Can You Be Discriminated Against By Someone of Your Own Race?
I received a question, recently, that asked me if Federal law applies to cases of discrimination where the person doing the discriminating is of the same race as the person being discriminated against. It’s a very good question. I wanted to briefly share the answer, which is a resounding…
YES!!!
Federal law recognizes same sex harassment. Similarly, there is no distinction made, when it comes to race/color based discrimination or harassment. If a person’s rights are being infringed upon, it doesn’t matter what gender or race the perpetrator represents.
And, yes, in case you’re wondering, there are Black people who will target each other simply because of race and/or color. We all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. Black people are no more homogenous than any other race. A light-skinned manager might commit color discrimination by targeting the only dark-skinned Black worker in her department because she has an inherent dislike for dark-skinned Blacks—a feeling she has vocalized by saying that dark-skinned Blacks are stupid, lazy, ghetto, embarrassing, etc. and making similar comments to her Black subordinate. Or, the opposite may be true with a dark-skinned manager harassing a light-skinned subordinate for being prissy, arrogant, a White wanna-be, etc.
In both examples, if the managers are impacting their subordinate’s ability to do his/her job (stripping them of assignments, transferring them to hard-to-reach locations, constant bullying, making threats against their jobs, bumping into them in the hallways, staring them down, refusing to answer phone messages or emails, etc.) these managers would likely be guilty of harassment because they’ve created a hostile work environment for the workers and have made it difficult or impossible for them to perform their duties. It doesn’t matter that the individuals involved are of the same race. What matters is whether the complainant has received a significant and negative change in the conditions of his/her employment, which make it hard to carry out the requirements of the job.
So, don’t feel that you have to tolerate mistreatment from a Black manager, coworker, etc. anymore than you would have to tolerate mistreatment from a White manager, coworker, etc. Treat infringements upon your rights in the same way!
YES!!!
Federal law recognizes same sex harassment. Similarly, there is no distinction made, when it comes to race/color based discrimination or harassment. If a person’s rights are being infringed upon, it doesn’t matter what gender or race the perpetrator represents.
And, yes, in case you’re wondering, there are Black people who will target each other simply because of race and/or color. We all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. Black people are no more homogenous than any other race. A light-skinned manager might commit color discrimination by targeting the only dark-skinned Black worker in her department because she has an inherent dislike for dark-skinned Blacks—a feeling she has vocalized by saying that dark-skinned Blacks are stupid, lazy, ghetto, embarrassing, etc. and making similar comments to her Black subordinate. Or, the opposite may be true with a dark-skinned manager harassing a light-skinned subordinate for being prissy, arrogant, a White wanna-be, etc.
In both examples, if the managers are impacting their subordinate’s ability to do his/her job (stripping them of assignments, transferring them to hard-to-reach locations, constant bullying, making threats against their jobs, bumping into them in the hallways, staring them down, refusing to answer phone messages or emails, etc.) these managers would likely be guilty of harassment because they’ve created a hostile work environment for the workers and have made it difficult or impossible for them to perform their duties. It doesn’t matter that the individuals involved are of the same race. What matters is whether the complainant has received a significant and negative change in the conditions of his/her employment, which make it hard to carry out the requirements of the job.
So, don’t feel that you have to tolerate mistreatment from a Black manager, coworker, etc. anymore than you would have to tolerate mistreatment from a White manager, coworker, etc. Treat infringements upon your rights in the same way!
Labels: discrimination, same race discrimination
posted by S. Mary Wills at 8:54 AM
2 Comments:
I've been saying this for years and it's known within the black community but we tend to overlook it. I am currently in an EEOC about to go to hearing where my complaint is against another black man. I requested and needed a reasonable accommodation, he denied it immediately and it's been an argument for 16 months now. I truly believe had I been a white male or female he would not have trouble me so. He actually tried to steer me away from the process, rather than in introduction. Once the ball got rolling with his initial three denials without proper introduction of the process, it was not stopping him. I agree with the person who wrote here that, we (and I think it is subconsciously) tend to do the job for the white person, but who knew if they were even thinking that way? We don't! It inherent in our make up and history.
I was stopped just upon entering a PNC Bank in St. Louis Mo. and was denied access to the banks services until I met the conditions of the PNC employee. As a result two employees were fired, however, PNC Bank found no wrong doing. Presently I am in federal court Eastern District of Missouri. Burke v. PNC Bank et al, no. 4:14-cv-01289-snlj.
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