ISSUES IN THE WORKPLACE: WHERE'D YOU GO TO SCHOOL?

Black workers must often fight stereotypical assumptions that we are stupid or that we received an inferior education than White coworkers. The assumption of stupidity is tied to the false notion that African Americans are generally uneducated, do not pay attention in school or have received an inferior public school education in “the ghetto.”

It is irrelevant if an African American worker has a degree, including an advanced degree. The perception is that, even if Black workers went to school, we likely just squeaked by in getting an education. You know the stereotypes:

--We didn’t go to classes;
--We slept through classes;
--We partied excessively;
--We drank excessively;
--We were sex obsessed; and
--We probably had a low grade point average.

The other workplace issue is that White coworkers will sometimes make a quiet mockery out of where an African American coworker attended school. Community colleges and African American institutions of higher learning are fair game for ignorant White coworkers. For instance, it’s not uncommon to hear a comment such as, “Oh, you went to Howard. I thought you said you went to Harvard.” Or, a White coworker might ask, “Where is that college? I’ve never heard of it. Was that a two-year program?”

The dumbest White person at any job, degreed or not, will always find the gall to feel vastly superior to a far more intelligent African American coworker, even one with a degree. A White coworker, who remembers the time they slept with a professor for a grade or paid for someone else to write a paper for them or take a test for them, will still question the educational background of a person of color. People are a trip, y’all!

This is just one of many issues faced by African Americans in the workplace. Has your education been questioned at work? If so, tell us about it. Post a comment or send an email to blackonthejob@yahoo.com.