Demo Time
13 years ago
14 January 2009
Week 2, Post 1: African-American Women and Organizations
On page 209 of Chapter 7, the plight of African-American women in organizations is discussed. The text suggests that in order to be successful within an organization, African-American women must be top performers, speak "properly", have a mentor, and obtain high-profile projects. The sad fact is that racism and discrimination still exists and African-American women can face difficulties in the workplace. My aunt works for a large oil company. I believe she is the only African-American woman in her area of the company. My aunt must go above and beyond in order to receive the kind of recognition that others in her company receive. She is also lucky to have an "influential mentor". When you are black, it is not enough to just do well. You have to exceed expectations and be better than the best. My mom has always stressed this to me over the years. Another thing she has stressed to me is speaking properly. In the corporate and business world, slang is not appropriate. Plain and simple, you have to sound "white" or professional. No one is going to take you seriously if you say, "I ain't tryin to disagree wit you. I'll see you at the meeting, aight?" The sad part is, when you speak properly, your friends and relatives think it's funny. They ask you why you are trying to be white. What they don't understand is that in the business world, in the white man's world, speaking properly is the status quo. I'm not sure I'll ever understand why speaking properly is so looked down upon.
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I find it sad that racism still exists in the workplace, or anywhere for that matter. No one should have to be treated differently because of the fact that they are black, white, a woman, or an Asian man. . I don’t think I’ll ever understand why people are stereotyped because of the way they speak or by the color of their skin.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know what it’s like for an African American woman in the workplace. However, I am a woman and I know that women, no matter what color of their skin are still treated unequally in most organizations. In my workplace, I was judged more on my appearance than my male coworkers. I was paid less than some of my male coworkers with the same education and experience I had. Also, I wasn’t taken as seriously as the men I worked with. My situation was in no way terrible and I can guarantee it was a 95 percent improvement from the way I would have been treated 20 years ago. However, it was far from equal and I hope someday we will reach the goal of total equality.
Blondie7477 makes and important point that women are evaluated differently in the workplace than men. Recall all the comments during the presidential campaign about Hillary Clinton's pantsuits. And when she was First Lady, her hair styles made the nightly news. Barack Obama was criticized for not wearing an American flag lapel pin. Would white men have been evaluated in a similar way? Probably not. And for African American women it's even more challenging. As Pirateprincess says, "My aunt must go above and beyond in order to receive the kind of recognition that others in her company receive." It's difficult to be authentic when organizational and business norms reject your identity. As Blondie7477 observes, there's been progress, but equality for all has not yet been achieved.
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