demand us to play by the same rules.

These events are:

1921 Tulsa Massacre — https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/tulsa-race-massacre

Jim Crow (1877–1968) — https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws

Cointelpro against the black panther party (1950–1971): https://inthesetimes.com/article/15949/how_the_fbi_conspired_to_destroy_the_black_panther_party

And countless other atrocities that if I were to recount here, you would be disgusted that you have benefited from these heinous crimes. But just for research and education purposes look into:

Emmet Till (1955) — https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-of-emmett-till

Slave patrols: history of American policing (1704–1865)

https://lawenforcementmuseum.org/2019/07/10/slave-patrols-an-early-form-of-american-policing/

The history of lynching in America and how it has impacted generations (1882–1968)

https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/

Tuskegee Experiment: The Infamous Syphilis Study (1932–1972)

https://www.history.com/news/the-infamous-40-year-tuskegee-study

So FINALLY the civil rights act passes in 1964 and just like magic, all of the events above are supposed to be erased. Because federally it is mandated, all of those white people who were just freely lynching, killing, experimenting and torturing black people since 1619 (when the first kidnapped Africans arrived to British North America), are suddenly going to accept black people as their equals.

This my friend is what we call precedent.

White people had 345 years (from beginning of slavery to the passing of the civil rights act) to build up their sentiment towards black people. You don’t just erase those sentiments with a federally mandated law. As we have clearly seen by some of the posts within LinkedIn.

Don’t believe me then ask why the government had to incentivize companies financially by hiring minorities as an amendment to the Civil Rights Act. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/have-we-outgrown-the-need-for-affirmative-action

Now we have people with those same sentiments leading companies, deciding on loans, in charge of police forces and even running our government.

OUR MODERN DAY REALITY

Here we are in 2020 still having conversations about equality. EQUALITY for another human race. Let that sink in for a moment.

The marches. The protests. The pain. The destruction. All are an extension of the pain we carried from our ancestors.

Being taught how to act when police pull you over so you survive the training that was passed down from slave patrols and is now modern day policing.

Learning how to navigate corporate America without being “too black” so that you can secure a job long enough to buy something better than Mediterranean and Baltic Ave to give to your children.

Diminishing our black features by straighten our hair, bleaching our skin and dressing in ways that downplay our assets because we want to appear less threatening.

This is enough to drive ANYONE to the brink.

What you are seeing now is 400+ years of oppression and depression that has bubbled to the top. We are no longer making room for the 345+ years of unchecked superiority. Those sentiments don’t have a place in this world.

We wear our blackness everyday and will no longer accommodate your lack of compassion or your silence because “you are not racist”. In case you didn’t review the history, outlined above, this is an humanitarian issue of which many white people have unfairly benefited from.

We will no longer be treated as property. As a token. As a prize you get to trot out and say “see how I have helped one of them!”. This embodies the essence of slave masters from long ago.

Instead, we ask you to help us dismantle the system that has allowed 345+ years of unchecked superiority to reign supreme. Despite the atrocities we have endured then and now, we are not seeking revenge. We just ask that you stop hindering our ability to play Monopoly.