Frustrations of a Black Worker

I spoke to a friend on the phone, last night, who I hadn’t spoken to in about 3 years. He moved away to Denver, Colorado to take a great position in a biology lab. After finding his phone number and reconnecting with him, one of the first things he said is, “I’m moving back home.” I asked if he was homesick. But, that wasn’t the reason he was heading back to the Washington, DC Metro area. He said the reason he was going home was that just couldn’t take the White people he was working with anymore.

I asked him what was up and began to describe the White folks at HIS job. He said (and I’m paraphrasing), “They don’t listen to anything you say, they only hear what they want, they only want you to do what they want, they want you to do it how they would do it, and I am sick and f’ing tired of how they just keep sticking up for each other. They can be dead wrong, know they’re dead wrong, and will still stand in your face pretending you’re the one who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. They will mind somebody else’s business, just to get in there and stick up for somebody and they don’t even know what’s going on. I’m done with these White people out here. It’s time to get back to DC.” He was quiet for a few moments and then he said, “You just don’t know.”

Unfortunately, I’m sure many of us have felt that same frustration at one point or another. And, it always feels like you’re the only one going through something like that. It feels like no one understands what you’re dealing with. It feels like no one is listening to you.

I’ve gone through the same thing. I gave up my job in DC because I just couldn’t take it anymore after filing my complaint with the Office of Human Rights. My health, my sanity, everything was under attack. I had to start over somewhere else. I had to go somewhere where I had a true support system. For me, home was NY. For him it is DC.

It’s not about running away from problems. But, when you are living in another state, away from friends and family, dealing with race-based issues can take an even greater toll because you don’t have your peoples right there to have your back.

My complaint was filed on my last day of employment, so I thought I’d use today’s post to remind people of some of the type’s of incidents to track at work. There are far too many people who can't vindicate their rights because they didn't keep a record of the information that would have been most valuable to an investigator or lawyer. Here's the list:

-- Unequal or Illegal Treatment in the Workplace

-- A Significant Change to Your Job Status

-- A Hostile Work Environment/ Bullying and Threats (threatening stares and behavior, insults and name-calling, eye-rolling, being ignored when speaking to an individual or at meetings, a bully going out of his/her way to encroach upon your personal space, etc.)

-- Having Your Job Threatened

-- Physical Violence (people intentionally banging into you, being shoved, being slapped, etc.)

-- Having Items Thrown at You/ Temper Tantrums/ Yelling and Shouting (in front of staff and privately)

-- Patently Malicious and False Performance Reviews/False Claims of Incompetence and Performance Deficiencies

-- Being Bombarded with Meaningless and Unnecessary Assignments to Prevent You from Doing Your Job/Being Set Up for Failure

-- Repeatedly and Intentionally Being Given Deadlines that You Can’t Meet/Being Set Up for Failure

-- The Malicious Destruction of Your Reputation

-- Personal Attacks/Attacks Based on Stereotypes and Racist Assumptions

-- The Baseless Denial of Company Benefits and Resources/Punishment

-- Being Given Demeaning Assignments/Punishment

-- Racial Epithets and Slang

-- Racially Charged Comments and Questions

-- Slander and Character Assassination/Malicious Gossip

-- Acts of Intentional Humiliation

-- Blatant Lies and Misrepresentation of Facts

-- Being Blamed For Mistakes Caused by Others

-- Your Confidential Information Is Shared with Staff

-- Having Administrative Forms Altered or Forged (timesheets, leave slips, etc.)

-- Being Isolated (forced to only work on “Black Projects,” physical isolation
from other staff, forced to work at a hard to reach location, etc.)

-- No Opportunity to Advance (list the reasons given to deny you a promotion, whether anyone has ever discussed promotions with you, and whether anyone has discussed and identified what you need to do in order to be promoted)

-- Being Denied Training Offered To Other Staff

-- Fabricated “Witness” Statements (a company may have coworkers prepare false statements against you to use as justification for targeting you or making claims of performance deficiencies)