"Cooning" On the Job
Do not criticize the Blacks on your job simply as a way to score points with the Whites you work with!
If you've done this, you know who you are.
Perhaps you always like to criticize other African Americans on your job as being “too ghetto,” so that your White coworkers and managers will know that you are a “professional” and the other Blacks are not!
Perhaps you'd like to be the so-called favored Negro at your site or within your department.
Regardless of your motivation, this catty behavior is simply uncalled for and harkens back to the Willie Lynch slave mentality from the plantations.
So I ask...
Why must Blacks needlessly fight and bicker amongst ourselves, while others around us thrive? Why do we have to divide and conquer ourselves...doing the work for those who might wish to oppress, marginalize or ignore us?
Don’t get me wrong. It’s one thing to air real concerns about staff of any color. For instance, if someone isn't pulling their weight, it may be legitimate to seek some input about the person because they are causing you to do double the work or they may potentially cause you to miss a deadline.
But, it’s another thing to just look for crap to criticize other Blacks for as a means to show Whites that you don’t automatically align yourself with “your people” and that you are on their [the company’s/White people’s] side!
I know Blacks have been seasoned to assimilate as much as possible, but seeking to legitimize yourself at the expense of others is dead wrong! And, it doesn’t get you the respect of the White people you are so eager to dime your brothers and sisters out to. So, don’t be a coon!!
Stop running behind your Massa, while you try to put other Blacks up on the whipping block. This is one of the most disgusting ways any Black person can go about gaining points in the workplace. You do everyone--including yourself--all sorts of harm.
The same White people you criticize your Blacks coworkers to are the same White people who talk about you the same way—-behind YOUR back. They probably think you are just as “ghetto” or unprofessional or uneducated as those you point out. If not, they surely have some other negative perception of you to chit chat about.
If you've done this, you know who you are.
Perhaps you always like to criticize other African Americans on your job as being “too ghetto,” so that your White coworkers and managers will know that you are a “professional” and the other Blacks are not!
Perhaps you'd like to be the so-called favored Negro at your site or within your department.
Regardless of your motivation, this catty behavior is simply uncalled for and harkens back to the Willie Lynch slave mentality from the plantations.
So I ask...
Why must Blacks needlessly fight and bicker amongst ourselves, while others around us thrive? Why do we have to divide and conquer ourselves...doing the work for those who might wish to oppress, marginalize or ignore us?
Don’t get me wrong. It’s one thing to air real concerns about staff of any color. For instance, if someone isn't pulling their weight, it may be legitimate to seek some input about the person because they are causing you to do double the work or they may potentially cause you to miss a deadline.
But, it’s another thing to just look for crap to criticize other Blacks for as a means to show Whites that you don’t automatically align yourself with “your people” and that you are on their [the company’s/White people’s] side!
I know Blacks have been seasoned to assimilate as much as possible, but seeking to legitimize yourself at the expense of others is dead wrong! And, it doesn’t get you the respect of the White people you are so eager to dime your brothers and sisters out to. So, don’t be a coon!!
Stop running behind your Massa, while you try to put other Blacks up on the whipping block. This is one of the most disgusting ways any Black person can go about gaining points in the workplace. You do everyone--including yourself--all sorts of harm.
The same White people you criticize your Blacks coworkers to are the same White people who talk about you the same way—-behind YOUR back. They probably think you are just as “ghetto” or unprofessional or uneducated as those you point out. If not, they surely have some other negative perception of you to chit chat about.
posted by S. Mary Wills at 11:14 AM
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